Embracing MCM and retro houses and decor

7 years ago

This house in Lennox, MA was recently featured on a local TV show:

Pam's philosophy

"This blog has lots about *modest, mid-century, middle-class* homes — ranches, Capes, Colonials, split-levels, contemporaries, bungalows. I also write about sleek *mid-century modern homes*… I love them all, but admit that I tend to worry more about the modest homes (themselves full of charm) being at more serious risk of being gutted, with regrets to follow later. Interestingly, both mid-century modern and mid-century modest homes shared many of the same technological features and design cues (like pink bathrooms) inside. For further info see my Mid-Century Modest Manifesto and my micro-siteSaveThePinkBathrooms.com.

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aimeekm

7 years ago

I tend to worry more about the modest homes (themselves full of charm) being at more serious risk of being gutted,

I agree with this. My first home, purchased 5 years ago was definitely mid century modest. I twas built in 1949 and is 768 sq ft, prototypical post WW2 track home. It was in a working/middle class neighborhood, low priced for SoCal, but not inexpensive by national standards. I decided to embrace the midcentury modest aesthetic, for both budgetery reason, and because I appreciated the style. But my decision was definitely atypical, and many friend quietly thought I was a little crazy.

I don't know if we will do our bathroom in pink, but we do want color tile. If so, DH says we are not moving because someone would just rip it out. Our home is definitely the mid-century modest she describes.

When I sold my home earlier this year, it was for more $'s per sq ft than any of the comps. I had multiple offers, over list the first week. This is partially because it is a hot sellers market, partially because I had practical upgrades like central air and automatic sprinklers, and I'd like to think partially because of the mid-century design details. t

The kitchen:

Original cabinets, the tile counter and backsplash redone to replicated the original (damaged) tile, 1980's sheet vinyl replaced with VCT to get a linoleum look, without the Marmoleum price, new paint, etc

Before:

After:

The bathroom:

Replaced with fiberglass enclosure with period appropriate tile and reglazed the tub to match, to avoid replacement costs of a nonstandard sized tub, new paint, etc.

Before:

After:

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Comments (9)

palimpsest
7 years ago
I follow this blog and though I don't completely agree with everything, it is a very informative site that occupies a niche that needs to be occupied.
User
7 years ago
I follow it, too, even though it's a few years younger than my focus time. I would take a pink bathroom, though.
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Yes, your are right awm03, I guess I should have titled my thread differently as many people who are not into MCM are into vintage and retro and the site offers lots of great stuff for them too. Being a MCM fan myself I have all the MCM sites memorized and they never seem to get updated with new stuff. I got carried away with MCM glee when I found this site. Flyleft, can you give the web address for the *House Tours* site. Google only gives pages and pages of real estate for sale with those keywords, and www.housetours.com goes to a spam page. So does .net
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Your plumbing setup looks perfect for a pedestal sink. You just need to change the old valves and plastic drain for chrome ones. Larger pedestal sinks (42” or more) are available at places like Vintage Tub and Bath or Signature Hardware online. Some Barkeeper’s Friend would help you to clean up those tiles. Have you had a chance to see what is under that flooring yet? You have the opportunity to have a really nice bathroom here. You may be able to find some patterned cement or cement-like tiles with black AND green in them for your shower. Don’t hurry things unnecessarily, take your time. As long as you have a working toilet in the home, you can get by with showers at a gym. We did that for 6 weeks while our only full bathroom was under construction last summer.
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palimpsest
7 years ago
I was planning a pink bathroom, Kohler Innocent Blush anyway, but Kohler discontinued the color a few years ago.
Bonnie
Original Author
7 years ago
We had a pink master bathroom when we bought this house. We redid it a few years ago. The bathrooms of houses built in the 60's were solid!
PRO
Anglophilia
7 years ago
That kitchen looks like a St Charles metal one. Nothing modest of middle class about the price of them at the time.

I was born in 1943 and MCM is still all too familiar to me. NOT a fan unless it was done by a designer and done very expensively.
gsciencechick
7 years ago
Yes, those are St. Charles cabinets. She got those from a former cooking school run by nuns.

I don't know if we will do our bathroom in pink, but we do want color tile. If so, DH says we are not moving because someone would just rip it out. Our home is definitely the mid-century modest she describes.
User
7 years ago
Yay aimeekm! Its so nice to see your former house appreciated instead of destroyed with granite counter tops. What a beautiful stove! I cook on a 40s O'keefe and Merrit everyday and wouldn't trade it for the world. :)

In addition to retrorenovation, nopatternrequired.com is a fun site for those of us who love mid century homes and decor. Lots of great resources on both sites.
Sochi
7 years ago
I love the mcm pink bathrooms. Almost bought a spectacular mcm house 8 years ago with truly stunning original pink and blue bathrooms. I'm sure whoever bought the house gutted them. I still dream of that house from time to time. Maybe one day. I like this blog too, haven't visited it in a while, thanks for the post.

Embracing MCM and retro houses and decor

aimeekm

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