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palimpsest

Deft Remodel of Worker's house.

palimpsest
11 years ago

This is one of the very small worker's houses that cover various parts of the city. This house was probably in near-shell condition. Because it is so small, I will be posting several views of the same room to convey layout.

I think this was particularly well handled. This was always a small 2 BR house, now a 1BR+ den. I think this was very well done considering the house is about 13 feet wide on the interior.







The above picture should start to give you a hint at something. Here is the kitchen:



This house was last sold in 1977, so the rehab must have taken place very soon after. Looks good for a 35 year old reno, doesn't it?

Comments (31)

  • natal
    11 years ago

    Except for the orange Formica it looks great.

    How much would a house like that cost?

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    A bit under $250K is what it's listed for.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    That's a little gem! Very nice. I agree with Natal, I love everything but the orange counters. I wouldn't object to laminate if it were some other color...even possibly a different shade of orange, lol! I think the kitchen overall looks very appealing and user-friendly.

  • Fun2BHere
    11 years ago

    Is the room with the white chaise the living room or the den?

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    The orange is much more enduring than fake granite Formica will be.

    The one thing I'm quizzical about is the cutaway for the staircase. Maybe it's best for the space, but perhaps a full height wall would make that LR feel more comfortable and structured. Hard to tell from the pic.

    Good use of a little old place.

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Here's the interesting thing. The first kitchen picture I saw was the one that didn't show the appliances and I thought maybe I was looking at This from the current Silestone line-up

    The range and the gold sofa and brown wall to wall clued me in on what I was looking at.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Marcolo, I certainly didn't have fake granite Formica in mind as an alternative. Are those the only two options in the warehouse? Orange, or fake stone laminate? On the other hand would it be a horror of horrors to put a real stone counter of some sort in this kitchen?

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Oh, so maybe it's orange quartz. Lovely. I feel so much better about it now.

  • natal
    11 years ago

    Solid colored quartz seems like a waste of money ... when you can get the same look with laminate. Who knew!

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I am not sure that most granites would be the best thing to do in this kitchen. Black granite was just starting to peak its head in a few years after this project was done. Maybe something like that. But I think any granite with too much speckle or movement would kill it. It's just not that kind of house--if you notice only the art conveys any sense of pattern.

    If you did white marble it would be pretty nice, but I would go for quartz (and a dishwasher while I was at it).

    Virtually nobody is rehabbing these sorts of houses with this kind of sensibility in the city right now.

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I don't think Marcolo is Promoting orange Formica, and I am not, but I believe his point is that it wasn't trying to be something else, so as a plain color, it's still available as laminate and as other materials.

    Here are four other offerings in the neighborhood, and one of these houses is on the same block and was probably identical at one time. Despite the oak and the arched doors, the listings say that these kitchens were done between 2006 and today. One of these houses is significantly more than the subject house, one is less, and the other two are about the same. I don't think Any of these kitchens have the presence that the one at the top of the post.


  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    >The one thing I'm quizzical about is the cutaway for the staircase. Maybe it's best for the space, but perhaps a full height wall would make that LR feel more comfortable and structured. Hard to tell from the pic.

    Well, you know, I once lived in a fifteen ft wide townhouse with a staircase just like that (only it ran parallel to the long wall), and without a cutout you could not possibly have gotten any furniture upstairs. Not even in pieces. (Consider long items like bed rails when there isn't room to maneuver them to get started.)

    I myself am inclined to prefer an open banister to the solid, but you really don't have the option of going to the ceiling in those locations.

  • PRO
    Diane Smith at Walter E. Smithe Furniture
    11 years ago

    Can't ask for a much better remodel - especially working with 13' wide rooms. You can tell whoever decorated had an eye for proportion. It would have been so easy to clutter the place up (not a fan of the placement of the huge urn, fern, tbl and chair in the lr corner though).

    Hard to tell from the pic but the lr floor looks like stained concrete?

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    I totally agree. I couldn't see granite countertops in there AT ALL, and yes, quartz, also with very little movement or speckles would be ideal. Soapstone could possibly work, since it's so quiet, but it has a more organic feel that would not be as perfect as the slicker quartz surface for such a house. I also thought about marble, but agree it's not the best way to go. Recycled glass could maybe work, but again, not as ideal as quartz.

    But happily, laminate isn't the only "proper" option for such a re-do. Plastic just isn't for everyone, and the rest of the house does have a slightly organic, even slightly earthy feel, even though it is very clean and streamlined. Maybe all that wood & natural light going on?

    It feels very much like a home and not a slick, industrial, over the top "Look at what a contemporary house I am" sort of re-do.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Yes indeed, those four kitchens certainly lack the charm, and as you say "presence," of the first. They may suit in the suburbs of Philly, but become lost in translation in an urban setting. Surprising the owners in that locale gravitated in such a direction.

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    Great house, great price too it seems. Terrific renovation, I never would have guessed the age of the reno. Thanks for sharing.

  • gsciencechick
    11 years ago

    You can imagine I love the orange formica! If it were in good shape, I would leave it. Really, all I would do is get a new range. My blue Big Chill fridge would be perfect in that space, or else get an orange one.

    So much more character than the other ones you posted.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    11 years ago

    I think the cutaway stairwell was to take greatest advantage of the skylight above it; lets light all the way down into the LR.
    It all aged well. The orange is fine because it ties it to a very distinct period.
    Casey

  • texanjana
    11 years ago

    Cute place. My husband's and my first house had orange Formica countertops!

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    deedee:

    It's dark brown wall to wall carpet. It's probably original to the renovation too.

  • PRO
    Diane Smith at Walter E. Smithe Furniture
    11 years ago

    Thanks pal, noticed that you mentioned it under the Formica pic after I posted.

    My dm&d installed orange Formica in the early 70's. It made a cheerful kitchen!

  • lynxe
    11 years ago

    I like the kitchen, orange formica and all.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    11 years ago

    I thought orange was the new honeysuckle. I like it!

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Part of the durability of the esthetic is that it has never been completely out of favor in about 60+ years. There have been times when very few people were installing plain slab doors, but modernism has never been completely dead since it developed. This is a current offering from Viola Park, the semi-custom range of parent company Henrybuilt:
    {{!gwi}}

  • clubcracker
    11 years ago

    I love it, even the counters and range! :)

  • Moshie143
    11 years ago

    The design and the color combination is really good that makes everyone will get interested in buying the space.

  • gmp3
    11 years ago

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes the orange counter, it gives that space an unexpected pop of color.

    I am surprised they left wood flooring in the kitchen though, but glad they did. I love the closet bump outs in the bedroom.

  • jessicaml
    11 years ago

    This kitchen gave me flashbacks to the A&W restaurant my parents had in the 70s and 80s. The tables were dark brown faux wood laminate with a chunky border or orange around the edge. I can't recall all of the finish details, but I know it was a sea of brown and orange!

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    I wonder what granite will remind people of in ten years or so? Flipped houses? Blingy Home Depot luxury? The Cubic Zirconium of countertops? Where people get into real trouble with fads is thinking they are appropriate everywhere just because they are currently trendy.

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I think it is going to be one of those things that "depends". There are granite installations here that are maybe 30 years old. (mostly black), and the tile backsplash never completely went out of favor here. There are going to be regional variants, the house my sister rented in a semi rural area but right outside a major city had a kitchen that I identified as 1990 and the house was completed in 2005ish.

  • jessicaml
    11 years ago

    ''I wonder what granite will remind people of in ten years or so?''

    Oh, wait, that's my current association...seriously, who knows? Maybe the current 'green' trend will make keeping countertops trendy, and stones will actually last the lifetime people hope they will (I'm not holding my breath...but it could happen).