Vintage memories.

[mikael3]

One of the houses I grew up in was sold last year, and I’ve saved the pictures from the real estate site. 

 

The kitchen still has the knotty pine cabinets and vaguely “colonial” black hinges and pulls.  I can’t believe all of it is still there!  There have been some changes, though. 

 

The cabinets to the left of the refrigerator (top and bottom) used to be on the facing wall.  That wall is now blank, as in the second picture.  Moving them made more room for the kitchen table, which was a really good idea.

 

There used to be a dishwasher to the right of the sink.  It was a grand old built-in Kitchenaid KD-12 in coppertone.  It has been replaced by additional cabinets.  I am amazed at how close they got to the original, but there is still a slight difference in color, visible in the third picture.

 

The countertops and floor are obviously new.  The formica tops with chrome-edging were still in place when I lived there, and there was a linoleum floor.  I can’t remember the patterns, but the countertops were blue.

 

All the appliances  in the house were coppertone, even the washer and dryer in the basement.  At some point, my parents sent the frames to a body shop to be re-painted with a plain chocolate brown.  I remember that, but I’m not sure how many years passed between re-painting them and buying a new stove and refrigerator. 

 

The stove in the picture is, I swear, the same one my parents bought 40 years ago!!  It’s a 40″, more or less, which I think was still widely available back then.  It’s a Whirlpool and it may be a replacement for the one I remember, but I doubt it.  I have no memory of the unit that came before it, other than the color.  The refrigerator is obviously newer than anything we had.  Ours was a Frigidaire of some sort, as I recall.  Our new appliances were originally painted almond, of course, the color of the ’80s.  But the dishwasher, washer, and dryer were coppertone or chocolate brown as long as I lived there.

 

The hood over the stove is the original, just as I remember it, but I can’t read the brand and I can’t figure out what it is. It still looks good!

 

 

[this post was last edited: 11/17/2019-13:46]

 

[mikael3]

Shockingly, the two bathrooms in the house are also largely as I remember them. 

 

The first couple of pictures are of the “big bathroom”, as we called it.  It’s not quite a blue-and-pink bathroom, since the tiles are gray rather than blue.  But all the fixtures were originally pink, including the toilet and tub.  It’s really too bad they were replaced.  The floor was linoleum when I lived there.  I vaguely remember that it was gray with pink accents that looks like broken bits of pink angelini pasta.  I think I would recognize it if I ever saw it again.

 

The other picture is a view of the “little bathroom”, which is actually the lavatory for the master bedroom.  It’s all tan and brown, which is not a combination I associate much with the late ’50s.  The brown sink has been replaced with a really ugly mess—too bad.  There were no shots of the toilet.

 

I’m fairly certain there were medicine cabinets over the sinks in both bathrooms.  The current lights and mirrors are clearly recent additions.

 

It’s amazing how much charm and whimsy and quality work went into those little ranch houses of the ’50s.  They’re still wonderful 60 years later.

[this post was last edited: 11/17/2019-15:50]

 

[iowabear]

Beautiful home in wonderful condition.

 

Somebody must have needed cabinet space very badly remove the dishwasher and spend the money to have a matching cabinet and drawer constructed.  I used to work with a woman who did the same thing though.  They actually built the house with a dishwasher because her husband insisted, but she never wanted it, never used it and finally got her way and had it removed.  She wasn't concerned about resale as she said she was there for life.

 

[lordkenmore]

>It’s amazing how much charm and whimsy and quality work went into those little ranch houses of the ’50s. They’re still wonderful 60 years later.

Yes.

It's funny, but my appreciation is growing... I never really appreciated that era or even thought much about it when I was young. Possibly because it was seemingly too new (I was always vintage minded, I guess!) or else too common, too usual in my life.

Now I find myself liking those houses better (although it's not probably a #1 choice). Part of it is probably that that era is getting older (again, I'm vintage minded). Some is sentiment--it reminds me a different era in my life. And then there is just the newer house designs I've seen--which are intended to fulfill the same "hold a typical family" requirement--that, in comparison, leave me feeling cold.

The sad thing: buyers often don't appreciate this. They buy a 1950s house, and turn into a 2019 house--or at least give it a good shot trying to--by the time they gut and "remodel" the kitchen and bathroom.

 

[vacerator]

Range looks like a

70's Kelvinator. Rustic solid pine cabinetry in kitchen. Unless one wants another style, nothing wrong with them. The gray tile in the bath is always in style. I would have the lavitory basin regalzed anothet color, and trash the shower doors. I despise cleaning those type is all.

 

[lordkenmore]

>Somebody must have needed cabinet space very badly remove the dishwasher and spend the money to have a matching cabinet and drawer constructed.

I know that one can never have enough cupboards...but I cannot honestly imagine taking a dishwasher out to get more cupboard space! Not even in a kitchen with severely limited cupboard space.

But then...I'm a lazy slob who hates doing dishes! LOL