1955 house perfectly preserved

[oldhouseman]

I bet everybody here would love to have a get together in this place -and everybody here would want to move right in.

http://www.2204stephen.com/index.shtml

 

[blackstone]

What? No Heywood-Wakefield?

 

[whirlaway]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fabuuuuuulous.I wonder if thats a Flash-o-matic Zenith TV

 

[appliguy]

Does anyone find this hard to believe.....

Why would anyone decorate the upper level and put a tv in the living room if they were not going to use that level of the house? Why also would the repalce the toilet in the bathroom (it does not have a chrome handle but a cheap plastic modern one) and why would they replace the fridge and the stove if the were barely ever used ecspecially since they are portraying this as a time capsule house?? It just does not make any since to me...but I hope who ever buys it buys the furnishings too and cherishes it and keeps it like it is...PAT COFFEY

 

[petek]

I'm also slightly suspicious... note the new handheld shower

 

[travis]

Fascinating

Poor big Magic Chef is out in the garage.

 

[polkanut]

There are many things not quite right with that house that make me doubt it's authentic 1950's. The stove, handheld shower, and toilet are just some of the things that jump out at me.

 

[statenislandgwm]

Look even closer...

In the living room there is a curio cabinet which looks 70s to me. In the kitchen there is a modern toaster oven and a trash can with a plastic liner in it which suggest that the kitchen is used, also if you look at picture 5 you can see a ceiling fan thru the kitchen doorway which actually you can see clearly in picture 24 along with a dimmer switch to the left of the window. The wall tiles in the kitchen also look new, if they were original most likely they would have been colored with a different color border.

 

[statenislandgwm]

Also....

In one pic of the kitchen there is only the large canister on the counter yet in another pic all 4 are there...looks staged to me.

 

[danemodsandy]

Actually Pretty Nice:

While there are some changes from original, that house is remarkably intact for one of that period. The late '60s and early '70s were very rough on those houses - a lot of people suddenly decided they just had to have Mediterranean furniture, orange (or avocado) shag carpet, dark wood panelling, vinyl kitchen flooring that looked (sort of) like brown-and-orange Spanish tile, and lots of ornate lamps hanging from chains. In my work, I've seen quite a few house owners spend very good money to get this 1950s look back into a vintage house.

What I find intriguing is the references to the previous owners living mostly on what the Realtor refers to as the "lower level." That's a basement, and if the family lived down there to spare wear and tear on the rest of the house, all I can say is that they took "house-proud" to an extreme I've never seen before.

Very interesting survival. My main reservation would be the replacement siding. There are also modern storm windows, but that's not something I hold against a house, because energy efficiency is a necessity today, and storm windows, unlike those horrid vinyl "replacement" windows, are reversible; you can remove storm windows without having done much damage to the vintage prime windows. Just a few screw holes.

 

[petek]

Another thing is that the wooden kitchen chairs don't match the 50's chrome kitchen table which is odd. And besides who would live down there in an unfinished basement.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, at least they didn't stuff 800 cats in the place.

 

[gansky1]

Fabulous. Getting rarer for sure.

Yeah, this is in remarkable condition for it's age. Plumbing goes bad, toilets and faucets get replaced when owners either can no longer do the job and hire a plumber that will make replacement more cost effective than restoration of an old unit. The kitchen is amazing and those cabinets and Magic Chef range are real treasures. Everything has been kept meticulously clean through the years. Notice where the dryer vent elbows into the machine - it would have been an oldie for sure. Certainly staged to some degree for sale, it's still a neat find.

As a kid, I knew several families of friends that built a beautiful new home - and lived in the basement. They brought their old range and refrigerator with them to the new house and installed them in the basement. Their old, comfortable furniture was down there and that was where everyone gathered. The house my parents bought in 1986 was incredibly well maintained from 1962 - with a 70's basement remodel that was "stunning" to say the least. I should dig out some pictures, that was a beautiful home in near-original condition until we set it on fire the second day. The family had obviously spent much of their time downstairs. Wide open, large rooms were probably attractive for even small families and particularly inviting when entertaining larger groups.

 

[spankomatic]

Cool house! It reminds me of what it would have been like to go through a "model" home for this housing development back in 1955. I wonder if it has a 1955 Cadillac in the garage???

Jim

 

[JerseyMike]

Nice, very nice!

I had friends who had an awesome six room (seven if you counted the sun room) two bath home that was under used to put it mildly. We met in kindergarten and I spent a lot of time in their house while we were growing up. (The father died when I was in college. The mother died shortly after we graduated and the house was sold to settle the estate.) I was only allowed upstairs a handful of times. I couldn't help but notice thattThey spared no expense when it came to decorating their house. (Their couch was covered in plastic. I don't think that anyone ever sat on it.) I would just about anything to have the hand panted chandelier that was in their dining room.

The bedrooms and one of the two bathrooms were the only rooms that they ever used. They ate breakfast in their kitchen. I only saw them use their dining room once (for a surprise 60th birthday party, which really threw off the guest of honor -- he had never been allowed upstairs before.) I never saw them use their living room. Ditto the sunroom.

They spent just about every waking moment in their basement. They had a kitchen downstairs. The rest of the basement was unfinished. Their TV was in the basement. Their stereo was in the basement. Their Christmas tree was in the basement. They served holiday meals in the basement. (Their 1952 Frigidaire washer -- the one that I mention in their profile -- was in the basement, so I got to see in action quite frequently. I often wonder what happened to it.)

They were really great people. I have nothing but fond memories of both them and their house. We eventually drifted apart and I often wonder how they are doing. (They were a brother and a sister. I was friends with the brother.) The father didn't speak English very well. I can still remember their mother's very charming accent. They were very generous people. They would have given the shirts right off their backs and never asked anything in return.

They had two fig trees. (I remember helping to cover them for the winter. We always seemed to do that on the coldest day of the year.) They had a huge vegetable garden. (They had a double lot. A house was built where their vegetable garden used to be.) I also remember helping put up (and take down) their outdoor Christmas lights. Ah memories.

I suspect that the family that lived in this particular house was a lot like my friends's family.

My parents (who are in their 80's) could use a hand held shower. I wonder if this one was installed because the elderly owner could no longer manage getting into the tub.

Mike

 

[whirlcool]

I had an aunt that had a home in Chicago whose exterior was the same as this one. The floorplan was different however,

I think this is an extreme renovation. Everything is just too clean. If it just wasn't used, I think everything would have a film over it.

 

[appliguy]

More importantly......

In the description it says the lower level is where the occupants lived but it is nothing but an unfinished basement........and where was the kitchenette that is said to be down there?...PAT COFFEY

 

[pturo]

Just amazing! The ceramic walls in the kitchen give me ideas!

 

[petek]

We always had finished basements in the houses we lived in. Dad finished them in those awful fake wood panelboards with the fiberglas suspended ceilings etc and we all spent a good deal of time down there but we didn't live there. Well I did eventually having a bedroom. Moms current house they moved into 30 years ago has a nice 50's finished basement with a full kitchen. The original owners/builders were Polish or Ukraine or something, they (poles/ukraines) always had basement summer kitchens to escape the heat of boiling cabbage all day long LOL before the widespread use of central air.

 

[cadman]

I heard the stories about this house last month and apparently the first realtor the sellers went to recommended they gut the entire main level including replacing that stove. As I understand it, the stove has now been brought back into the kitchen. This started an interesting thread as others commented that they remember families leaving the upstairs pristine for guest and company and living in the basement. I guess this was common practice, especially with first generation emigrants in this country. As it was said, the upstairs oven in this house was only ever used 20 some times I believe; only for thanksgiving turkey.

 

[launderess]

House Proud

Guess many of you youngsters didn't grow-up during the 1950's through 1960's or even 1970's.

In many homes the family hardly ever used the living room and or dining room except for company and special occasions. Televisons were located in bed rooms (for those wealthy enough to afford more than one), or in the "family room", or "rumpus room" which is where most of the activity of day to day life took place.

Children were especially kept out of the formal living room and used the rumpus room or finished basement. Indeed one could always tell when company was coming over because we children got to sit in the living room and or go into the dining room. Even today on major holidays, in homes that have finished basements, often with complete kitchens, that is where most of the activity is going on.

It was either the above or the dreaded plastic covering over almost every surface in the living room. You don't know uncomfortable until you've sat on a sofa or chair covered in thick plastic wearing a short dress/skirt or shorts,on a hot day. One had to get up very carefully, usually peeling a layer of skin off in the process.

 

[customline]

I Don't Believe It.........

There is no way a family, individual, or whoever lived in this place resided solely in the basement. It is clear that the upper part of the house was resided in regularly. I have been through 1950's houses where nothing has been replaced due to a number of reasons. Mainly because the owners were just too cheap to do so, but this place is a treasure. Somebody else's thrift is another person's gain. The only problem is that some unwitting fool will buy this time capsule and not realize what is in front of them and gut and destroy it. Mid 50's modern will not be fully appreciated until decades from now. Victorian, "Country" and that garbage they call arts and crafts are the norm right now and the masses decorate as they see. I hope the right owner finds this treasure and keeps it the way it's suppose to be.

 

[retro-man]

We got to use the whole house. My parents built the house themselves and made sure to use the whole thing all the time. We had breakfast and dinner in the dining room every day. Lunches were served in the kitchen. We always had a 27 inch color tv after the 25 inch black and white tv in the living room and thats normally where we hung out, with the fireplace going in the winter. Another one of my jobs keep the wood box full and the fire going. We had a finished family room downstairs which was for parties and when my friends came over we hung out down there. Had a tv, stereo and all the usual stuff plus my grandmothers wood stove/oven from an early Sears catalogue.
Jon

 

[whirlcool]

Laundress:

You got it right how people used to use their living rooms and dining rooms back in the 50's.

My parents house was designed so that the kitchen was in the center of the house, the formal rooms were on the south side and the bedrooms and den were on the north side of the kitchen. There was no reason to ever go into the living room or dining room. When you went in the formal living room, you had to take your shoes off, the carpeting was off white. The dining room was only used for holiday meals when relatives would come over. We had an eat in kitchen for daily meals.

Our den was very comfortable compared to the formal living room (we just called it the living room) so we migrated to the den anyway. The living room was used mainly when salespersons and people who you didn't want to stay too long came calling. We used to joke about that. And there was no television in there either.

My parents always had a television in their bedroom. It was black and white until the early 70's when they bought a Zenith 17" color luggable. I always questioned them why they would want a television in the bedroom. To this day we don't have a television in our bedrooms. To us, bedrooms are for sleeping and other things ->!

In reviewing the photos of this house again, the one my aunt had was all brick, instead of siding. She had hers built in 1956. While the upstairs wasn't so big, the basement was huge. They also had a stove and a refrigerator down there too.

 

[spankomatic]

Living room rules...

We were never allowed in the living room as a child of the 60's. It was "out of bounds". Adults only! All the good breakable stuff was in there. It was only used when adult guests came over. It was the same for all the kids I grew up with. If I went over to a friends house I did not dare go into the living room.

Jim

 

[rp2813]

Yes, a couple of rules permanently etched into my brain are, "no food in the living room" (it was our only room that had a TV in it) and at the neighbor kids' house it was "use the back stairs." A mischevious lot they were; some chose to use the laundry chute instead.

 

[sdlee]

wow some of you guys....

Yeah Id say staged for sure but what a beautiful staging. Kudos to the one who pulled that off. Really the modern stove was the only real thing that was unforgivable.I loved the sofa, my garandparents had exactly that same one, only thiers was in the corner, they were fircely proud of how that thing wrapped the corner.

Well wow did I learn something from this thread.I didnt realize so many of you lived in such luxurous and esay times, the den? The Basement? seperate rooms for company or sales people?

Wow the house and/or houses I grew up in we all (all 7 of us) (and useaully a cast off cousin or two) had to live in every square inch of it. We lived in mostly two or three bedroom houses with a combined living room and kitchen. My family are kitchen crittters, you could put them in the Carrington Mansion from Dynasty and youd likely find most of them in the kitchen with butts on availbe chairs, counter tops or slunked on the floor.I am amazed.

Now we did end up with a big house which we promptly guttedand remodled but it had all the amenities, livng room, Den,formal dinning room. My parents put in archways so these three rooms all flowed into each other.

Thier bedroom was on the main floor next to the only bath which was utility and not luxury and then us kids were herded to the three bedrooms upstairs for sleeping arrangements
Still we were kitchen people.

I did catch the one rule that made me smile...no food in the living room. This was followed sometimes except on nites we had pot pies or tv dinners. And ofcorse durring the ABC movie of the week we were allowed to have popcorn.

Well Id like to be more jealous of you guys who seemed to have it all but I wouldnt trade my cramped memories for all the China's in your closets.

not meaning to offend anyone here, just offering another perspective

 

[jeffg]

In 1968 my mom went out and dropped $2000 (which was a lot of money back then) on a beautiful couch and loveseat, then proceeded to cover them with butt ugly off-white sofa covers. In 20+ years living there, the covers were taken off just two or three times, and I think one of those occasions was a visit by the Pope.

We kept asking her, what's the point of buying beautiful things if you're not going to use and enjoy them? It was so typical of that generation.

 

[toggleswitch2]

The outside portion of the central-air unit (in a residence) didn't exactly reek 1950's to me.

The gas "console-style" unit heater in the basment may indicate the basement was indeed inhabited. If both floors/lelvels of the home were used, it would be more likely that someone would have added vents in the basement to tap into the warm-air heating system. A separate heater MAY imply that the top floor was not heated much. [Or that they just wanted a non-electric gas heater for blackouts!]

The Mary-on-the-Half-Shell statue in the back was very much in keeping with the "style" of newly-arrived immigrants one seens in the boroughs of New York City.

The old stove may NOT pass inspection if the oven is match-lit.

 

[launderess]

No Eating In The Living Room!

Oh, that takes one back a bit! *LOL*

SDLee:

My parent's house wasn't large or even "Tara" sized by any standards. Just your typical surburban home, however my mother was determined to keep it clean and orderly, something which is hard to do with children and a husband roaming about.

Husbands and children are best confined to limited spaces (nursery,rumpus room, and or family room for children, den, his study or his shed/work-room for husbands),this way not only can one keep an eye on them, and one knows where they are, newpapers, toys, and god only knows what else stay in one area, much easier to clean (or rather have them clean), when "play time" is over. Both species tend to spill and drop things as well.

The tradition of not using the front parlor for anything but important guests or company has long existed in Europe and the UK, and grew as the middle class expanded into property ownership with homes of their own. Parlors were where one put the best one could afford in terms of furniture,knick-knacks, and such;all of which would be quickly worn out and or ruined by hard daily use. And nothing uses things harder than children.