Dallas Cottage Goes Mod
built 1930
Today's open house was provided to us by Andrea of
Andrea wrote me last week and sent me photos of this home in her neighborhood.
She entitled her email "M Streets Gone Mod".
She wanted to know what I thought of this home that has just gone up for sale in her hood.
Well, the outside is just precious.
Look at all the details including the pretty landscaping.
Who wouldn't want to spend a summer afternoon on this porch?
I pretty much love everything about this.
Shall we go inside?
The front room is the dining room. This room was originally the living room.
The fireplace is in this room.
The decor is not too crazy yet. A mix of furniture and an old chandelier.
But now that the dining room and living room have been switched, the living room is next to the kitchen. That doesn't make much sense.
Are we still in the same cottage. Nothing wrong with mixing in some modern choices but
this does not feel like it belongs in this home, does it?
It's too much modern for this home.
I think many of these items could have worked in the home but all together it gives it a space age feel.
"Hal? Are you there?"
Down came the wall between the kitchen and now living room.
I hate a bar in an old home like this.
Oh, the kitchen finishes are very pretty.
But a little too sparkly for my taste and I love sparkle.
I do love the countertops. I like the silver tile backsplash too but not in this home.
Imagine it with white subway tile. Oh how beautiful it would be!
Where these chairs sit was the breakfast nook.
Now it's a sitting nook.
This photo shows the wine closet. Which used to hold the washer and dryer.
I think the pink inside this closet is very fun. But not really appropriate for this home.
Still...it's fine...it can easily be painted over if a change is needed.
I don't mind the stripes in this bath.
Guest bedroom is fun...not cottage but boho luxe.
These built-ins in the hall are useful.
The master bedroom is serene and elegant. I have to say I do really love this room.
But the bathroom has none of the character you wish to see in a 1930's home.
It might as well have been built in 2012.
It's nice but so does not fit with the outside architecture.
Pretty backside patio.
I really like the meandering patio stone.
What do you think? Too much of a mod thing in this home?
I think so.
Andrea wrote to say she knew this home well, had spent lots of time in it because a friend of her's owned it.
She said it used to be full of english antiques and toile.
Similar to this home of another friend of her's.
This is the living room of that cottage.
You can see all of this home in my post here.
To see the entire listing on the home above go here.
Andrea is dying to know how others feel about the decor of this home as she was
heart sick to see all the changes made on the inside.
I did find another hutch to make into a potting bench.
By the time you read this...it should be mine.
It's more narrow than the last one.
I think this one will be perfect.
What do you think?
16 comments:
That's not a style of decorating that I would ever choose. However, whoever lives there obviously loves and takes care of the house and that's a great thing. I'm glad somebody appreciates it and is making their home there.
Now, that cottage that belonged to Andrea's friend....I could have moved in there. Hopefully, the people who used to live in that one will share pics of their new home. That family had amazing taste!
I agree with you that the inside looks like a house built in 2012.
Maybe it is better for everyone all around if they sell the house and another family who likes a style that goes with the house moves it. I hate the dining room switch-er-roo!
I have mixed feelings on this one. I think that the interior is beautifully done, but in a style that is incongruous with the exterior. Does everyone who likes cottage style need to live in a cottage? Does everyone who likes Victorian style need to live in a Victorian era house? Sometimes our personal tastes are not in harmony with the exterior of the home that we needed to buy for location or budgetary reasons.
I like the dining room/living room switch because it frees up one long wall on which to place the television and let's admit it, a lot of eating is done in front of that television!
Loved the home, didn't like the interior furnishings or that they switched the dining and living. Most of that could be reversed really easily and some fabulous English or Traditional furniture and this place would be a stunner. Hugs, Marty
I agree with Stacey that the owners obviously put a lot of care into decorating their home. It doesn’t fit with the exterior of the house but I don’t think it necessarily has to. However, I would prefer to see more consistency in the decorating style. The main problem with switching the dining room and the living room is that there seems to be a lot of unusable space because of the traffic pattern from the front of the house to the kitchen. I see the advantage of this set up because of today’s more informal style of entertaining, especially if you don’t have a den or finished basement, but I wouldn’t go that route. I loved the chandeliers, the master bedroom and the dining room is cute. Personally, I really don’t like the master bath. The bottom line is that it looks like a “flipped” house in which the contractors put in features that they thought would appeal to today’s buyers and in so doing, removed much of the vintage character of the home. As with all “remuddles”, future owners will probably think it is dated and change it.
How odd that someone would jumble up the natural flow of a house in that way. It would put me right off.
I do think the home is obviously loved and taken care of. And I really wouldn't care how they decorate if they hadn't ripped out the original bathrooms and walls. That is what I have a real problem with. They took all the vintage charm out of the inside. It's gorgeous but it looks like a new house. If I was buying historic...I'd be disappointed when I walked into this home. But this is what happens when a historic neighborhood becomes trendy. I see this happening in my neighborhood too...people buy because they love the look of the homes and neighborhood and then rip out the charming details inside thinking they are adding value to a home by putting in marble and ripping out walls. They are ruining the charm of the home. For me they are ruining the value of the home. If they want a house like this....go buy a new house...please leave vintage homes alone.
I agree with you Nita, also I feel people should walk into a warm inviting livingroom, not a diningroom
and I love the new potting bench, just don't show it to your mom till you have it all decked out and set in your space. She may take it too!
Two other homes that had been redone in the same manner sold on our street last week. They both had modern decor also. They brought a higher price per s.f. than we have seen around here in a long time. Unfortunately, that is what buyers are looking for in our neighborhood now. When we sell our house I have no doubt that it will be totally gutted, if not torn down completely for new construction. It happens around here all the time. We do have conservation district status, but builders find a way around it. Just a few blocks away there is an entire street that has been razed, and McMansions put up. Buyers are moving here not for the historic homes, but for location and good schools. It's a very different mindset than it was even just 8 or 10 years ago, when we could have gotten top dollar because our homes still had their original, charming details. The appreciation for it just isn't there now :(
I agree with Stacey...I do agree with Nita too unless they had plan on staying there...but re-doing it that way and then selling it? I'd be sad if I couldn't just paint to change it back.
So fun to see all the homes. Thanks for taking the time to give us the tour. It's always a pleasure to take a peek at them.
Liz
I agree with your assessment of the house, and I think you can do some fun things, but certain things were just plain wrong. I loved the fabric on the wing chairs and how they paired it up with the interior of the hot pink cabinet. You didn't mention you got a hutch when we chatted, just don't tell your mom this time.
The exterior is nice, the porch divine. Master room is wonderful
The kitchen with the stainless back splash and bar not so much.
Paint and different furnishings could change a lot of the rooms.
Well, I do love Black & White and usually Shiny. So I love the living room. I like the light fixture against the black ceiling.
The silver backsplash is cool but I think I would get tired of it quickly, so I agree that white subway would have been better. I'm guessing that they put the living room next to the kitchen to make it easier to entertain but in that case I would get rid of the chairs in the nook and put a table in there and then I would make the front/dining room into a divided space. Possibly a foyer area with a place of coats and shoes and a bench to sit down on and then the other side, big comfy chairs in front of the fireplace.
Anyway, that's what I would do.
(I hate that hot pink though, but it's easy to fix). I love Diane's comment. How sometimes we get stuck in a home that has an exterior that doesn't flow with what is in our hearts for the interior. I'm living that now and trying to figure out an inexpensive way to get in sync.
I also agree with you about ruining the details of a home...the house for sale that I lusted for down the street, the one with the cool retro tile and the blond Mid-Century built-ins? I can barely keep from weeping as I see the carpet vans and construction guys in the driveway. To think all the beauty is being ripped out and/or covered.
Sigh....
(sorry for the long comment.)
Cool hutch. :)
I think it is a shame that so much of the integrity of the house was destroyed to modernize it...but there is no accounting for taste, is there? It is sad..but it is theirs to do with what they will, I guess. xo Diana
What is it with people who want to live in McMansion so much they have to ruin the architecture and style of the homes they CAN afford? I mean, to each their own, but it just seems such a shame. The exterior is so lovely, as are the bedrooms. I even like the wing chairs in the little sitting area/former breakfast nook. The kitchen and bathrooms are so disappointing.
I understand what Andrea was saying about people wanting new and modern to the point they tear the old and charming down. That's what my brother did in Houston; he bought a charming little ranch in an up and coming area, and a few years later tore down the house to build a new, modern Spanish style monstrosity.
I live in a former cotton mill village myself and would be sick to find people doing this to the sweet little houses here. So far the people here appreciate the charm and I hope that doesn't change.
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