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  • Home » Bathroom Help Category -- Also note those subcategories in the orange navigation, above! » readers and their bathrooms » The brown and yellow bathroom upstairs in Mary & Duane’s 1948 Cape Cod house

    The brown and yellow bathroom upstairs in Mary & Duane’s 1948 Cape Cod house

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    Posted by: Pam Kueber • September 21, 2017

    Last week, we took a look inside the glamorous black-tiled 1948 master bathroom at Mary and Duane’s house, and now, let’s examine the upstairs bathroom. It, too, has an unusual color combination that we don’t see often in postwar bathrooms — brown wall tiles and yellow fixtures. And it, too, is in spectacular, high-quality, time-capsule shape, as if it had been built yesterday.

    The house was in one family all these years, so some stories came with it. Word is, the upstairs in this little Cape Cod house was finished out by dad, a plumbing contractor, for a daughter in the family was either living at home while she went to school or had just started her first job after finishing school. Oops, I forget.

    So, upstairs, there is a living area… a second, small kitchen… a bedroom, and various closets. 

    Remember: In 1948, many folks — including where I live, in Massachusetts — had the “Cape Cod” style in their sites as their “dream home.” The Cape Cod style was broadly publicized — and popularized nationwide — by Massachusetts’ own and my favorite architect Royal Barry Wills. It’s a is classic Colonial look… it’s a charming livable style… and folks could “grow” into it by initially only completing the downstairs, then, when their family grew in size, finish the upstairs. More photos to come of the rest of the house (I’m milkin’ it), but you can bet: There’s knotty pine involved in this house, too! No pink bathrooms, though! These homeowners were fashion-forward, going against the (pink) grain! 

    Now, all the lovely details:
    So there you go: A love letter to a little 1948 brown-and-yellow bathroom, right down to the original Crane shower rod escutcheon.  

    • Want to see more stories about readers and their bathrooms? See our complete archive here.

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    Comments

    1. Eartha Kitsch says

      August 9, 2018 at 9:08 am

      This color combination is so great!

      Reply
    2. Phyllis says

      August 9, 2018 at 12:30 pm

      That ceramic sink faucet is wild! And it also looks like the nose on a face ^_^

      Reply
      • Pam Kueber says

        August 9, 2018 at 4:53 pm

        Yup, those vintage Cranes with the faucet molded into the sink were great!

        Reply
    3. Melita Lykiardopoulou says

      August 11, 2018 at 11:53 am

      Awwww, Pat, thank you for – yet another – beauty! And thank you for detailing the sink towel bars. Now, if only we could find a source for them ….
      Melita

      Reply
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