One of the things I fondly remember from my childhood is visiting my grandmother at her home. They lived just a short distance up the road, so we had a chance to visit rather frequently.
Just after all the children left home (my parents, aunt & uncle), they had this home built to retire to in about 1964. Because they enjoyed the warm, tropical climates of Florida and the Caribbean, they had a home built that reflected their enjoyment of this part of the world. It was for all intents and purposes, was a typical 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 sq.ft rancher built slab on grade, but it was much more interesting than specifications alone can describe because of the personality they put into it. It may have looked odd, seeing sort of a "tropical Paradise" in the temperate climate here in Virginia, but it was a magical, unique place.
The home was built in sort of a "Miami-Modern" style. Since they had traveled, and even had a vacation home in the Keys for a while, they built their rancher to reflect the homes there. Unique to this area was the home's flat roof with large overhangs, and the large, "crank out" windows with the little glass slats. The home had a combination of red brick, and flagstone on the outside in typical mid-century style. My grandmother was an avid gardener, and she enjoyed growing unique and exotic plants. The big windows of the house afforded a beautiful view of her handiwork in the gardens. In the springtime, the home exploded with color and beauty of a tropical island when all the plants bloomed.
Inside, the home was filled with all the modern technology and extras of the time. My grandfather worked as an engineer at Reynolds Metals, and worked out some sort of deal with General Electric in designing the spine fin coils they used to use. He obtained 5 zone-line heat pumps, sort of like what is used in hotels, to heat and cool the home. When the weather got too cool for the heat pumps to do the job, the radiant floor heating would kick in. Playing on the warm floors was always nice! The home was the talk of the neighborhood because of the simple fact that they had air conditioning. Their Neighbors would gather in the air conditioned back porch during the summer to look out over the back yard and chat it up, and have cookouts. She had a large fishnet on the back wall of the porch, with a collection of shells tied to it that she had collected from beaches in the islands...each one had a story behind it!
There was an intercom system throughout the house that, and I thought it was so intriguing to talk to them throug it. Even the bathrooms in the home were modern, featuring glass shower doors, exhaust fans, and turquoise plumbing fixtures.
My grandparents would invite us over after church to have dinner, and I remember my sister and I helping my grandmother cook up the Sunday dinner. It was totally fun because her kitchen had all the modern amenities, like a big 40 inch GE range with dual timer ovens, and a light over it's busy control panel that made it look like a spaceship. Her cabinetry was sleek, modern polished wood with sliding doors, and the "boomerang" style countertops were home to all sorts of nifty small appliances she let use use. After dinner, cleanup was a breeze because she had a garbage disposer. She let me press the button, and it would let out all sorts of growls and gurgles. She would tell me a big dragon was under the sink eating up all the waste...I would be scared to open the cabinet under the sink. The dishes were then ready to go into her mobile maid dishwasher, which chugged away while she visited with us and told us about their latest travels.
The unique thing about her home was that it had a combined kitchen, dining, and living room..something that's rather common nowadays, but was totally unique back then. The living room was on the back of the house too which was unique. Througout the house were space-age looking light fixtures, and very unusual, modern furniture. Grandma enjoyed the open rooms becasue while meals were being prepared, she could still visit with everyone while cooking. One of the things I though was absloutely magical was when Grandpa got out the 8mm movie projector to show us some vacation footage. He had motorized shades and a screen in the living room what would drop down at the touch of a button to cover the big windows. We would all gather around the projector to look at their adventures on film. For some reason, the Caribbean islands have always looked better on film than they do on TV!
When Grandma would keep us overnight, she enjoyed playing records for us on their old Scott stereo. It was built into the cabinetry in the living room, and the sound came out of the speakers on the ends of the cabinets. I enjoyed crawling over to the speaker and leaning my back against it to feel the vibrations. I would sleep in their guest bedroom on a neat bed that would flip up against the wall during the day, and she would flip down at night. I would stare at the interesting light fixture in the ceiling, and fall asleep dream of defending the earth against space aliens and that was their spacecraft!
The house was sold while I was in college, and before I had the resources to purchase it once Grandma went into the nursing home, and I sure wish I could have bought the home to keep it in the family. And keep it true to it's appearance. I drove by it the other day, and it just didn't look the same.
The big crank-out windows that I remember feeling the breese blow through had been replaced with smaller double-hung windows, and siding panels were used to shrink the size of the opening to fit the standard size. Gone were all the tropical plants, and in their place, more plain, maintaince free landscaping from this area. The house's brick had been painted, and so had it's flagstone. It certainly doesn't look like the tropical paradise anymore that my grandparents had built, but instead looked like someone's hopeless attempt at crossing country cottage with spanish mediterranean
I imagine the mid-century modern appearance in the home that I thought was so fascinating and a part of their character has now been replaced with a more conventional look. My grandparents enjoyed entertaining people, partying, traveling, and enjoying living a good life, and their home reflected that. Still, I have many of the appliances that my Grandmother had, along with many of her recepies, so I can enjoy the memories of her in my kitchen...and in my own gardens, since I transplanted many of of their plants from my parent's home to mine...I can still here her greeting me with "HOWDY!" when I smell her recipes cooking in my own kitchen!
Just after all the children left home (my parents, aunt & uncle), they had this home built to retire to in about 1964. Because they enjoyed the warm, tropical climates of Florida and the Caribbean, they had a home built that reflected their enjoyment of this part of the world. It was for all intents and purposes, was a typical 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1400 sq.ft rancher built slab on grade, but it was much more interesting than specifications alone can describe because of the personality they put into it. It may have looked odd, seeing sort of a "tropical Paradise" in the temperate climate here in Virginia, but it was a magical, unique place.
The home was built in sort of a "Miami-Modern" style. Since they had traveled, and even had a vacation home in the Keys for a while, they built their rancher to reflect the homes there. Unique to this area was the home's flat roof with large overhangs, and the large, "crank out" windows with the little glass slats. The home had a combination of red brick, and flagstone on the outside in typical mid-century style. My grandmother was an avid gardener, and she enjoyed growing unique and exotic plants. The big windows of the house afforded a beautiful view of her handiwork in the gardens. In the springtime, the home exploded with color and beauty of a tropical island when all the plants bloomed.
Inside, the home was filled with all the modern technology and extras of the time. My grandfather worked as an engineer at Reynolds Metals, and worked out some sort of deal with General Electric in designing the spine fin coils they used to use. He obtained 5 zone-line heat pumps, sort of like what is used in hotels, to heat and cool the home. When the weather got too cool for the heat pumps to do the job, the radiant floor heating would kick in. Playing on the warm floors was always nice! The home was the talk of the neighborhood because of the simple fact that they had air conditioning. Their Neighbors would gather in the air conditioned back porch during the summer to look out over the back yard and chat it up, and have cookouts. She had a large fishnet on the back wall of the porch, with a collection of shells tied to it that she had collected from beaches in the islands...each one had a story behind it!
There was an intercom system throughout the house that, and I thought it was so intriguing to talk to them throug it. Even the bathrooms in the home were modern, featuring glass shower doors, exhaust fans, and turquoise plumbing fixtures.
My grandparents would invite us over after church to have dinner, and I remember my sister and I helping my grandmother cook up the Sunday dinner. It was totally fun because her kitchen had all the modern amenities, like a big 40 inch GE range with dual timer ovens, and a light over it's busy control panel that made it look like a spaceship. Her cabinetry was sleek, modern polished wood with sliding doors, and the "boomerang" style countertops were home to all sorts of nifty small appliances she let use use. After dinner, cleanup was a breeze because she had a garbage disposer. She let me press the button, and it would let out all sorts of growls and gurgles. She would tell me a big dragon was under the sink eating up all the waste...I would be scared to open the cabinet under the sink. The dishes were then ready to go into her mobile maid dishwasher, which chugged away while she visited with us and told us about their latest travels.
The unique thing about her home was that it had a combined kitchen, dining, and living room..something that's rather common nowadays, but was totally unique back then. The living room was on the back of the house too which was unique. Througout the house were space-age looking light fixtures, and very unusual, modern furniture. Grandma enjoyed the open rooms becasue while meals were being prepared, she could still visit with everyone while cooking. One of the things I though was absloutely magical was when Grandpa got out the 8mm movie projector to show us some vacation footage. He had motorized shades and a screen in the living room what would drop down at the touch of a button to cover the big windows. We would all gather around the projector to look at their adventures on film. For some reason, the Caribbean islands have always looked better on film than they do on TV!
When Grandma would keep us overnight, she enjoyed playing records for us on their old Scott stereo. It was built into the cabinetry in the living room, and the sound came out of the speakers on the ends of the cabinets. I enjoyed crawling over to the speaker and leaning my back against it to feel the vibrations. I would sleep in their guest bedroom on a neat bed that would flip up against the wall during the day, and she would flip down at night. I would stare at the interesting light fixture in the ceiling, and fall asleep dream of defending the earth against space aliens and that was their spacecraft!
The house was sold while I was in college, and before I had the resources to purchase it once Grandma went into the nursing home, and I sure wish I could have bought the home to keep it in the family. And keep it true to it's appearance. I drove by it the other day, and it just didn't look the same.
The big crank-out windows that I remember feeling the breese blow through had been replaced with smaller double-hung windows, and siding panels were used to shrink the size of the opening to fit the standard size. Gone were all the tropical plants, and in their place, more plain, maintaince free landscaping from this area. The house's brick had been painted, and so had it's flagstone. It certainly doesn't look like the tropical paradise anymore that my grandparents had built, but instead looked like someone's hopeless attempt at crossing country cottage with spanish mediterranean
I imagine the mid-century modern appearance in the home that I thought was so fascinating and a part of their character has now been replaced with a more conventional look. My grandparents enjoyed entertaining people, partying, traveling, and enjoying living a good life, and their home reflected that. Still, I have many of the appliances that my Grandmother had, along with many of her recepies, so I can enjoy the memories of her in my kitchen...and in my own gardens, since I transplanted many of of their plants from my parent's home to mine...I can still here her greeting me with "HOWDY!" when I smell her recipes cooking in my own kitchen!
