Show us your vintage home!

[Wally_Hood]

Here's a link to a realtor in Palm Springs who lists some midcentury modern homes, 1950s forward. Scroll around and find some photos. William Holden's home is listed on the site.

http://www.paulkaplanrealtor.com/

 

[plain old dave]

Will post more when I get home, but I now live in Oak Ridge, TN. Oak Ridge is called "The Secret City" because 1/3 of the Manhattan Project happened at home.

Brief history, which will make my vintage home make more sense:

In mid-1942, the US Government seized several thousand acres of Roane and Anderson County, TN farmland to put a 100% self-contained community and THREE plants to make atomic weapons material on (to this day, Dept. Of Energy employees are considered by OR residents to work "at the plants" regardless of their function). All housing on the Townsite was prefabricated, whether dormotory, apartments or individual housing. Individual units were titled "A", "B", or "Cemesto".

The "A" was the smallest unit that was allocated to an individual family, and to bring your whole FAMILY to Oak Ridge (a city that didn't exist on any map until 1946 and was an Army Corps of Engineers facility closed to the public called the "Clinton Engineer Works" til 1949) you had to be pretty important. My wife and I are the proud owners of an "A" home in Oak Ridge. Consider:

I live in a town that played a key role in US victory in WW2 through production adn research for the Manhattan Project.

Oak Ridge further helped change the course of world history, and continues to do so at the National Defense Research Laboratory.

My home was built in 1943, when they still weren't even sure the A-Bomb would work.

The original resident of my home, a member of America's Greatest Generation, played a relatively important role in winning WW2, the keystone event of the Golden Era.

All that said, I am on my 2 weeks with the Navy Reserve (yesterday was my 20 year anniversary in the USN) and will take some pix when I get home. I believe the tub is Government Issue and I would like to restore it.

 

[cookie]

The tiles are a shade of sea green, in the photos they pick up a lot of outside light and the true color isn't represented.

I will snap a few more shots so you can see what I mean.

You would have trouble replacing them as they look vitreous and would have to be specially made/fired.

 

[Phineas Lamour]

Closing next month on my home! Built in 1925. We looked at another one that was built in 1917 but we went with the "newer" one. The older one is still for sale and very cheap if anyone is in central Florida or would like to move here. In just over 2 weeks I will be a vintage homeowner.

 

[tuppence]

This was my beloved 1929 home, sold because my ex and I broke up When we bought it, it had all the wrong fittings for the era and was painted disgusting 80s colours etc. We used original deco colors and I found reproduction light fittings and switches to bring it all back to how it should be . I love this era because it is classy and simple and I dislike clutter.

We also filled it full of art deco furniture and art from the era. I hated leaving the place it was very special to me.

What a shame
That dining room is to die for

 

[tuppence]

Here are a few shots of the lobby of my building in the Bronx. It was designed by architect Hyman Feldman. The cornerstone was laid in 1937, and it was finished in 1939. I've posted pics of the exterior before, but the lobby is worth a look all by itself.

This is the view from the entrance. It's really 2 buildings hooked together, sharing one lobby. There an elevator in the foreground, and another in the distance for the north half of the building.

The lobby is dominated by a huge mosaic of Diana the Huntress, that is in deplorable condition.

I'd gladly live in the lobby
I wonder who you can appeal to, to get the mosaic restored.

 

[scotrace]

1920's

 

[Warden]

I have posted this picture of Edna and I before. The honest truth is we live in a modern house, but when photos are taken at certain angles we can get away with it.

Harry

 

[dhermann1]

I'd gladly live in the lobby
I wonder who you can appeal to, to get the mosaic restored.

This building was pretty upscale when it opened in 1939, but has now become a very middle class demographic. It's mostly upwardly mobile working class people who are trying to get the most for their money in the expensive NYC housing market. We have a fairly low monthly maintenance conmpared to fancier buildings in other parts of the city.
So nobody here is going to vote for an assessment of God knows how much money to do the restoration. I'm not sure, but I suspect it would cost thousands to do a proper professional restoration, and because it's in a private dwelling, not a public building, no foundation or other benefactor is going to pony up.
So it sits, and crumbles.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Scotrace - I absolutely love the built-ins in your house. My favorite thing about homes built in the 1920's.

 

[AmateisGal]

Absolutely gorgeous. I have serious envy right now.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I was a little too groggy to get photos but here's what happened in our vintage home last night:

At about 3:30AM, I was partially awakened by a couple of our cats scrambling into the bedroom and pouncing on the bed - and me. I also sort of felt something small bounce off my shoulder and 'flap' onto the bed right between my gal and me. Then, I heard this odd 'chipchipchipchip...' sound right next to me, so I leaned up on one elbow and in the darkened room, without benefit of my glasses, I could see we had a BAT laying spread-eagle right there on the bed!!

Little sucker was about 6" from wingtip to wingtip. I don't know how he got in, but I suspect the cats pursued him into the bedroom as he flew near the ceiling, and then without being able to effectively 'read' the ceiling fan with his sonar, was struck by one of it's paddles.

Before he could regain his senses I placed a pillow over him and then got a T-shirt to sort of net him so I could carry him downstairs. Out in front of the house, I opened it up and he took a couple of those creepy, crawling kind of steps bats do and then he flew away into the night with hopefully no more than a little headache.

 

[StetsonHomburg]

Beautiful, just beautiful!!!

 

[undertaker]

My Collection

My wife has given me one room to put my "junk" as it is called around here. So here are some shots of "My Room". The house is fairly new but the contents are not.

I guess they will have a nice Yard Sale some day.

Regards,
J.S.

 

[Novella]

I'm currently finishing up a job out in coastal southern Maine. A perk of the position was a chance to live in a historic house. I live in the servants quarter wing built in the 1930s. The main half of the house is thought to originate with a one-room structure built around 1700, which was then added on to over the following 200 years.

The room I live in is furnished - little in it is mine. It is mostly a mishmash of furniture from the 20th century. My favorite part might be the bathtub. The main house is part of a museum and is completely decked out in historic wares - though the theme is the former owner's colonial revival passion, which isn't my piece of pie.

The house from the backyard and the flower and Victory garden. It's been an experience! Though I'm ready to go home now.

Back home in Los Angeles I live in an apartment built in the 1940s. I haven't figured out the particular date yet. I took pictures right before moving in, but haven't taken too many of the place since then. These were taken as we started to move things in:

This is where the fridge eventually made its way to. It was a ridiculous feat to get the fridge in here. That door leads to a tiny back stairwell, so the fridge had to be brought in through the main stairs and front door and into the living room. Unfortunately the doorframe between the living room and the kitchen is so tiny that that fridge wouldn't fit through the door! I had to take the doors off the fridge in order to shimmy the fridge through the doorframe to get it squeezed into place in the kitchen. Any thoughts on this one?

I looooove the curved wall.

There are great hardwood floors all over.

And one when the place was a little more moved into:

My roommate's dog chasing lights reflecting off my watch.

 

[Ada Vice]

I need tips on how to make my new bedroom a boudoir without it looking like some kind of brothel lol. Is this the right thread to ask or should I start a new one?

I have a lovely chaise I'm recovering and also working on a dressing screen, and I already have a large dresser with a mirror attached. Just wondering what kind of rugs to buy/look for and just any tips really.

 

[Miss sofia]

Sounds lovely, i love screens and have one too in the boudoir, i also have an old persian rug down on the floor, which works, in fact i have them down on most floors in my house as they seem to work with most styles of decor, even my kitsch red fifties dining room, and they give my bedroom that look of faded opulence i was going for! I would recommend something like that personally, or perhaps a vintage or vintage styled floral rug. Actually most of my friends have a good laugh because most of my house is very retro and my bedroom looks like Lillie Langtry's dressing room!

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"Syrie Maughms, sitting room of 1933 has always been my inspiration along with Jean-Michael Frank"

 

[Ada Vice]

Sounds lovely, i love screens and have one too in the boudoir, i also have an old persian rug down on the floor, which works, in fact i have them down on most floors in my house as they seem to work with most styles of decor, even my kitsch red fifties dining room, and they give my bedroom that look of faded opulence i was going for! I would recommend something like that personally, or perhaps a vintage or vintage styled floral rug. Actually most of my friends have a good laugh because most of my house is very retro and my bedroom looks like Lillie Langtry's dressing room!

Oooh that sounds lovely, I think a Persian rug might do it.

Love your drinks cabinet BinkieBaumont

 

[bettydarling]

1920's Home

Hi all, I've been busy doing some decorating over the past few weeks, my folks have a 1930s home with lots of quirky little features, one of which is this Alico range/stove I did a little paint job on it, heres the before and after on it! Originally it was matt black unlike the enamel 30s one on the link above, then it was painted with gloss green which aged considerably and took all the light out of the already dark kitchen, so I think/hope this is a more fitting update which accommodates some lovely vintage china and glass.

Theres some more images of some other vintage-inspired DIY projects on my blog