A 1948 Streamline/Art Moderne Home in Washington County. Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour XIII, April 16, 2011

From the descriptive booklet: This home is like none other you will ever see. What at a glance might appear to be a modest 1949 ranch house quickly evolves into a high style "Streamline" or Art Moderne home upon closer examination. (Stick around all the way through the photos that I took--you will be very, very thrilled that you did.) Before you set off on the post, be sure to read an interesting article about the home. Now for a real treat before you look at the photos that I took when I visited the home. Here is the real estate listing about this outta sight house! Followed by a link to the realtor's photos. The realtor is Kathryn Madison of the Windermere Cronin & Caplan Realty Group, Inc. If you read the article and click on the link to the photos, you will enhance your virtual tour.

Raleigh Park Atomic Ranch
October 11th, 2010
This home I recently listed created such a buzz in the realtor community it drew 70 brokers to the professional open house. What’s so special? Rarely do we see a midcentury in such pristine condition. And not pristine condition of a home that wasn’t so hot to begin with- we’ve all seen those. This home was obviously custom built with high end materials, sited beautifully on a .38 acre lot in a great neighborhood.So many features were marveled over on the tour- the honeycombed glass on either side of the main doorway is not only beautiful, but functional. The glass panels swing out to allow fresh air in- and then hidden screens pull down over the space. The living room fireplace is a graceful curve of wood. Beyond the fireplace is a floor to ceiling window that takes in the sunny level backyard. The kitchen is completely original with it’s white masonite walls trimmed in metal. Most cabinet doors are rounded. A rounded built in cabinet repeats the shape above in glass display shelves. Beyond that is a restaurant style booth with an industrial glass table top and a stainless riveted base right of of a rocket ship. The booth is surrounded by a wraparound window.Two of the four baths are pristine masonite with glass block windows- the colors are neutral- not the burgundys and aqua blues one might expect in a vintage bath.The house is currently decorated with a vintage eye, but the home could go Dwell very easily for a super sleek mid century modern look. $459,000
Check out the photos and pass on to your mid century loving friends. Contact me for a private tour.


If you've looked at my blog over the years, you realize how enamored I am with vintage vehicles. I couldn't believe this Thunderbird sitting in the driveway! Once I got inside the house, I completely lost my mind and forgot to ask what year the car is. Do you know?


Look at the sweep of the trunk lid, the tail lights, the fins, the angle of the back window up inside the roof of the car!


I entered through the front door, excited after reading about this house and hearing others on the tour who had started by visiting in, although it was the last one in the booklet. (Before I left I learned that the glass panel on the left of the door swivels open lengthwise--the man of the house went through it to ring the doorbell at the request of a person on the tour. Way cool. I assume that the other one swivels open, too.) The volunteer greeter told everyone who entered to be sure to go inside each of the two bathrooms and shut the door to get the full effect. Interesting.


A sunken living room, the first one I have ever seen in person. My jaw dropped when I saw it. I kept thinking, "I've walked into a movie; I've walked into a movie." I think the wall color is truest in this photo and the next one--too much light in the other three.












The dining room is fantastic.






Love this entire room--it's on the front of the house opposite the dining room.












I went in the hall bathroom and shut the door--aha!






I went in the master bedroom's bathroom and shut the door--aha, again!






Lovely, simply lovely.




The kitchen in this house combines clean lines reflective of the 1930s, with a 1949 "kitchen of tomorrow," including glass built-in shelves, and a glass and chrome built-in table.





The original cabinetry contains smooth curved lines and Marlite was used throughout. This kitchen also sports an original top-load dishwasher integrated into the kitchen sink cabinetry.

In Hosford-Abernethy, My Second Bungalow. Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour XIII, April 16, 2011

I took this photo from the driver's window of my Zipcar, after I had been inside enjoying another fine kitchen.

From the descriptive booklet: Taking a most unusual approach to their project, the owners chose to restore their kitchen back to period. Their goal was not a "period inspired" look, but to actually recreate how the kitchen could have appeared when the home was built in 1909. Before the 1920's built-in kitchen cabinetry was rare. Instead, kitchen furniture, such as Hoosiers, baker's tables, hutches, and large cast iron sinks were often used. Plumbing was frequently left exposed--sometimes because the plumbing was brought into an existing home--but also to keep air circulating around the pipes. In the early 20th century, it was thought that condensation on pipes might allow germs to grown. The air circulation also kept the pipes from freezing.







The owners were lucky that previous remodels hadn't completely altered the original layout of the kitchen and somehow the large china cabinet had survived. All the woodwork is original, with the exception of the wainscoting along the sink wall. The wall mounted sink is period appropriate, as are the Hoosier and the enamel-topped cabinet. The new Marmoleum plant flooring is stylistically similar to design trends from 1909. The wall-mounted shelves are new, but are constructed of local fir and mail order brackets, just like in the old days.

A couple more photos of the bungalow.




Come back tomorrow for my favorite house on the tour!

Sunnyside Neighborhood Bungalow: Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour XIII, April 16, 2011

By the time I got to this house, it was raining so I don't have an exterior shot, but I managed to get several of the kitchen.


From the line crossing the countertop to the bottom of the photo, the surface is a drop-down counter.

From the booklet: When this couple bought their Sunnyside Bungalow, the remaining original kitchen cabinetry was heavily painted and topped with red Formica. Ten years later they were finally ready to take on a kitchen renovation. In 2010, they partnered with Chris Wisdom who shared their vision of a modern functional kitchen. Taking inspiration from kitchen tours, architecture books, and the homes of friends and neighbors, their "kitchen revival" is truly befitting of this workingman's bungalow.




From the booklet: Nook benches feature under the seat storage, a shallow wall houses a spice rack, swing-up doors hide the microwave, and a drop-down counter adds extra space as needed.


From the booklet: A period Hoosier is echoed in the sliding panels of the hutch, and the deep window sill over the sink matches an existing one in the front room. A new cabinet where the chimney was located became a "California Cooler," but with bins ventilated into the basement rather than outside. (I didn't ask where the California cooler is, though.)


A mix of colors and materials, including a Marmoleum tiled floor, dark grouted subway tile, and soapstone counters near the sink give the room a casual, lived-in feel. Recycled fir from an old Portland trolley stop on the counters and in the nook matches the floors in the rest of the house.


Here you can see the floor, beneath the stereo cabinet. They're beautiful.

An Arts & Crafts home in Laurelhurst. Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour XIII, April 16, 2011

The third house I visit had the happiest kitchen I've ever been privileged to be inside.


From the booklet: Constructed in 1922 for real estate businessman Ferdinand Reed, this beautiful Arts & Crafts home hides a special surprise--a breath-taking Depression-era kitchen in near-mint condition. Given a complete makeover in the 1930s using the most current materials, the kitchen features floors, countertops and lower walls of original white tile with stunning borders and accents glazed in transparent aqua/seafoam green, while the upper walls and built-in cabinets were resurfaced in matching, aluminum-edged pressboard panels (possibly Marlite, introduced in 1930) for a Streamline look.



I stood in the middle of the room, smiling and smiling. Immediately I felt so happy to be there, in all of that light, beneath those high ceilings. I love that the colors on the tiles are described as transparent. I think that help them absorb and reflect light. Lovely.


The sink sports a wall-mounted faucet from the 1950s, unusual soap and cup niches, and charming half doors below that allow both visual screening and ventilation. The butler's pantry behind the kitchen was similarly modernized, as well as the small room adjacent to it where the original refrigerator was located (converted to a half bath in 2003). A new refrigerator now resides in a former storage cabinet, and a dishwasher is tucked into a former grain bin.


However, the real star of this kitchen can be sensed in its absence. A new vintage-style range with flanking cabinets sits rather awkwardly in the dramatically tiled spot that was originally the home to...


...a top-of-the-line Hotpoint electric range, which is currently perched on its elegant high legs in the basement, awaiting rewiring and restoration to its rightful place at the center of this remarkable kitchen.


Don't ask me how they are going to get the stove into the kitchen--these are the stairs I walked down to take the photo of it. I forgot to ask. But I have faith that it shall be done. And I believe I heard someone say that those light fixtures over the stove will also be gone, once the Hotpoint comes home.


Staircase to upstairs.


Built-in in the dining room, original to the house I overheard.


There is a twin of this cabinet, not original to the house, right across the opening between the dining room and the living room.


This cabinet in on the living room wall and backs up to the cabinet in the previous picture. It seemed to me to be a bookcase with doors--perfect. I think there was one opposite it, a twin, just like the two cabinets in the dining room. You can see the front window reflected in the glass door.


The front wall of the house with more cabinets and a bench seat. I should have checked to see if it opened, but all I could think about at the time was, "Wow. These two rooms are huge. And look at all of the beautiful wood."


Look, there's robin on the wire! Fun.