Don’t be upset if your house was built in 1955, never redecorated, and needs some repairs. According to The Wall Street Journal, Midcentury Modern houses in original condition are selling to those who like the midcentury look — a house with original fireplace, kitchen, wall paper, bathrooms and lots and lots of windows. If it is by a famous architect like Philip Johnson, Albert Frey, Richard Neutra or Morris Lapidus, it can sell for an added 40 percent. Old features like a pink kitchen with a linoleum floor, a “Skylark Formica” countertop with a boomerang design by Raymond Loewy, and a pink refrigerator and stove are also a plus. The living room should be a classic L-shaped space with a floating fireplace and built-in furniture. The space continued to the dining area and kitchen. The collectors of special fifties houses will have a hard time adjusting to the lack of display space, lack of storage space, and the lack of privacy because of the large windows and the small bathrooms. I’m in a house built in 1955 and every room has been repainted or papered, and every bathroom enlarged. The living room has divider walls to make a dining room and kitchen with all new appliances. We have added closets and turned our original two-car garage into an office with bookshelves on every wall. The new garage holds three cars and storage cupboards. And because I’m a collector, there is clutter.
Photo: Joe Schmelzer/The Wall Street Journal
No Mid Century Modern anything for me. Put me in a Queen Anne Victorian or Carpenter Gothic Stick, or Greek Revival and fill it with turn of the century (1870- 1910) furnishings and you will have one happy camper. Ah, to each his own. So, please, take the Mid century modern and have fun with it, but count me out!
Love me some mid century, especially California style!
I grew up as a kid in the 60’s in a house with real knotty pine wood walls – not paneling like there is today, and a built in bed. We had the black and white tile floors in the kitchen that is retro now. I was born in 1955, so the house would probably have been built back in the 40’s to early 50’s.