So proud: I helped the time capsule house two doors away find owners who LOVE it and don’t want to change a thing. Can you believe: This house sat on the market for at least six months, because, word is, all the buyers who made their way through were put off because it would take too much remodeling.
The house had been on the market all this time when finally, I was talking to my friend Molly, whose parents were looking to move to town. I mentioned the house, which was For Sale By Owner, not on the MLS. Molly arranged a showing for the very next weekend and ka-boom, her parents — Duane and Mary — jumped on it. They were thrilled by the house. They are “old house people,” like their daughter. Like me. Like us! Welcome to the neighborhood, Duane and Mary!
Since they confirmed the deal — and then, after they closed — I’ve walked through this lovely mid-century modest house at least four times and must say: All the folks who passed on this house missed a great thing. This house is amazingly well built, full of time capsule features that are going to make you drool, and after Mary and Duane make just a few housekeeping updates, move-in ready. Updates that I am aware they are making: Refinish wood floors, repaint a few walls to colors they prefer, add a rain gutter to the back, and update the electric to handle modern electronics. Otherwise, this house is good to go!
The house was with the same family since 1948. The dad was a plumbing contractor. This explains a lot, because the bathrooms are all fantastic.
But most fantastic of all: This en-suite master bathroom. I am telling you: The black wall tiles, liner tiles, and porcelain mosaic floor tiles — are pristine! I’ll show more of the house over the next few days, but let’s start with this glamorous, romantic, 1948 bathroom.
All the fixtures and hardware are original, high-end Crane that look like they were installed yesterday. Original, every bit, down to the shower head (note the “Crane” detailing on the escutcheon/base), the shower curtain bar (okay, not the shower curtain!), the towel bars, the recessed cosmetic box, the faucets, the light switch cover (okay, I spot one GFI-conversion on the electric outlet), even the trash can!
Even the Venetian blind and the radiator cover.
The mirrored medicine cabinet is a treasure to behold. It has three sections — each section opens — and the two tube lights still work.
I am even in love with the hot- and cold-water shutoff switches. Oh, and the nickel-plated legs and integral towel bars on the sink.
Peoples, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Mary and Duane! There are welcome cocktails in the Mahalo Lounge your future!
Katharine Carroll says
I cringe when I see people on TV wanting to remodel a perfectly good home that’s been so well taken care of over the years. I think it’s society’s mindset in general. New, new, new! Get rid of old. So, so sad! Thankfully, this site like others, show the appreciation to the craftsmanship of days gone by… Exquisite home!
meb says
What is the obsession with novelty when the original is higher quality than most things available to the average home owner these days? What’s the psychology? There must be someone out there who has studied this, ya know?
Felicia Alexander says
I’ve been thinking about this, too–especially since right now we’re in the process of buying a wonderful 1960s time-capsule ranch at the same time we’re preparing to put our “dated” 1970s rambler on the market. I’m not a psychologist, but I suspect that most people (*not* us Retro Renovation fans!) are conformists at heart and just not very adventurous. People’s taste in home decor, fixtures, and whatnot is shaped by what they see on TV, online, and wandering around big-box stores, and it’s reinforced by most folks around them, who buy into the same assumptions. if you don’t have what everyone else has, that means you’re weird–even cheap and tasteless, maybe even a FAILURE–and there’s something WRONG with you. (Eeeeewww, Formica countertops? How tacky and DATED!!) Meanwhile, the house flippers, granite ‘n’ travertine importers, and manufacturers of wood-look plank flooring (why does this stuff even exist?) are laughing all the way to the bank.
But here’s the irony. Since US-American culture also values independence and individualism, we have to *feel* that we’re expressing their own individual taste even if we’re really not. It feels adventurous to gut a 1960s atomic kitchen or 1930s-40s Streamline Moderne bathroom because now we’re going to put our own mark on this house and make it OURS, dammit. And then people spend lots and lots of money to put in commercial-quality stainless steel appliances (even people who pretty much just use the fridge and microwave) and granite countertops and travertine (or travertine-look porcelain) all over the floors and up the walls and brushed nickel hardware and a Medusa mosaic (OK, maybe not that), just like everyone else.
End of rant.
Penny in CO says
Thanks for photographing this beautiful room for us, Pam, and BIG thanks to Mary, Duane & Molly too.
Is this the only room in the house that has been left intact? Does the kitchen still retain parts of its original construction? I’d love to see more of the house.
Pam Kueber says
The house is all original.
Felicia Alexander says
Yes, please–more pictures, if Duane and Molly allow it!
meb says
Definitely offer smelling salts for reach article on this house, Pam. If the quality and preservation of the rest of the house is anything like this bath, we’ll require it! ????
s carr says
Who in the world would destroy the beauty of this bathroom?
Hannah says
So so gorgeous! It’s the little things in life that make me happy- like this small save of something beautiful, functional, and timeless….in our world that discards and disregards in search of (cheap) thrills. Congratulations on your new home!
Nancy L says
We have a similar medicine cabinet in one of our bathrooms. We probably lived there 6 months before we discovered that the two mirrors on the ends open up.
Pam Kueber says
Yes, I surprised Mary and Duane by opening them right up!
Christine says
That. Bathroom. That. Floor. OMG.
meb says
Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes.Yes. ????
Maggie G says
This looks so similar to my parents bath and powder rooms. Just different color schemes! Theirs are kind of a blush and turquoise. Love it! ❤
Nancy says
I’m thinking it should be required of all new tile-setters to study how the old baths were done, just so they know the potential artistry of their field.
This should be one of the examples–who would have thought that floor tile could resemble a tartan?
Felicia Alexander says
Yes, indeed! (And–preview of things to come–I’m hoping to find just such a highly skilled tile setter once my husband and I close on a wonderful 1962 time capsule next month in Albuquerque. Photos and lots of questions for you folks coming after closing!)
kara says
That is perfection
RAnderson says
Fabulous, gorgeous, superfragilisticexpialidocious! What a save! You probably couldn’t exactly duplicate that bathroom today, but if you could it’d cost a fortune! My folks had that same sink in the house they built in 1952…memories! Hope they enjoy it!