5 Midcentury Modern Home Makeovers That Impressed in 2018
The renovations of these popular ranch-style houses bring modern convenience while honoring throwback style
Bryan Anthony
December 24, 2018
Whether it’s because of the ranch-style layout, the walls of glass windows, the Mad Men-era good looks or a combination of all three, Houzz readers love midcentury houses. In fact, many of the most popular Houzz Tour articles of 2018 feature midcentury modern homes. Here are five worth revisiting.
1. L.A. Looks
This 1951 house belonging to a young couple in Los Angeles received a sensitive remodel by architect Jeff Troyer of JWT Associates, with furnishings by Kimba Hills. Upon seeing the house for the first time, Troyer immediately decided to relocate the front door. “As I pulled up to the house, I thought, ‘The front door is in the wrong place.’ It didn’t look original,” he says.
The architect moved the front door to the other side of the porch and added bluestone pavers leading up to it. The new stained-wood door pivots on pins at the top and bottom rather than swinging on hinges at the side. Its color foreshadows the wonderful original wood that’s inside the home. Troyer also added new lights and new house numbers in a midcentury modern font. The exterior paint color is Rhinoceros by Benjamin Moore.
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This 1951 house belonging to a young couple in Los Angeles received a sensitive remodel by architect Jeff Troyer of JWT Associates, with furnishings by Kimba Hills. Upon seeing the house for the first time, Troyer immediately decided to relocate the front door. “As I pulled up to the house, I thought, ‘The front door is in the wrong place.’ It didn’t look original,” he says.
The architect moved the front door to the other side of the porch and added bluestone pavers leading up to it. The new stained-wood door pivots on pins at the top and bottom rather than swinging on hinges at the side. Its color foreshadows the wonderful original wood that’s inside the home. Troyer also added new lights and new house numbers in a midcentury modern font. The exterior paint color is Rhinoceros by Benjamin Moore.
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The open living-and-dining area features a vaulted wood ceiling with exposed beams and rafters that have never been altered, so what you see here is original to 1951. Troyer replaced the drywall with V-groove wood paneling, which he stained so it would tie in with the parquet floors and wood ceiling.
He covered the original wood-burning firebox with brick-look tiles from Heath Ceramics that fit in with the 1950s modern look. Then he salvaged an original ceiling beam taken out during construction and repurposed it as the new mantel.
He covered the original wood-burning firebox with brick-look tiles from Heath Ceramics that fit in with the 1950s modern look. Then he salvaged an original ceiling beam taken out during construction and repurposed it as the new mantel.
The kitchen required the biggest intervention. Troyer not only got rid of the dropped ceiling and the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining area, but he had to adjust the roofline to keep the vault in line with the rest of the house. He also patched in new parquet flooring to match the original floors.
Opening up the room created space for a large island. Troyer added operable skylights that have solar-powered shades. The new cabinetry maintains a midcentury modern vibe with a streamlined profile and hardware.
Read more and see the rest of this L.A. house
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Opening up the room created space for a large island. Troyer added operable skylights that have solar-powered shades. The new cabinetry maintains a midcentury modern vibe with a streamlined profile and hardware.
Read more and see the rest of this L.A. house
Shop for bar stools on Houzz
2. A New Take on a Classic
This modern house in San Mateo, California, rose from the ashes of a Joseph Eichler-designed house that burned to the ground. With the opportunity to build anew, the homeowners turned to architect John Klopf to create a home that would offer contemporary conveniences but also respect the neighborhood and blend in stylistically with the Eichlers nearby.
The front of the house maintains an understated profile similar to those of the Eichler residences in the area. Klopf selected the exterior paint color, Iron Mountain by Benjamin Moore, to “let the other materials and colors stand out, such as the cedar trim, orange front door and black aluminum windows, like a true midcentury house,” he says. “The front is very private and closed to the street, then the house really opens up in the back.”
This modern house in San Mateo, California, rose from the ashes of a Joseph Eichler-designed house that burned to the ground. With the opportunity to build anew, the homeowners turned to architect John Klopf to create a home that would offer contemporary conveniences but also respect the neighborhood and blend in stylistically with the Eichlers nearby.
The front of the house maintains an understated profile similar to those of the Eichler residences in the area. Klopf selected the exterior paint color, Iron Mountain by Benjamin Moore, to “let the other materials and colors stand out, such as the cedar trim, orange front door and black aluminum windows, like a true midcentury house,” he says. “The front is very private and closed to the street, then the house really opens up in the back.”
The flooring throughout the house is a structural concrete slab of exposed aggregate that was ground up and sealed. For the living area, the design team created a bump-out in the wall to hold a gas fireplace insert. Behind the fireplace is a pocket door that can close off the master suite.
Find fireplace inserts
Find fireplace inserts
“The pool is the center of the home,” Klopf says. A hot tub occupies one corner of the pool, while abundant seating, landscaping and a fire pit complete the outdoor scene. The new home blends in beautifully with its Eichler neighbors while offering a new take on modernism for contemporary living.
Read more and see the rest of this Eichler-inspired house
Read more and see the rest of this Eichler-inspired house
3. Colorado Cool
Designer Andrea Schumacher was friendly with the previous owner of this 1950s midcentury ranch in the Denver suburb of Bow Mar, and she told the owner to please let her know if she ever wanted to sell it. A few years later, that hopeful request turned into a pocket listing — allowing Schumacher and her husband to purchase the house without its ever going on the market.
The exterior of the rambling ranch house covered in flagstone was well-maintained and needed no improvements. The only changes Schumacher made were to paint the original front doors in Heritage Red from Benjamin Moore and add a pair of stone foo dog statues to the front stoop. “A red door is supposed to bring good luck, and foo dogs are a symbol of protection,” the designer says.
Designer Andrea Schumacher was friendly with the previous owner of this 1950s midcentury ranch in the Denver suburb of Bow Mar, and she told the owner to please let her know if she ever wanted to sell it. A few years later, that hopeful request turned into a pocket listing — allowing Schumacher and her husband to purchase the house without its ever going on the market.
The exterior of the rambling ranch house covered in flagstone was well-maintained and needed no improvements. The only changes Schumacher made were to paint the original front doors in Heritage Red from Benjamin Moore and add a pair of stone foo dog statues to the front stoop. “A red door is supposed to bring good luck, and foo dogs are a symbol of protection,” the designer says.
Schumacher‘s home office includes an original wall of built-in bookshelves and a built-in desk. The sofa, a gift from her mother-in-law, originally had dark wood and pea-green upholstery. The designer updated the piece by painting the wood orange and covering it in a bold, graphic print. The wallpaper is covered with images of peacocks.
The wall behind the bed in the master bedroom is adorned with an orange chinoiserie screen that Schumacher designed a few years ago for the Greystone Show House in Beverly Hills, California. “It was the perfect size for the bedroom wall,” the designer says. The custom bed is upholstered in a muted blue velvet from Kelly Wearstler.
See more of this colorful house
See more of this colorful house
4. A Boho Makeover for a Midcentury Gem
When designer Jessica Hansen of Tandem Design and her husband found this midcentury house in Santa Monica, California, for sale, they wrote the owners — siblings who had grown up in the house — a letter. “It meant a lot to them that we weren’t going to tear it down, which people do in this neighborhood,” Hansen says. Instead, the couple bought the house and started a renovation project that included new flooring, paint, a new family room and a new kitchen.
The living room has new white oak flooring in a matte finish. The previous homeowner, who built the house in 1958, was a geologist, and the stone in the original fireplace is dotted with tiny fossils. “They’re little impressions of shells and sea life,” Hansen says, “but from a distance it just looks like texture.”
Shop for oak flooring on Houzz
When designer Jessica Hansen of Tandem Design and her husband found this midcentury house in Santa Monica, California, for sale, they wrote the owners — siblings who had grown up in the house — a letter. “It meant a lot to them that we weren’t going to tear it down, which people do in this neighborhood,” Hansen says. Instead, the couple bought the house and started a renovation project that included new flooring, paint, a new family room and a new kitchen.
The living room has new white oak flooring in a matte finish. The previous homeowner, who built the house in 1958, was a geologist, and the stone in the original fireplace is dotted with tiny fossils. “They’re little impressions of shells and sea life,” Hansen says, “but from a distance it just looks like texture.”
Shop for oak flooring on Houzz
The new kitchen has birch plywood cabinets with a “bit of whitewash and the grain exposed,” Hansen says. The bar stools are vintage pieces designed by Erik Buch.
Hansen had the backsplash tiles custom-cut from inexpensive rectangular tiles. “I wanted large-scale diamonds, and I wanted it flat, with no beveling, and I wanted it totally matte, and that didn’t exist,” she says. The walnut floating shelves show off Hansen’s collection of ceramic dinnerware.
Hansen had the backsplash tiles custom-cut from inexpensive rectangular tiles. “I wanted large-scale diamonds, and I wanted it flat, with no beveling, and I wanted it totally matte, and that didn’t exist,” she says. The walnut floating shelves show off Hansen’s collection of ceramic dinnerware.
The guest room also serves as Hansen’s office. The designer says that she “had to think really hard” about changing the dark wood paneling and red brick originally in the guest room. “It was good, solid wood paneling you can’t buy anymore, and I like red brick,” she says. But ultimately, getting rid of the dark paneling and painting everything white united the room with the rest of the house.
See more of this boho-style house
See more of this boho-style house
5. An Ode to Cape Cod Modernism
At the very tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a bevy of modern homes were built in the 1950s to interact with nature and float lightly on the land. Many now are part of the National Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore, founded by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Therefore, when clients approached architects Mark Hammer and Don DiRocco of Hammer Architects with an opportunity to build a new home nestled on a 3-acre site in the Cape Cod National Seashore area, the team members knew they’d be carrying on traditions of the modernists before them.
The exterior of the house features horizontal red cedar boards that recall the midcentury modern heyday on the Outer Cape. Operable clerestory windows let in the breezes as well as the sunlight, while their 6-foot, 8-inch height means no shades are required for privacy. The windows also keep the vast views of the ocean a surprise for all visitors who approach until they proceed inside the house.
At the very tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a bevy of modern homes were built in the 1950s to interact with nature and float lightly on the land. Many now are part of the National Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore, founded by John F. Kennedy in 1961. Therefore, when clients approached architects Mark Hammer and Don DiRocco of Hammer Architects with an opportunity to build a new home nestled on a 3-acre site in the Cape Cod National Seashore area, the team members knew they’d be carrying on traditions of the modernists before them.
The exterior of the house features horizontal red cedar boards that recall the midcentury modern heyday on the Outer Cape. Operable clerestory windows let in the breezes as well as the sunlight, while their 6-foot, 8-inch height means no shades are required for privacy. The windows also keep the vast views of the ocean a surprise for all visitors who approach until they proceed inside the house.
The open living area has a soaring 15-foot fir decking ceiling. The homeowners curated appropriate iconic midcentury modern furnishings, such as the Hans Wegner sofa. Other pieces are licensed reproductions of classics. Antique rugs define areas within the large space and warm things up.
The fireplace is one of the biggest elements in the room. “During construction, everyone had become used to seeing this as one open space, so putting in the fireplace was a little nerve-racking,” DiRocco says. “But we needed it to bring the scale down a little without cutting off any views.”
The fireplace is one of the biggest elements in the room. “During construction, everyone had become used to seeing this as one open space, so putting in the fireplace was a little nerve-racking,” DiRocco says. “But we needed it to bring the scale down a little without cutting off any views.”
The design team turned to local carpenter Ted Franklin to craft all of the cabinetry and built-ins throughout the house. All of the cabinetry is mahogany, as is the kitchen island seen here. The working countertop is honed black granite. The kitchen is laid out so that two people can cook together while socializing with those at the counter. The counter stools are reproductions of a Harry Bertoia design.
See more of this Cape Cod house
More on Houzz
5 Midcentury Design Lessons for Modern-Day Living
Why We Love Midcentury Modern Design
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See more of this Cape Cod house
More on Houzz
5 Midcentury Design Lessons for Modern-Day Living
Why We Love Midcentury Modern Design
Find architects near you
Shop for products
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I LOVED it then, and I LOVE it now!
These are great and also with the ranch aspect, they're a great showcase for people looking into "aging-in-place" lifestyles.