Show us your vintage home!

Lucky Strike · May 29, 2011

tonyb said:
Yeah, I can see how a person could get used to the new place.

I like the idea of the corner sofa defining the area around the fireplace. I'm thinking a credenza (or something akin to one, maybe) against the wall where the previous occupants' sofa was?

Yes! It's either that, or we'll put the corner sofa in storage and get another sofa for that "niche" in the wall. I'm dreaming of a Josef Hoffmann "Kubus" sofa, but they cost something like $12K...

And then I'd probably want the armchair too:

tonyb said:
It would never occur to many people (most, probably) to put molded-plywood chairs with chrome-plated steel legs with a 300-year-old table, but it certainly works for me.

It's a very Norwegian thing! I haven't really seen that look outside Norway, but it's not uncommon here. It's been described here as almost a "designer cliché" - that is, mixing an old, rustic refectory-type table with modernist chairs has been a "daring" feature among the interior designer set here for a couple of decades now - at present, it's a bit "played out" as a trend.

The Prime Minister's wife even put her foot slightly in it last year, when she said something like "Evvvvvvveryone I know has that damn huge farmhouse table and the modernist Danish chairs...Norwegian interior design is boring..."

Explanation: Norway has very little to offer in the way of up-market, polished, continental furniture, - it's historically one of the poorest countries in Europe. What is on offer, however, is a very rich rural or "folk" culture, and Norway is probably the only country in Europe where "folk" antiques have price levels approaching the US "folk" market.

Our table was cheap, as it isn't identifiably Norwegian. That is, it probably is, since it's here and all, but the type can be found all over Northern Europe.

tonyb · May 30, 2011

Yeah, there's a reason why things become so ubiquitous as to be thought cliche, right? It's reminiscent of Yogi Berra's observation about a restaurant being so crowded that nobody goes there anymore.

Me, I just wish I could afford to furnish my place with a few of those oh-so-hackneyed things from the likes of George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames, etc. Many of those designs go back 60-plus years and still look fresh today, as I trust they will decades from now, long after most of what's new right now has been relegated to the landfill.

I'm sure it has occurred to you and the mother-to-be that a youngster on premises will have a significant influence on just how said premises is furnished. My black leather sofa was a 50 dollar item I found on craigslist. Sure, it's an Ikea POS that sells for all of $500 new, so it is, like just about all things Ikea, a temporary addition. But then, I don't worry much about what the dog and the cat might be doing to it.

Lucky Strike · May 31, 2011

tonyb said:
Yeah, there's a reason why things become so ubiquitous as to be thought cliche, right? It's reminiscent of Yogi Berra's observation about a restaurant being so crowded that nobody goes there anymore.

Me, I just wish I could afford to furnish my place with a few of those oh-so-hackneyed things from the likes of George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames, etc. Many of those designs go back 60-plus years and still look fresh today, as I trust they will decades from now, long after most of what's new right now has been relegated to the landfill.

Very true - the Big Names like Nelson and Eames will always command a premium. There are lots of no-name stunning MCM furniture to be found still, though. I've given up on buying the big names, though, the pieces are better investments, but the prices may just have taken a toll with the crisis, and I think they may have reached the apex. So: not excellent investments if you buy at market price, and can still be a lot of money to put to sleep in a piece of furniture. I'd go for the good-quality no-name stuff, there's still fantastic MCM furniture to be had for very low prices.

The next big thing in the investment-grade market is supposed to be eighties furniture, in the Memphis, or as a co-worker once called it, IIRC, "The Miami Vice cocaine merchant bachelor-pad style"...some of the eighties stuff is very influenced by art deco, so it's not all bad...here's a little neo-deco eighties number in black-and-eggshell lacquer that I like, my wife hates, and which for which the market isn't ready yet. I bought it around a year ago. It's made by something or someone called "de Souzy" in Paris, but that's about everything I'm able to find out about it:

tonyb said:
I'm sure it has occurred to you and the mother-to-be that a youngster on premises will have a significant influence on just how said premises is furnished. My black leather sofa was a 50 dollar item I found on craigslist. Sure, it's an Ikea POS that sells for all of $500 new, so it is, like just about all things Ikea, a temporary addition. But then, I don't worry much about what the dog and the cat might be doing to it.

Ah, yes. We're discussing either buying a cheap one from Ikea, and tossing it after five years or so, or finding a very robust, semi-wipable leather sofa and paying "real money" for it.

We'll see, at present I'm defending the corner sofa against my wife's attacks. She has an inner vision of a huuuuge, new "designer" sofa with one of those "chaise-longue" extended seats, etc. I'll have to pick my battles wisely...

tonyb · May 31, 2011

Yup, you and I would find a lot on which to agree, 'Strike. As investments, home furnishings, even big-name pieces, leave much to be desired. As you put it, the money is "put to sleep." Far wiser to put it to work. Sure, it would be nice to think that the chair on which a person routinely parks his rump is appreciating in value, but to realize that appreciation he would have to sell his rump's favorite parking spot. And then where would his rump be?

For my own use, I'm a whole lot less concerned with when something was made, or with who made it, than with how well it works with what I already have. To my eye, vintage Persian rugs, elaborate ones, supply just the right amount of visual busyness to counter solid-colored upholstery, especially if said upholstered pieces are on the bright side, as many of mine are. And I see no reason why an office credenza shouldn't be used as a sideboard, if it works in its new context and the price is right (it's hard to beat free).

The upshot, I suppose, is that good design is good design, no matter whose name is on the piece or when it was made or what stylistic conventions it reflects.

AtomicEraTom · May 31, 2011

Things are in the process and I am working on getting loan approval and writing an offer on a house!

rue · May 31, 2011

AtomicEraTom said:
Things are in the process and I am working on getting loan approval and writing an offer on a house!

Good luck Tom

tonyb · May 31, 2011

AtomicEraTom said:
Things are in the process and I am working on getting loan approval and writing an offer on a house!

If there's any good thing about the housing market collapse (I can think of at least a couple, as well as a few bad ones), it's that prices have come down to a point that's considerably more manageable for most of us.

My crystal ball is on the blink, but I'm guessing that prices have hit bottom, or close to it. So it's a good time to buy.

Is this house you have your eye on atomic-era-able, Tom?

AtomicEraTom · May 31, 2011

Thanks, Rue

rue said:
Good luck Tom

It is very helpful, this is a foreclosure/fixer-upper that is on the market for $35,000, hoping to score it for in the 20's.

It's a 20's/30's bungalow, so I can do a bit of 50's with it, without too much fuss, I think.

tonyb said:
If there's any good thing about the housing market collapse (I can think of at least a couple, as well as a few bad ones), it's that prices have come down to a point that's considerably more manageable for most of us.

My crystal ball is on the blink, but I'm guessing that prices have hit bottom, or close to it. So it's a good time to buy.

Is this house you have your eye on atomic-era-able, Tom?

tonyb · May 31, 2011

Man, out here you couldn't get a decent doghouse for that kind of money. How do those prices compare to what they were in, say, 2005?

AtomicEraTom · Jun 1, 2011

The house I'm trying to buy sold for 125,000 in 2006. With the news headlines today about housing prices dropping further, I plan on offering around 25,000 for it.

tonyb said:
Man, out here you couldn't get a decent doghouse for that kind of money. How do those prices compare to what they were in, say, 2005?

Tomasso · Jun 1, 2011

Lucky Strike said:
I'm dreaming of a Josef Hoffmann "Kubus" sofa, but they cost something like $12K...

That's not a very comfortable piece, if that matters to you. To really use it you'll have to drench it in pillows and throws, spoiling the aesthetic.The chair is actually pretty comfortable, comparatively.

tonyb · Jun 1, 2011

AtomicEraTom said:
The house I'm trying to buy sold for 125,000 in 2006. With the news headlines today about housing prices dropping further, I plan on offering around 25,000 for it.

Good Lord, that's almost breathtaking.

AtomicEraTom · Jun 1, 2011

It's a shame that things have crashed. I wish I was a wealthier man, right now. I'd be buying up foreclosures like this one left and right. Flip them when the market recovers in a couple years and sit pretty. We did a flipper back in 05, bought it for 48,000 and fixed it up, sold it for 109,000. Now, you'd be lucky to get 75,000 for it. It's all cyclical, though. Things will come back.

tonyb said:
Good Lord, that's almost breathtaking.

Gregg Axley · Jun 2, 2011

My wife and I would LOVE to purchase the Thomasville "Bogart" collection, but it's discontinued.
It's out there but hard to locate. Also as you stated Tom, things have crashed, and we don't want to shell out that kind of money when we might need it for something else. Good point, it's cyclical it will come back...I keep telling myself that.

AtomicEraTom · Jun 2, 2011

Me too, I'm holding off a little bit on putting in an offer, the news just said that the banks are holding back on foreclosures, as not to flood the market, but things are getting worse for them and they're likely to 'open the flood gates'. I'm hoping now to put an offer in lower than I had originally intended.

Gregg Axley said:
My wife and I would LOVE to purchase the Thomasville "Bogart" collection, but it's discontinued.
It's out there but hard to locate. Also as you stated Tom, things have crashed, and we don't want to shell out that kind of money when we might need it for something else. Good point, it's cyclical it will come back...I keep telling myself that.

BinkieBaumont · Jun 5, 2011

Be weary this happened in the late 1980's, price were cheap and interest rates low, many folk hopped on to the mortgage band wagon & interest rates went sky high, the Banks only care about them selves B E WA R E

AtomicEraTom · Jun 5, 2011

I am always very careful, believe me. My family is in the real estate business, so we've got a lot of knowledge of what is going on with interest rates, and the market, and the history of. I am not jumping into this, as things are supposed to drop even lower, but if I get this house for 20,000, and I will be renting out the downstairs for 350, the upstairs for 250, and one bedroom for 150, I hope to pay much more than the actual payment on the mortgage and get it paid off sooner.

BinkieBaumont said:
Be weary this happened in the late 1980's, price were cheap and interest rates low, many folk hopped on to the mortgage band wagon & interest rates went sky high, the Banks only care about them selves B E WA R E

Viola · Jun 27, 2011

My husband and I are in Australia right now (he's Australian, I moved out last July) but if real estate stays affordable in the US we might be back - what we paid for an apartment here is a nice vintage house in large parts of the US, I do think. A little over 180k in American dollars but it just doesn't go far at all in Sydney's metro area.

My mom is always sending me real estate news from back home in Philadelphia.

AtomicEraTom · Jun 27, 2011

I can only speak for my area, but that would get you a dandy of a house where I live. I am in love with this beautiful American Foursquare house here in Pardeeville. The place has mechanical and plumbing updates, new roof, nice garage, etc, etc, but all the charm and original woodwork, and such of a house from the 1920s. They're asking 150,000 and I know they'd drop to at least 125,000 and that place is in move-in condition.

Viola said:
My husband and I are in Australia right now (he's Australian, I moved out last July) but if real estate stays affordable in the US we might be back - what we paid for an apartment here is a nice vintage house in large parts of the US, I do think. A little over 180k in American dollars but it just doesn't go far at all in Sydney's metro area.

My mom is always sending me real estate news from back home in Philadelphia.

Viola · Jun 27, 2011

Husband sure perked up at the concept of moving in a couple years (he's finishing his doctorate right now so we're not relocating in the meantime though if we could swing it possibly we could buy something and rent it out) when he saw how far it would go in the US.

We have a '70s constructed 2-bedroom 1 bath condo. 650 sq. ft. Just enough space for the two of us, and the kitten we just got.

I am a gardener by nature so I keep thinking of the size YARD I could get. And a dog. By gosh.

He's never lived in the US and he pulled up realtor.com for one of the towns he thought sounded interesting (Austin, TX) and he was just shocked by how much we could conceivably buy.

Show us your vintage home!

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