December 5, 2019 • 16 mins
Understanding what's unusual about some of those original features - and also the history and the reasoning behind how they were built - will help you identify what's rare, cool, quirky, or valuable about your home. And in other cases, it will help you know when something about your home isn't that important to its overall character and you can modify it with a clean conscience.
In today's episode you'll hear ...
- The basic form of a ranch: garage, living space, and sleeping area all tucked under one continuous roofline. Plus, why the original MCM builders chose gable roofs over hip roofs and vice versa. [3:40]
- How to check your own neighborhood for interesting additions using google maps [4:45]
- Common cladding types: wood siding, brick and stone (spoiler alert: its mostly wood around here). [6:29]
- Window shapes [7:12]
- Mid-century front doors and what to do if yours has been replaced [9:05]
- Materials that tie in from outside to inside the house ... and why [10:37]
- WOOD ... structure, trim, flooring, panel and built ins [11:25]
- Built ins and privacy panels [12:55]
- Picking MCM appropriate paint colors [13:23]
- Why you might like to use my DIY Home Assessment Workbook to get to know the great features of your own MCM home and record all of it's key data points in one place. Become the expert in your own house! [14:53]
Find full show notes and links to resources mentioned at midmod-midwest.com/104
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm going to be talking about what I know best,
which is the builder basicMidwestern ranch built by the
millions across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey there.
Welcome back to mid mod remodel.
This is the show about updatingMCM homes, helping you match a
mid- century home to your modernlife.
I'm your host, Della Hansmann,architect and mid-century ranch
enthusiast.
(00:21):
You are listening to Season 1, Episode 4.
Last week we talked about howlife, and what we need from our
homes to live that life, haschanged since the mid-century
ranches were built.
Today we're talking about what aMidwestern mid-century home
looks like, and how you can getto know your own home well and
thoroughly.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The takeaway here is that knowing the history and
typical features of mid-centuryhome in your own area will help
you make good decisions as youwork on your home.
Knowing what's neat about someof those original features and
also the history and thereasoning behind how they were
built will help you identifywhat's rare, cool, quirky, or
valuable about your home.
And in other cases, it will helpyou know when something about
(01:01):
your home isn't that importantto its overall character and you
can modify it with a cleanconscience.
(01:06):
Remember we've already talked in Episode 1 about how the owner
of a mid-century home has anextra challenge in their
remodel.
People like you and I areswimming upstream against a tide
of HGTV style trends that don'tnecessarily mesh well with a
mid-century home and certainlydon't take a long view of what
will last over time.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I'm looking at you painted brick! Note
to know more about why paintingthe brick on your mid-century
home is probably a terribleidea.
Check the show notes for moredetailed opinions.
(01:36):
Following current trends while updating historic homes is how
we got all those horrificeighties kitchens hacked into
our charming atomic ranches.
We are better than that folks.
To avoid this outside pressure,you need to be the expert in
your home remodel.
You make the decisions and youlead your own design and
contracting team to the end youwant.
I'd like to give a shout out toa wise member of the Instagram
(01:57):
Mid Mod community@charlottemidmod who commented
last week,"Only you know how youlive and what's going to
function best for you.
Aesthetics are important, butfunction matters a whole bunch
too." You're so right,@charlottemidmod.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself.
This is why you need to be inthe driver's seat when you're
planning a roadmap to yourremodel.
(02:18):
This season is sponsored by theMid-century Solutions Package.
If you're planning a remodel andneed some help, getting to the
kernel of what will make thebest improvements to your home
and enhance its Mid Modcharacter, check out the
mid-century solutions package, astarter kit to help you focus
and prioritize your Mid Modupdate.
You can learn more about thepackage on my services page.
Now, this episode is going toinvolve a lot of describing how
(02:40):
mid-century homes look and work.
If you're looking for more infoor just for pictures to
illustrate what I mean by hippedroofs and Pickwick pine
paneling, you'll find the shownotes on my website, the notes
for this episode atwww.midmod-midwest/104.
All right, so let's get rightinto the defining features of
the Midwestern mid-centuryranch.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Now if you live in another part of the country- out
West, on the Eastern seaboard,or down South- you probably have
ranches like the ones I'm goingto describe and you also may
have other much more commonhouse types from the mid-century
period.
I'm going to be talking aboutwhat I know best, which is the
builder basic Midwestern ranch,built by the millions across the
country.
(03:18):
First I'll mention that there are a number of other variations
even within the Midwest.
You'll find the occasional jazzyflat roof, mid century home or
even something more adventurouslike a dramatic a frame or the
very rare butterfly-roofed housewhich has two roof slopes
pointing down towards the centerto form a valley.
That's not very common in placeswith snow loads like we have.
(03:40):
Your most typical(built in themillions from one sea to
another) ranch is going to berectangle or L-shaped with a
low-slope, triangular roof.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It's going to have three main parts of the house
garage, a main living area, anda bedroom area.
It might possibly be an L-shape,but it's more typically just a
simple rectangular form.It hasthat low-slope roof in one of
two variations:either a gableend or a hip roof.
(04:10):
The gable end is the most easy and cheap to frame- a simple
triangle that just extends alongthe entirety of the roof.
These houses don't perform quiteas well under wind loads or snow
loads.
Wind can catch that end triangleedge of the roof and lift up on
it.
So another improvement on thatwould be the hip roof, which has
(04:30):
a sloping element on all foursides.
It's more stable in wind andsnow and you can run a gutter to
manage rain runoff around allthe edges.
It's more complex and expensiveto build- which is why it's
slightly more rare from theearly mid-century period.
Now,I talked about how thesehouses are typically a single
rectangle or an L.
If they've been added onto- ifyou have a C-shaped plan or a
(04:53):
Z-shaped plan or an S, that'sprobably because some part of
the house has been added ontoover time: a n added rec room or
an increased garage.
These houses were intended to beadded onto.
Their simple structure and formmakes them very easy to remodel
and put on an addition.
1.
The single-story constructionjust means everything is a
little bit less complex.
2.
That stick built, 2X4 framed,rather than post and beam, means
(05:17):
you don't have to do a lot ofcomplicated engineering.
Each new part of the house willsupport only itself, rather than
needing to tie into an existing,calculated, engineered
structure, and.
3.That roof structure,particularly with a gable end,
it's very easy to throw a crossgable on and add it into the
structure of an existing gableroof without needing to
recalculate the whole house- oreven necessarily to re-roof it.
(05:39):
Although typically when someoneputs on an addition like that,
they'll end up recladding theentire roof so that the whole
thing matches and ages together.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For an example of this, I've got a great
distillation of my own area, andall of the different house
shapes you can find a two-blockradius of my own house.
I know, based on aerial photosof when these were built, that
each and every one of them wasoriginally no more than an L
shape.
Now we have infinite variety ofdifferent gable additions that
(06:09):
have been added on in theintervening generations.
It's kind of a fun exercise youcan do for yourself with just
your phone and your Google maps.
(06:17):
The structure of the house in the Midwest is typically held up
by framed walls rather than thepost and beam structure that is
more common or at least somewhatcommon on the West Coast
variation of the mid-centuryhouse.
The cladding of the walls ismost typically going to be wood
with a little decoration ofbrick or stone.
Much more rare is a fullybrick-walled house, although
(06:40):
you'll find regional variations.
That most common siding will bea wood-clad house, and it'll be
wide eight inch boards of Cedarin horizontal-lapped format.
There will usually be a bit ofvertical siding- usually right
by a front door, often around anarea with a picture window in
it.
That would be probably a tongueand groove panel system.
(07:01):
You might also find thatthere'll be a decorative knee
wall area which has stone orbrick.
This helps with theground-hugging, elongated
character of a mid-centuryranch.
You'll also find a wide varietyof window shapes on a
mid-century house, but the ruleof thumb is that they're going
to be more horizontal than theyare vertical.
So rather than a lot ofdouble-hung windows, one or two
(07:24):
per each room, you're going tofind a big picture style window
in the living area and bedroomswill have probably one vertical
egress window.
If they have a wall facing thestreet, they might just have a
strip of high windows that givevisual looks out, while keeping
privacy for people on the insidewho might be changing without
bothering to pull a curtain.
(07:45):
That living room picture windowhas a variety of forms also.
It might be a grid of smallerpanes, sometimes 3X3 or 3X4,
that are all fixed, or it mighthave some operable parts- an
awning window hinging at the top, or a hopper, hinging in or out
at the bottom.
Mine are pretty basic builder, aset of picture windows in the
(08:07):
living room.
It is one fixed large window inthe center, flanked by two
narrow double hung windows.
I should note that mine arereplaced.
They were replaced probablyabout 10 years before I bought
the house.
But looking at other homes inthe area, I think it's a pretty
typical arrangement.
When updating your windows, payattention to the style, and
(08:28):
think about the materials whenyou replace your windows.
This is a huge opportunity toimprove the insulation and air
seal of your house becausemodern windows are
technologically superior to thevintage ones.
But please don't replace yourwindows with one that have the
faux m ullions with all o f thelittle divided lights made in
little plastic grids that snapinto the front.
Try to avoid the cheap-outchoice of going with vinyl.
(08:51):
Vinyl i s a terrible materialfor the environment.
It's really, really dreadful forthe workers who have to
manufacture it.
So I highly recommend that youinvest in wood windows, possibly
with a metal cladding on theoutside for ease of longterm
maintenance.
Another mid-century standoutfeature is going to be the front
door.
If your house has an originalfront door, you may have some
(09:13):
fun arrangements of windows, orlights as they're called.
In my house, most of the door issolid, and at the top at eye
level there are three verticalwindows, about four inches wide
by 12 inches high that slantdown in the little slope.
That's very common for thisarea.
Another common front door typefor this area is a stack of
(09:35):
three squares, which are kind offun because they're sort of a
view out for standing height,adult child and dog.
I find those super charming.
If your front door has beenreplaced with something
historic-ish, for example, a bigoval of cut glass- I apologize
(09:55):
for the decisions of people inthe past.
I do recommend that you replacethat with a mid-century
appropriate front door becausethe front door is the first
impression of your house andreally important to the overall
street character.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Switching out vintage front door for a faux-historical
one is one of the most heinousmistakes that people have made
to the outside of ranch houses.
(Second only to replacing yourwood cladding with four-inch
wide vinyl horizontal strip- mynightmare.) If you have had a
sad replacement on your frontdoor, I recommend that you look
into replacing it with either anew one in a mid-century period
(10:29):
style, or check out your localrestore for vintage doors that
someone else may have mistakenlyremoved from their home that you
can salvage.
(10:37):
When we're talking about the interior features of the house,
we have to start by recognizingthe exterior because many
mid-century homes have a tie-inbetween their outside materials
and their inside ones.
For example, if you have a brickor field stone knee wall on the
outside of the house, you mayfind that you have the same
brick or field stone on yourfireplace or extending into your
entry.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
If so, preserve that.
It's a really fun call back tothe idea of indoor-outdoor flow
in mid-century houses.
In a California house of highdesign, you might find an entire
backyard wall of glass that youcan throw up in sliding doors
and just flow from the livingroom out to the patio.
In the Midwest, what you mighthave is the same kind of brick
on the front of your house andalso in the entry hall.
(11:19):
It's a bit of a comedown butit's having the same effect and
playing up that same idea, sostick to that and enhance it.
(11:25):
You're also going to find wood everywhere in a mid-century
house, and this wood will be ofhigher quality than you can
reasonably find today.
It was cut from old growthforests.
Even the pine will have a denserwood grain.
It will be noticeably heavier.
If you have to take any oldframing out of a house and hold
it up next to a modern 2X4,you'll feel the weight in your
hand, and you can see thedensity of the woodgrain when
(11:47):
you look at the cut ends.
You'll find that in theexcellent structure, but you
might also find it in narrowhardwood floors.
If you're lucky, you'll haveexisting hardwood floor in your
house from the original date andit might even be hidden under
later added wall-to-wall carpet.
If you want to learn more aboutthis, I have a detailed blog
post that talks about it.
I will link to it in the shownotes.
(12:08):
You'll also find wood trim(hopefully on painted), but it
has been, you can think aboutstripping it.
It will have beautiful grainunderneath.
You'll also find plywood andwood panel throughout the house.
This is a perfectlyperiod-appropriate material, and
I encourage you to think aboutkeeping it if it's in an all
good shape.
You might also find Pickwick orknotty pine paneling in your
(12:30):
basement, kitchen, rec room, anyattic space or garage.
If so, also think about keepingthat at least in part.
It can have an overwhelmingeffect to a modern eye, and it's
very tempting to follow HGTV andpaint it all white, but I
recommend that you embrace it.
I will include a link to retrorenovations, amazing survey of
(12:51):
Pickwick pine in the show notes.
Be sure to check it out.
A mid-century house is alsogoing to be absolutely chockfull
of built-in closets and storageniches.
You might find that you even arelucky enough to have an original
room divider that separates yourentry from your living room or
your living room for your diningroom made out of some sort of
interesting wood panel.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
If you do, please preserve it.
If you don't, this is an elementthat you might be able to
retroactively add to your houseand increase the mid-century
cool factor it wished it hadwhen it was built.
(13:23):
In terms of paint color, you can sometimes do a little
creative excavation to find outwhat the original colors on your
home were.
This is a place where I thinkyou have complete freedom.
If you want to go back to theexact color your house was
painted when it was originallybuilt- go for it.
Knock yourself out! If you wantto completely ignore that and
paint the whole thing millennialgray, I also fully support that.
(13:44):
You can also look back forvintage color cards and check
out what was appropriate in theera your house was built or
before or after.
The mid-century period wasactually not the kickoff, but
certainly the getting up tospeed of planned obsolescence in
interior styling trends.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of the ways that homeowners were persuaded to
continuously buy new goods- evenat a time when things were much
more long lasting- therefrigerators lasted longer, the
wood was of greater quality.
You didn't necessarily need toreplace things, but homeowners
were encouraged to startthinking about replacing things
by defining fashionable colors.
So the color trends changed veryquickly in the mid-century
period (14:27):
from powder blue and baby pink in the early part of
the era to the wild mo d colors, orange and avocado, that
you'll find in the late fifties,early sixties.
As far as I'm concerned, chooseyour own adventure here.
Pick colors that speak to youand seem to work in tandem with
the other materials in yourhome.
(14:48):
So much from mid-century Midwest homes generally.
But what about the essentialfeatures of your home?
To plan a successful Mid Modremodel, you need to be the
expert in your home.
It can be overwhelming to holdall of the details of your house
in your head, especially if thisisn't your day job.
So to make it easy for you, I'veput together a home assessment
(15:09):
workbook.
If you walk through thisworkbook, which is available
free on my website(I'll put thelink in the show notes), you can
figure out all of the basicinformation about your home from
square footage and majordimensions to roof pitch, as
well as digging into some of thehistory of your home: what year
was it built, and its majorremodeling history.
I also have a checklist of thekey photos you should keep in
(15:30):
your phone so you can showsomeone at a glance: here's what
the front of the house lookslike, here are the typical
details that I want to respectand preserve.
With all of these things inhand, you'll be able to answer
questions and lead theconversation with contractors,
home suppliers, and even adesigner.
Once you take a little time toget to know your own home as
well as research otherinteresting mid-century houses
(15:53):
from your region, you will bevery well prepared to manage
your own mid-century remodel.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Thanks for listening everyone.
You can find links, pictures,and a summary of everything I've
just covered in this episode onmy website at www.midmod-midwest
.com/ 104.
(16:11):
In next week's episode, I'll be laying out my three-part
framework for making sure yourremodel covers all the bases-
from retro brass hardware topractical brass tacks.
Using this concept, you can makesure you're planning
holistically and avoiding thepotential for expensive
surprises that come up duringyour construction or after
you're done.
And as always, if you have ideasto share or questions about your
(16:32):
mid-century home remodel, drop acomment in the show notes or
find me on Instagram where myhandle is@midmodmidwest.
To download that home assessmentworkbook, get it directly from
www.midmod-midwest.com/ myhomeor find the handy link in the
show notes.
Have some fun getting to knowyour home.
So long for now.
I'm going to be talking about what I know best,
which is the builder basicMidwestern ranch built by the
millions across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey there.
Welcome back to mid mod remodel.
This is the show about updatingMCM homes, helping you match a
mid- century home to your modernlife.
I'm your host, Della Hansmann,architect and mid-century ranch
enthusiast.
(00:21):
You are listening to Season 1, Episode 4.
Last week we talked about howlife, and what we need from our
homes to live that life, haschanged since the mid-century
ranches were built.
Today we're talking about what aMidwestern mid-century home
looks like, and how you can getto know your own home well and
thoroughly.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The takeaway here is that knowing the history and
typical features of mid-centuryhome in your own area will help
you make good decisions as youwork on your home.
Knowing what's neat about someof those original features and
also the history and thereasoning behind how they were
built will help you identifywhat's rare, cool, quirky, or
valuable about your home.
And in other cases, it will helpyou know when something about
(01:01):
your home isn't that importantto its overall character and you
can modify it with a cleanconscience.
(01:06):
Remember we've already talked in Episode 1 about how the owner
of a mid-century home has anextra challenge in their
remodel.
People like you and I areswimming upstream against a tide
of HGTV style trends that don'tnecessarily mesh well with a
mid-century home and certainlydon't take a long view of what
will last over time.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
I'm looking at you painted brick! Note
to know more about why paintingthe brick on your mid-century
home is probably a terribleidea.
Check the show notes for moredetailed opinions.
(01:36):
Following current trends while updating historic homes is how
we got all those horrificeighties kitchens hacked into
our charming atomic ranches.
We are better than that folks.
To avoid this outside pressure,you need to be the expert in
your home remodel.
You make the decisions and youlead your own design and
contracting team to the end youwant.
I'd like to give a shout out toa wise member of the Instagram
(01:57):
Mid Mod community@charlottemidmod who commented
last week,"Only you know how youlive and what's going to
function best for you.
Aesthetics are important, butfunction matters a whole bunch
too." You're so right,@charlottemidmod.
I couldn't have said it bettermyself.
This is why you need to be inthe driver's seat when you're
planning a roadmap to yourremodel.
(02:18):
This season is sponsored by theMid-century Solutions Package.
If you're planning a remodel andneed some help, getting to the
kernel of what will make thebest improvements to your home
and enhance its Mid Modcharacter, check out the
mid-century solutions package, astarter kit to help you focus
and prioritize your Mid Modupdate.
You can learn more about thepackage on my services page.
Now, this episode is going toinvolve a lot of describing how
(02:40):
mid-century homes look and work.
If you're looking for more infoor just for pictures to
illustrate what I mean by hippedroofs and Pickwick pine
paneling, you'll find the shownotes on my website, the notes
for this episode atwww.midmod-midwest/104.
All right, so let's get rightinto the defining features of
the Midwestern mid-centuryranch.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Now if you live in another part of the country- out
West, on the Eastern seaboard,or down South- you probably have
ranches like the ones I'm goingto describe and you also may
have other much more commonhouse types from the mid-century
period.
I'm going to be talking aboutwhat I know best, which is the
builder basic Midwestern ranch,built by the millions across the
country.
(03:18):
First I'll mention that there are a number of other variations
even within the Midwest.
You'll find the occasional jazzyflat roof, mid century home or
even something more adventurouslike a dramatic a frame or the
very rare butterfly-roofed housewhich has two roof slopes
pointing down towards the centerto form a valley.
That's not very common in placeswith snow loads like we have.
(03:40):
Your most typical(built in themillions from one sea to
another) ranch is going to berectangle or L-shaped with a
low-slope, triangular roof.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
It's going to have three main parts of the house
garage, a main living area, anda bedroom area.
It might possibly be an L-shape,but it's more typically just a
simple rectangular form.It hasthat low-slope roof in one of
two variations:either a gableend or a hip roof.
(04:10):
The gable end is the most easy and cheap to frame- a simple
triangle that just extends alongthe entirety of the roof.
These houses don't perform quiteas well under wind loads or snow
loads.
Wind can catch that end triangleedge of the roof and lift up on
it.
So another improvement on thatwould be the hip roof, which has
(04:30):
a sloping element on all foursides.
It's more stable in wind andsnow and you can run a gutter to
manage rain runoff around allthe edges.
It's more complex and expensiveto build- which is why it's
slightly more rare from theearly mid-century period.
Now,I talked about how thesehouses are typically a single
rectangle or an L.
If they've been added onto- ifyou have a C-shaped plan or a
(04:53):
Z-shaped plan or an S, that'sprobably because some part of
the house has been added ontoover time: a n added rec room or
an increased garage.
These houses were intended to beadded onto.
Their simple structure and formmakes them very easy to remodel
and put on an addition.
1.
The single-story constructionjust means everything is a
little bit less complex.
2.
That stick built, 2X4 framed,rather than post and beam, means
(05:17):
you don't have to do a lot ofcomplicated engineering.
Each new part of the house willsupport only itself, rather than
needing to tie into an existing,calculated, engineered
structure, and.
3.That roof structure,particularly with a gable end,
it's very easy to throw a crossgable on and add it into the
structure of an existing gableroof without needing to
recalculate the whole house- oreven necessarily to re-roof it.
(05:39):
Although typically when someoneputs on an addition like that,
they'll end up recladding theentire roof so that the whole
thing matches and ages together.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For an example of this, I've got a great
distillation of my own area, andall of the different house
shapes you can find a two-blockradius of my own house.
I know, based on aerial photosof when these were built, that
each and every one of them wasoriginally no more than an L
shape.
Now we have infinite variety ofdifferent gable additions that
(06:09):
have been added on in theintervening generations.
It's kind of a fun exercise youcan do for yourself with just
your phone and your Google maps.
(06:17):
The structure of the house in the Midwest is typically held up
by framed walls rather than thepost and beam structure that is
more common or at least somewhatcommon on the West Coast
variation of the mid-centuryhouse.
The cladding of the walls ismost typically going to be wood
with a little decoration ofbrick or stone.
Much more rare is a fullybrick-walled house, although
(06:40):
you'll find regional variations.
That most common siding will bea wood-clad house, and it'll be
wide eight inch boards of Cedarin horizontal-lapped format.
There will usually be a bit ofvertical siding- usually right
by a front door, often around anarea with a picture window in
it.
That would be probably a tongueand groove panel system.
(07:01):
You might also find thatthere'll be a decorative knee
wall area which has stone orbrick.
This helps with theground-hugging, elongated
character of a mid-centuryranch.
You'll also find a wide varietyof window shapes on a
mid-century house, but the ruleof thumb is that they're going
to be more horizontal than theyare vertical.
So rather than a lot ofdouble-hung windows, one or two
(07:24):
per each room, you're going tofind a big picture style window
in the living area and bedroomswill have probably one vertical
egress window.
If they have a wall facing thestreet, they might just have a
strip of high windows that givevisual looks out, while keeping
privacy for people on the insidewho might be changing without
bothering to pull a curtain.
(07:45):
That living room picture windowhas a variety of forms also.
It might be a grid of smallerpanes, sometimes 3X3 or 3X4,
that are all fixed, or it mighthave some operable parts- an
awning window hinging at the top, or a hopper, hinging in or out
at the bottom.
Mine are pretty basic builder, aset of picture windows in the
(08:07):
living room.
It is one fixed large window inthe center, flanked by two
narrow double hung windows.
I should note that mine arereplaced.
They were replaced probablyabout 10 years before I bought
the house.
But looking at other homes inthe area, I think it's a pretty
typical arrangement.
When updating your windows, payattention to the style, and
(08:28):
think about the materials whenyou replace your windows.
This is a huge opportunity toimprove the insulation and air
seal of your house becausemodern windows are
technologically superior to thevintage ones.
But please don't replace yourwindows with one that have the
faux m ullions with all o f thelittle divided lights made in
little plastic grids that snapinto the front.
Try to avoid the cheap-outchoice of going with vinyl.
(08:51):
Vinyl i s a terrible materialfor the environment.
It's really, really dreadful forthe workers who have to
manufacture it.
So I highly recommend that youinvest in wood windows, possibly
with a metal cladding on theoutside for ease of longterm
maintenance.
Another mid-century standoutfeature is going to be the front
door.
If your house has an originalfront door, you may have some
(09:13):
fun arrangements of windows, orlights as they're called.
In my house, most of the door issolid, and at the top at eye
level there are three verticalwindows, about four inches wide
by 12 inches high that slantdown in the little slope.
That's very common for thisarea.
Another common front door typefor this area is a stack of
(09:35):
three squares, which are kind offun because they're sort of a
view out for standing height,adult child and dog.
I find those super charming.
If your front door has beenreplaced with something
historic-ish, for example, a bigoval of cut glass- I apologize
(09:55):
for the decisions of people inthe past.
I do recommend that you replacethat with a mid-century
appropriate front door becausethe front door is the first
impression of your house andreally important to the overall
street character.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Switching out vintage front door for a faux-historical
one is one of the most heinousmistakes that people have made
to the outside of ranch houses.
(Second only to replacing yourwood cladding with four-inch
wide vinyl horizontal strip- mynightmare.) If you have had a
sad replacement on your frontdoor, I recommend that you look
into replacing it with either anew one in a mid-century period
(10:29):
style, or check out your localrestore for vintage doors that
someone else may have mistakenlyremoved from their home that you
can salvage.
(10:37):
When we're talking about the interior features of the house,
we have to start by recognizingthe exterior because many
mid-century homes have a tie-inbetween their outside materials
and their inside ones.
For example, if you have a brickor field stone knee wall on the
outside of the house, you mayfind that you have the same
brick or field stone on yourfireplace or extending into your
entry.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
If so, preserve that.
It's a really fun call back tothe idea of indoor-outdoor flow
in mid-century houses.
In a California house of highdesign, you might find an entire
backyard wall of glass that youcan throw up in sliding doors
and just flow from the livingroom out to the patio.
In the Midwest, what you mighthave is the same kind of brick
on the front of your house andalso in the entry hall.
(11:19):
It's a bit of a comedown butit's having the same effect and
playing up that same idea, sostick to that and enhance it.
(11:25):
You're also going to find wood everywhere in a mid-century
house, and this wood will be ofhigher quality than you can
reasonably find today.
It was cut from old growthforests.
Even the pine will have a denserwood grain.
It will be noticeably heavier.
If you have to take any oldframing out of a house and hold
it up next to a modern 2X4,you'll feel the weight in your
hand, and you can see thedensity of the woodgrain when
(11:47):
you look at the cut ends.
You'll find that in theexcellent structure, but you
might also find it in narrowhardwood floors.
If you're lucky, you'll haveexisting hardwood floor in your
house from the original date andit might even be hidden under
later added wall-to-wall carpet.
If you want to learn more aboutthis, I have a detailed blog
post that talks about it.
I will link to it in the shownotes.
(12:08):
You'll also find wood trim(hopefully on painted), but it
has been, you can think aboutstripping it.
It will have beautiful grainunderneath.
You'll also find plywood andwood panel throughout the house.
This is a perfectlyperiod-appropriate material, and
I encourage you to think aboutkeeping it if it's in an all
good shape.
You might also find Pickwick orknotty pine paneling in your
(12:30):
basement, kitchen, rec room, anyattic space or garage.
If so, also think about keepingthat at least in part.
It can have an overwhelmingeffect to a modern eye, and it's
very tempting to follow HGTV andpaint it all white, but I
recommend that you embrace it.
I will include a link to retrorenovations, amazing survey of
(12:51):
Pickwick pine in the show notes.
Be sure to check it out.
A mid-century house is alsogoing to be absolutely chockfull
of built-in closets and storageniches.
You might find that you even arelucky enough to have an original
room divider that separates yourentry from your living room or
your living room for your diningroom made out of some sort of
interesting wood panel.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
If you do, please preserve it.
If you don't, this is an elementthat you might be able to
retroactively add to your houseand increase the mid-century
cool factor it wished it hadwhen it was built.
(13:23):
In terms of paint color, you can sometimes do a little
creative excavation to find outwhat the original colors on your
home were.
This is a place where I thinkyou have complete freedom.
If you want to go back to theexact color your house was
painted when it was originallybuilt- go for it.
Knock yourself out! If you wantto completely ignore that and
paint the whole thing millennialgray, I also fully support that.
(13:44):
You can also look back forvintage color cards and check
out what was appropriate in theera your house was built or
before or after.
The mid-century period wasactually not the kickoff, but
certainly the getting up tospeed of planned obsolescence in
interior styling trends.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
One of the ways that homeowners were persuaded to
continuously buy new goods- evenat a time when things were much
more long lasting- therefrigerators lasted longer, the
wood was of greater quality.
You didn't necessarily need toreplace things, but homeowners
were encouraged to startthinking about replacing things
by defining fashionable colors.
So the color trends changed veryquickly in the mid-century
period (14:27):
from powder blue and baby pink in the early part of
the era to the wild mo d colors, orange and avocado, that
you'll find in the late fifties,early sixties.
As far as I'm concerned, chooseyour own adventure here.
Pick colors that speak to youand seem to work in tandem with
the other materials in yourhome.
(14:48):
So much from mid-century Midwest homes generally.
But what about the essentialfeatures of your home?
To plan a successful Mid Modremodel, you need to be the
expert in your home.
It can be overwhelming to holdall of the details of your house
in your head, especially if thisisn't your day job.
So to make it easy for you, I'veput together a home assessment
(15:09):
workbook.
If you walk through thisworkbook, which is available
free on my website(I'll put thelink in the show notes), you can
figure out all of the basicinformation about your home from
square footage and majordimensions to roof pitch, as
well as digging into some of thehistory of your home: what year
was it built, and its majorremodeling history.
I also have a checklist of thekey photos you should keep in
(15:30):
your phone so you can showsomeone at a glance: here's what
the front of the house lookslike, here are the typical
details that I want to respectand preserve.
With all of these things inhand, you'll be able to answer
questions and lead theconversation with contractors,
home suppliers, and even adesigner.
Once you take a little time toget to know your own home as
well as research otherinteresting mid-century houses
(15:53):
from your region, you will bevery well prepared to manage
your own mid-century remodel.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Thanks for listening everyone.
You can find links, pictures,and a summary of everything I've
just covered in this episode onmy website at www.midmod-midwest
.com/ 104.
(16:11):
In next week's episode, I'll be laying out my three-part
framework for making sure yourremodel covers all the bases-
from retro brass hardware topractical brass tacks.
Using this concept, you can makesure you're planning
holistically and avoiding thepotential for expensive
surprises that come up duringyour construction or after
you're done.
And as always, if you have ideasto share or questions about your
(16:32):
mid-century home remodel, drop acomment in the show notes or
find me on Instagram where myhandle is@midmodmidwest.
To download that home assessmentworkbook, get it directly from
www.midmod-midwest.com/ myhomeor find the handy link in the
show notes.
Have some fun getting to knowyour home.
So long for now.
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