TheSamba.com :: View topic - Lets Talk About Mid-Century Residential Architecture

Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:14 pm

This thread is a spin-off of the "So Who Lives In Their Own House" thread because that thread was starting to branch into other interesting topics of discussion. Here is a picture of Bub's house from the other thread.

Anybody live in a 40s-70s house that's got some cool mod features? Ours has bright yellow "cracked ice" pattern formica countertops with a built in restaurant style booth done up in blue glitter vinyl. The whole downstairs is a big knotty pine panelled rumpus room with a shuffleboard court set into the floor. I'll post up some pictures tomorrow.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:40 pm

That's a very interesting use of the lay of the land!

Nice one Bub

Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:41 pm

yeah mine is the opposite. all the water comes into my yard since the land is sloped towards the house :cry:

Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:44 pm

Jimmy1 has (or had) a kickass piece of mid century history. There are a few photos of it in his gallery, in the background of the photos he took of his bus project.

This is the only one of his pictures that shows the whole front of the house. The entire right end of the house is two story picture windows looking out of the vaulted living room. Awesome. The kitchen was original, too (or at least it was) and IIRC the appliances were pink. Photo doesn't do it justice.

I used to mow the lawn of that house when I was a kid, for the old lady that used to live there.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:48 pm

I think I recall Steve F posting some pics of his old house in another thread, I'll bet he would enjoy this thread.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:45 pm

Hi Woody,

My house was built in 1955. Originally, it had some neat original features such as brass door hardware, metal kitchen cabinets, neat metal wall heat registers and tile window sills throughout. Attached are a couple neat, old pictures which give the house some character........

The first picture you see is where the phone used to be. It folds down into a makeshift table. There are lots of old names, phone numbers and addresses. Quite neat.

Old sticker with the fire departments phone number.....

In this third and final picture, you may be able to make some names, etc on the edge of the shelves. The original owner of the house, used to run a pottery business out of her basement. The shelves are labeled for her different projects. There are lots of hooks and shelves where she used to hang her wares.

God bless you and yours.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:08 pm

Lee., I'm not sure if you noted the significance of the turquoise paint color prevelant in your first couple of pictures. The color is quite accurate for the time period, and if you also have the salmon color anywhere else in your home, it's an added bonus.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:25 pm

Underneath our kitchen table that is built into the booth, the kids in the first family to have the house wrote underneath it from time to time. It's quite a time capsule back to a time when teenagers were more innocent. I like to go under there and lie on my back and look up at it and imagine those kids under there with their markers back in the mid fifties. House was built in 1953

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:42 pm

Nater wrote: I think I recall Steve F posting some pics of his old house in another thread, I'll bet he would enjoy this thread.

my crib was built in 1822 and doesnt really fit into this "mid century.... thing" but i will enjoy the thread.

i found a plank in my house carved that says.... "who's this abe lincoln fool" :)

seriously though, its weird.....about 2 feet to my left right now is a door that was literally built in 1822 i gather. its friggin old and looks the part. the latch is pretty cool.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:44 pm

Emily's Owner wrote: Lee., I'm not sure if you noted the significance of the turquoise paint color prevelant in your first couple of pictures. The color is quite accurate for the time period, and if you also have the salmon color anywhere else in your home, it's an added bonus.

Interesting. The turquoise paint is in all the unfinished original areas. It's also on one wall in the garage. The tile in the window sills is a salmon/orangish color. Most of the house is updated and most of the original things have been replaced. I do have a cool bathroom that was remodeled in the 70's/80's with confetti colored linolieum, pink wall tile and lots of chrome. :D

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:47 pm

Hey...cool. I see, new topic! :lol:
Anyway, as far as my house goes (up above) it actually got pretty interesting after we learned more.
It's custom built (we have ALL the original drawings/plans from 58'). Strangely: The guy who became my boss- after we had already bought the house- is married to the granddaughter-in-law (whatever) of the guy who designed and built the place.
She's told me that it's gone through a few different sort of minor facelifts- but she would stay with her grandparents when she was in high school (mid 70's) and she said the whole interior of the house was a kind of electric blue and pink.
She says the kitchen was *space-age* and that the fridge and stove were originally built into one corner and "blended" so that they looked exactly like kitchen cabinets- and they all were shiney blue she says. The original blue laminate is still under the late 70's puke yellow.
The whole layout is architecturally odd- the rooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc...are all built *around* the stairs and the big white pillar in the living room. So from this picture you can walk straight ahead, left into the kitchen, left again through a little area passed a bathroom, into a bedroom, and left THROUGH the bedroom into the living room where you started- NO hallways. Straight up *M.C. Escher style!*

Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:56 pm

I love mid-century architecture. I receive DWELL magazine monthly and they usually showcase a famous architect from the era. It's amazing to look at a completely modern stucco structure on a hillside in California, fully assuming it was built last year only to find out it was designed and built in the mid-fifties. There's a run-down turd of a rancher not too far from me that has a flat roof, huge floor to ceiling windows and giant overhangs. It actually has a bridge from the front yard across a small gully filled with overgrown bushes. I daydream about bringing that place back to it's original glory.

My wife and I also looked at a Japanese influenced house when we were looking at buying. It was featured in Sunset when It was new in the early sixties. The house consisted of 8 giant timbers three stories tall with walkways on the outside of the house where you could walk from room to room on the OUTSIDE. It had a mezzanine in the living room (which was the whole three stories tall) as well as a coy pond and sunken tub done in tiny turquoise tiles. I LOVED that house, but somebody had redone a bunch of it in the 80's. The kitchen was disgusting and they actually took out all the Japanese sliding doors and put in regular doors. The landscaping was all underlit and there was a control panel for all the lights outside and inside that looked like some thing from Star Trek. It was slightly out of our price range.

Life sucks.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:05 pm

I would love to live in an Eichler, but can't afford it!

Check out Atomic Ranch magazine! http://www.atomic-ranch.com/

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:20 pm

This guy with a 356 has a nice site about his Eichler home:
http://totheweb.com/eichler/

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:35 pm

Bub, I recognize that dining room set. Smoked polycarbonate. That was the shit in like 1979. A friend of my parents bought a set new and I thought it was ugly. I didn't realize what it was until I read about them a few years ago. The front door is sweet, too. They are made again now, along with a couple similar designs.

Our house is a pretty nondescript standard 50s rancher. All the yellow mahogany trim and doors inside is original, never molested. The PO had all new double pane wood casement windows custom milled and made to match. The replacement windows alone were $26k ten years ago. Lot is half an acre. I bought a 36" commercial walk-behind mower (if anyone besides Rich's 50 knows what that is) just to mow the damn thing.

Pics of the interior in a little bit.

Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:52 pm

EverettB wrote: This guy with a 356 has a nice site about his Eichler home:
http://totheweb.com/eichler/

I live in a heavily populated Eichler area. The biggest downfall is the heating bills are steep in the winter. Otherwise, they rock!

Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:13 pm

Designed in 1963 by a graduate of the USC architecture school who studied along with some of the Case Study architects. Lot of redwood and glass, almost all original. We bought it right after the earthquake and riots when there were bargains to be had. :D
It's on a really steep hill so next big earthquake that comes along we'll probably be surfing down the hill to the street below us.

Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:37 pm

t3kg wrote:

.
I would LOVE to see some interior shots. That place looks awesome.

Sat Feb 02, 2008 8:27 pm

My kid's house.
http://www.realtor.com/realestate/dana+point-ca-92624-1089668401/
Tell your friends to buy it so he can cut down on his 150 mi/ day round trip commute.

Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:35 pm

myzamboni wrote: EverettB wrote: This guy with a 356 has a nice site about his Eichler home:
http://totheweb.com/eichler/

I live in a heavily populated Eichler area. The biggest downfall is the heating bills are steep in the winter. Otherwise, they rock!

I read that they weren't insulated too good because that new fangled invention known as nuclear power was supposed to heat your home for pennies a month!

There are now companies that can provide energy efficient windows for the Eichler.

Everett, I had seen that website before and forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder.