1957 Mid-century modern house project intro
It all started innocently enough. We had been married about a year and were living in a nice enough house in a vinyl village, complete with a single solitary tree in the yard. The plan was to find a slightly bigger house with a basement, and maybe a bigger yard with trees, plural. A shorter commute to work was in the plans too. Then, on the first day of looking at houses, we saw “Space House.” Check it out at our local master of MCM cermonies’ site, Atomic Indy, for some photos.
Our Realtor™ probably had no idea how prophetic it was for her to tell us that the house ruined the search process for us. I didn’t know what mid-century modern was at the time, but I knew I wanted it. And so, the hunt was on. Over 50 houses later and halfway through another tour, my wife asked if I was ready to put in an offer on this house. We did, and are now the proud owners of a house that has smaller bedrooms, no basement, and is farther from work. We did get the yard, quite a few trees, some wildlife, and a couple cats at no extra charge. I’d like to think we got a bit of style as well.
So, what does the house look like? Here’s a shot of it the first time we came to see it:
Front of the house
My favorite part of the house is probably the back yard. It’s pretty secluded by way of the house itself and the trees all around. The covered patio was great as it allowed us to spend some time outside even during cool or rainy weather.
Lofely wife with realtor in lovely yard
I feel pretty comfortable saying that I like blue more than the average person. I have a couple “bass boat blue” (think the giant metal flake paint jobs you see on bass boats) Schwinn Homegrown mountain bikes to prove it. That said, this bathroom may be a bit much even for me.
This is what some might call a blue bathroom.
You only get a hint of the toilet in this shot, and miss out on the blue tile around the shower as well as the sink, but you get the idea. The yellow tile wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it stays for now. The toilet was a subject of lively debate as it is a one-piece design which I discovered was not appropriate for a vintage 50s house, courtesy of Retro Rennovation. I appreciate a toilet that’s built for speed, but figured this thing was awfully low and fat to be of the fifties. My wife and I debated this point, with her contending that it was still possible that it was the original toilet, until I discovered that the nice people at Eljer date their toilet tank lids. Our toilet features a “born on” date of August 26, 1977. Who knew you could get so excited about a toilet?
Here’s the more questionable bathroom. Don’t get me wrong, it’s perfectly nice, and I have no doubt that the person that did it thought it was absolutely killer. It’s just that it’s like walking into a completely different house when you turn the corner from the master bedroom into the master bathroom.
The offending bathroom
Check out the sweet sponge paint on the wall. I think it really makes it all come together, and applaud their dedication in carrying it through the HVAC vent covers as well as the speaker grates for the intercom.
So, now to the more interesting stuff. The house was in great condition though some of the paint, wallpaper, and lighting left quite a bit to be desired, at least for our tastes. Our initial project required removal of some wallpaper in the kitchen and replacement of the chandelier therein, closely followed by replacement of the light on the front porch. The other big hitters are a pretty heinous ceiling fan, some lighting over the dining table/pool table, and some sort of alternative to the 70s acoustical tile on the ceiling of the great room. That all leads to the big project, fixing the bathroom. We’ve been in the house just over four months and are definitely a bit behind schedule, but we’re hoping to have most of this resolved sometime later this spring. We’ll see how far off I am on that guess later on…
So, soon enough I’ll have a post or two dedicated to the work done thus far, hopefully with less words and more photos.
Mid-Century, your telling is delightful. Keep the words.
From the posting, I cannot tell what part of the country the house is in. Portland, Oregon?
Marcia, thanks for the kind words. I certainly wouldn’t mind being in Portland, but we’re actually on the north side of Indianapolis.
The sponge paint plus the countertop — wow.
That’s not a sentence, is is? I just don’t know what to say.
love the post! looking forward to seeing the progress…and yay for homegrown mtn bikes (and mtn bikes in general!)
The bathrooms look nice, probably made by someone who knows his stuff.
lovely house! front and back. Like the landscaping in front too. Im in similar boat with a 50s ranch here in TX. love the gold trim on the bathroom. How bout some purple to match the other one!
Shower bench, you’re right…it is very well-built, which makes it somewhat difficult to tear it out but we’ll either re-use it ourselves or find someone else that will. We just don’t think it fits the home, and my wife needs a proper soaking tub, so something’s got to give.
Vid, thanks for the compliments. I think my wife would definitely love purple.
Marcia is right, it does look like a Portland-area house and setting. That bathroom is certainly not offensive but it looks more seventies or eighties with those square flush ceiling fixtures, the self-rimming sink, and what appears to be a granite countertop.