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enigmaquandry

Vintage ranges?

enigmaquandry
13 years ago

We are replacing the appliances in our small, vintage kitchen and are torn between classic white or stainless. I would LOVE a restored vintage stove or preferably a new reproduction...is there anywhere that sells these for a reasonable price? Of course I would prefer under $1000, but the most I could possibly do is $1,500 after tax etc.

Our space is standard 30 inches, with a gas hookup. I cook and bake a lot so it would have to be a quality piece.

Thank you so much for your help! The link to a thread with pictures of our "finished" kitchen is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen thread

Comments (23)

  • JoshCT
    13 years ago

    What features are important to you?

    Many true vintage ranges are wider or narrower than 30 inches, which was not apparently a standard size until some time in the 60's.

    You can find true vintage ranges on craigslist and the like for reasonable prices, but you may need to allow a lot of time and a lot of travel to find a really good one. Many of the vintage ranges which you still find are very sturdy, well built, and high end.

    That said, if you want sealed burners, which is important to some people, you need a modern reproduction. Ditto on convection and dual fuel options.

    Brown stove works makes a very basic gas range which looks quite vintage to me, but more 60's vintage than 40'4/50's vintage.

    The Big Chill and Elmira Stove Works reproductions are out of your price range.

    Good luck!

  • ideagirl2
    13 years ago

    It's very hard to find a reproduction vintage range under $1500. I can't think of a brand that fits that budget, unless you find one on eBay or Craigslist (which is totally possible, so definitely look). You can find actual vintage ranges under $1000 pretty easily (see link below for one random example), but as Joshct said, they're usually not 30" because that wasn't a standard size back then.

    What are your actual needs, rangewise? Gas or electric, do you bake a lot/cook a lot, does it absolutely have to be 30" or is there some flexibility, etc.?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage range on eBay

  • Carol_from_ny
    13 years ago

    Besides the fact that they don't come in standard sizes most of the ones in the price range you are looking at NEED some kind of work. I've been looking on my local Craigslist for about a year now and I've seen some really nice ones and some that need more than a little work. Price, condition and types are all over the place as well as sizes. Patiences and lots of time to search for what you are looking for are key here.

  • powermuffin
    13 years ago

    Most vintage ranges are 36" wide. I got my Chambers for $40 off of Craigslist. I can't fit it into my existing kitchen layout so it is waiting until we redo the kitchen. The people on the Chambers Lovers forum and other vintage stove forums swear by these stoves and use them for every thing. Those forums also have stoves for sale, but the prices will knock your socks off!
    Diane

    Here is a link that might be useful: Chambers Lovers

  • bulldinkie
    13 years ago

    We bought an aga stove when we moved,a black one it looks old I like it many ways to use this stove.4 oven one.

  • enigmaquandry
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you everyone for your input! We found ourselves in a bind for getting appliances so we had to order new ones (not any of the beautiful reproductions unfortunately:) but hopefully they will look alright. Thank you again for all your help, I wish it could have worked out!

  • fuzzy
    13 years ago

    Too late to be helpful-- but for the record, I'll throw in another vote for vintage Chambers stoves.

    I bought mine for $100 off ebay, and found someone on the Chambers Rangers forum to refurbish it for $350. Now, we've added some chrome and enamel redos since then, and paid to have it moved from KC to Oklahoma, and soon to us in Arkansas. But if we'd stuck to our original plan, we could've had a refurbished white Chambers in BEAUTIFULLY restored condition for about $600. (Lots of people on the forum do the refurbishing themselves-- I don't think there's another brand out there with this kind of detailed restoration/discussion forums. If you chose to do it yourself, you'd have a great resource for help and advice.)

  • mkroopy
    13 years ago

    Keep looking..patience pays off...I just got this 1953 Roper gas range from a guy close by on Ebay for 375 dollars. It was upstairs in his inlaws' apartment since it was bought new and it was NEVER USED! They did all their cooking in the downstairs kitchen apparently. When I saw this on the listing...I was very skeptical, but he was 20 miles away so I went and checked it out, you can tell it's never been used, there is still a "Good Housekeeping seal of approval" sticker inside the oven door that would have burned off it the oven was used even once. Need to find someone to install it and give it the "once over" since it's been sitting for almost 60 years....but apparently they built these old appliances like tanks and they last forever....so I am hoping this last me as long as I am in this house...an 1870's Victorian.

  • fanner
    13 years ago

    Oh my mkroopy, I am *drooling*. What a beautiful and fortunate find!

  • mkroopy
    13 years ago

    Yeah I was pretty lucky...not quite like finding a 65 Corvette that someone bought and never registered, but hey sometimes it's the small things that make one happy. I've been discussing with a friend who has an old Chambers in her house what the "first meal" should be when I get it all hooked up...I think it has to be something that reflects the time it was made....something old fashioned that June Cleaver or Donna Reed would cook up for the family...maybe a meatloaf or a casserole of some sort. My friend is thinking my girlfriend and I should get decked out in our best 'retro' outfits and have a 'Mad Men' party and just use it to cook appetizers...now where did I put my fedora and skinny tie?

    More than likely I will just use it to cook tacos or pasta for the kids though...but still, pretty cool to think about how this thing rolled off the assembly line in Illinois in the 50's, a decade before I was born, and I will be the first one to use it!

  • Pipersville_Carol
    13 years ago

    To get the vintage look, I bought a brand new range in a style that's been around for decades, the 40-inch Kenmore/Frigidaire with double oven and center griddle. I think of it as New Vintage.

    I'd enjoyed using this kind of range in a 1960s rental kitchen, and also remember it from my grammar school cafeteria:

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • ideagirl2
    13 years ago

    Oh, Mkroopy, WHAT a FIND!!!

  • jlc102482
    13 years ago

    Mkroopy, your stove is GORGEOUS!

  • mkroopy
    13 years ago

    Wow I am feeling like a rock star with my new (old) stove...lol!

    And all my friends looked at me like I have 3 heads when I told them I just bought a 60 year old WHITE stove, when every one of them has the "stainless" thing going....I liked that look at first, but now that everyone has it....boring.

  • chestnut3
    13 years ago

    I live in Western PA and there is a place here called Construction Junction (I have no affiliation to them, just a happy customer:) Anyhow, last week I was there buying old glass door knobs and noticed there was a Chambers Stove in the appliance section. No idea if it works (nor do they) but it was less than $300. Someone who loves them should get it.

  • mkroopy
    12 years ago

    Just an update on my old Roper...finally got around to taking it in for a "tune-up" to a place that specializes in old stoves. Rebuild the stove valves, the over valve, re-calibrated the over thermocouple, etc....cost me about 500 bucks, but now it works as good as it looks. I am thinking this should pretty much out last me (I'm 47), as everyone tell me they really build these things to last back then.

    The top burners have pilots of course, but I do get odd looks from people when I say "hang on let me light the oven", and grab a book of matches. Just the looks I get are worth the hassle of bringing it into the shop to get it tuned up...lol!

  • chibimimi
    12 years ago

    Old House Guy, I love your icebox -- what a great idea! The rest of the house is fantastic, too.

  • Circus Peanut
    12 years ago

    Yay! I love it when folks maintain these wonderful old ranges. We rehabbed a 1949 O'Keefe & Merritt for our kitchen remodel 3 years ago, and the thing has run like a champ. I wouldn't be without it. (Ours doesn't need the oven lighted, the oven also has a pilot. I don't know when they switched over?)

  • scarlett2001
    12 years ago

    Just a caveat: we bought a vintage stove - clean as a whistle inside and out. I mean immaculate. Went into the kitchen at night and opened the oven - crawling with roaches. So be careful.

  • mrstan1234
    12 years ago

    Here is one I just scored on Craigslist for $70!

    {{!gwi}}

  • mkroopy
    12 years ago

    Wow that looks real clean...I prefer gas to electric, but still that is a nice find! And for 70 bucks....sweet.

  • mrstan1234
    12 years ago

    We were looking for a gas one too, but there is no existing gas line, so we figured this would save us a bit of $$.

    Of course, we have to move a radiator pipe, AND raise the upper cabinets a few inches.

  • brickeyee
    12 years ago

    "Went into the kitchen at night and opened the oven - crawling with roaches. So be careful."

    They love the heat from pilot lights.