What happens in 1959 when you are building a house, and you are a plumber, and your brother, a tiler. You end up with three — count ’em: Three! — close-to-original condition, lollipop-pastel-colored tile 1959 bathrooms in your house. Carolyn is just the second owner of this treasure chest, and she isn’t changing anything. Yesterday we looked at Carolyn’s amazing pink bathroom — oh, that Cinderella! Today: her blue bathroom, vintage wallpaper still intact.
Nearly-original condition: There appears to be a newer toilet, and it’s possible the wallpaper is newer — although it may well be original — and all that said: It all looks so very well maintained! I also spy: A Hall-Mack Revolving toothbrush holder aka “Concealed Lavatory Unit”.
Carolyn writes:
I really am lucky! Just for the heck of it, here’s the blue bathroom.
The main treat here is the three extra nozzles which squirt you in the middle. I imagine these aren’t too common in 1959 unless you happen to be getting a house dreamt up by a plumber. Just to round out my palette, I also have a yellow powder room. So lucky!
Best,
Carolyn
Thank you for sharing, Carolyn! Gorgeous!
Resources for pastel tile bathrooms:
- Need help with your vintage bathroom — want to create one of our own — or just want to see more? See all my Bathroom Research here.
Mary Elizabeth says
I, too, am interested in hearing about the process of finding the house and being taken through by the realtor. Luckily, when I was looking at mid-century houses I had a realtor who didn’t make judgements about what her clients liked or didn’t like. The seller’s agent, however, was against her keeping the pink and gray bath and the knotty pine kitchen with laminate counters–kept insisting the house would never sell if she didn’t tear them out and replace them with stock white cabinets, granite and subway tile. She resisted. After I thanked her for not gutting the house, she told me her father built those things and she wasn’t about to rip them out.
Carolyn says
I think both the seller’s realtor and my realtor were a bit befuddled, but also interested enough in selling a house that they just sat back and watched. The seller was a bit saddened when I asked if he had saved the old light fixtures (alas, no) because I know he would have really liked me to have them.
Carolyn says
I’m afraid to brag any more — but I did I say the plumber’s dad was a stone mason? The man could build a hick of a fireplace.
Pam Kueber says
Oh my!
Allison says
Another alternative for sprucing up grungy grout. Comes in white and colors.
https://www.amazon.com/Grout-Pen-White-Ideal-Restore/dp/B006LMFJS4/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1528940549&sr=1-4&keywords=grout+pen&dpID=51R8AxKxvOL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Connie says
Thanks!!
Karin says
Hi, Great story. It’s such a pleasure to see your bathrooms. May I share my experience? I’ve used my home floor steam cleaner’s spout attachment on darkened floor tile grout. The hot steam cleaned the grout very well.
Alison French-Tubo says
Karin, thank you for sharing your suggestion, I have been considering buying a steamer specifically for my 1959 grout and this makes me more hopeful it would work.
Jennifer Drouin says
You could also see about having your tile steam cleaned and then you could have sealed. I believe Stanley Steamer company also does tile steaming.
Pam Kueber says
Great suggestion, Jennifer! I’ve heard of this working well for folks.
Connie says
Those are pristine! Does anyone have any suggestions and/or recommendations on how to get mine looking like that? Original 1947 tiles in my bathroom but the previous owners didn’t take very good care of the tile and grout. I’ve tried every Pintrest thing I could find but the grout is so grungy in spots. Really can’t afford a professional to come in.
Pam Kueber says
I think it’s very difficult to get grout to look clean once the dirt and chemicals in water have soaked into it. You can regrout yourself, there are special tools — be sure to check for vintage nastiness first. https://retrorenovation.com/renovate-safe
I’ve had some luck with ROG cream, note, it’s relatively expensive, and my grout is newer. That said, I’d say: Be sure to seal right away after any cleaning. Wipe down your tile after every shower etc — chemicals in water are culprits.
Other than that, as I usually say: Consult with experts, like at a good tile store, etc.
Mary Elizabeth says
Regarding wiping down the tile after every shower–I have been doing it since we repaired the plastic tile in our bath 6 years ago. I use a microfiber cloth hung in the shower for the purpose. It takes me only between 60 and 80 seconds, and it is well worth it, as I rarely need to use cleaner on the tile.
Carolyn says
I’d like to go back to the beginning – do you recall or still have the ad for the house? Can you share when the realtor opened it up to you? I’m wondering if you were just looking for a 3 bdrm house, it happened to have 3 baths, and you went in and swooned? And the realtor’s reaction.
Carolyn says
The short answer is, yes, I still have the listing. But, I’m not going to share it because this is a public forum and it would give my actual address and selling price.
Short answer #2: the online photos did not show the true glory of the house. And it was priced above my maximum price point (which turned out to be a great thing because it would have sold long before I got there.)
But, since you asked, and if you have the patience, I’ll tell you the journey. Warning: it was a long one.
I had been looking pretty passively for quite some time (2 years!). My main objectives were not this dream house, but school district, commute time and affordability. Minimum three bedrooms. I looked A LOT. I kept trying to convince myself that glass tile and granite tile were not so bad. But, it was depressing, and I could never pull the trigger.
There is a neighborhood in my area that has totally awesome, affordable mid-century homes I drooled over. But, also a substandard school district. So, I couldn’t pull the trigger.
I saw this house and “favorited” it on an online realty site, even though it was beyond my budget. I liked the photo of the pink bathroom but assumed the condition would be like those of others I’d seen-needing lots of work (and $$). I drove by one day but decided not to pursue it.
I also talked to a lot of people about my dilemma-asked about other neighborhoods to consider. One day, hearing of my distaste for granite, someone mentioned a tiny development they knew of which had a little enclave of mid-century ranchers. When I went online later, lo and behold, one was for sale. I made an appointment to see it. In my email confirmation, it asked if I wanted to add a tour of this (MY!) nearby house had “favorited.” I figured, why not, it was only an extra 10 minutes. The price had recently dropped a little but was still outside my comfort zone.
I liked the rancher quite a bit. But, it was small and I couldn’t figure out how to make it work for my family. We moved on. A few minutes into the walk-though, I was in love with this house, still above my price point. The vibe was so much better and more than the photos. The condition was so well-loved. I talked to the realtor the next day and she convinced me that we could put it a bid below asking. After all, it had been on the market for TWO years!
I’m leaving out the part about me sweating and having to endure an open house and practically spitting at other innocents that came to look at the open house. And the flat tire I got because I was just too excited and pulled in too close to the curb.
The original plumber-builder had passed away and it was being sold as an estate (by his two sons who were raised there, also plumbers). They originally priced high, and could have likely fetched it, except the typical buyer looked at it and factored in the cost of updating the original kitchen and 3 baths and walked away. They had moved from “By sale by owner” through two realtors. I can see by the photos that I lost some wonderful pinch pleat curtains, a few totally cool light fixtures, and wallpaper, but luckily the kitchen and baths remain intact.
I did write a “love letter” with my offer. In other words, in addition to the official paperwork, I wrote the sellers a personal letter about how much I loved the house, how impressed I was with their maintainence and how I intended to preserve it. Love letters are not common in my area, but are routine in some tight real estate markets such as LA, the only other place I’ve ever bought and sold. I do think it helped me.
I needed minimum 3 bedrooms (and got 4, which is perfect) and never, ever imagined I could even dream of 3 bathrooms. I am insanely lucky and happy, which is what motivates me to share it with this like-minded community.
So, I think the morals of the story, for other seekers is:
-don’t rely solely on online photos
-don’t get scared away by asking price (depending on your market)
-be patient and
-dreams can come true
Pam Kueber says
Fantastic story. I will probably make it its own blog post. Love:
Marilyn says
I would love to see the yellow bathroom my Uncle and Aunt had the blue.
Carol says
Thanks for posting Carolyn! It looks to be in great condition. From the photo, it looks like the shower is larger than normal. If so, you really lucked out! Please keep on sharing!
Caroln says
Thanks again. This is the first time I ever had a shower that wasn’t over a tub so I don’t have a grasp of normal size, but no matter what, I certainly ode feel I lucked out.
Beth says
WOW, another wonderful bathroom in this 1959 house! Thanks so much for sharing Carolyn! I hope you are going to share the yellow powder room too (and any other neat parts of your new home).
Carolyn says
Thanks. Pam will get tired of me.But, I do have a neat kitchen, too. Original everything except the fridge. I commented to the sellers on my amazement of the great condition of the (turquoise boomerang) linoleum counters. “Well, Mom never cooked.” They told me.
Carol says
When do we get to see the kitchen?!!!
Carolyn says
Truth be told, I bought the house because of the hall mark tooth brush holders. I had never seen such a cool thing before.