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Postwar Styles: Cape Cod, Colonial and Ranch
J. M. Edgar, CMC, CRC
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The end of the Second World War brought a sea change to American housing. Prior to that war most Americans were urban-dwelling renters. By the end of the postwar era in the mid-1960s, most Americans were suburban-dwelling landowners. From a nation of tenants to a nation of homeowners in just two decades. There has been nothing like it before — and probably never will be again.

Cape Cod house The classic 1-1/2 story Cape Cod on Worthington in south Lincoln. The attic has been finished and doghouse dormers added for more space and light on the second floor. On narrow standard city lots there was no room for a garage at the side of the house, so most were built in the back connected by a long drive — for your snow-shoveling pleasure. The single stall garage is typical. The brick is not. Wood siding is more common. The demand for housing had been growing for years. The Great Depression of the 1930s depressed, among other things, home building. Houses were built, but not nearly enough of them. Housing starts plummeted 90%, from 937,000 in 1925 to barely 93,000 in 1933. Decent housing of any kind was hard to find. By 1940 rents reached an all-time high, prompting the very first Federal Government rent controls. Then came the World War. All of the "strategic" materials needed to build housing went to war with our armed forces and built barracks, airfields and officer's clubs from Burma to Murmansk. By the end of the war housing demand had been steadily outstripping supply for nearly 20 years.

But in 1946 the war was finally over. Americans had money in their pockets for the first time in a long time. Thirteen million Americans had just returned from wartime military service. Lives that had been on hold since the attack on Pearl Harbor were resumed. There were a record number of marriages in 1946 and 1947, and a record number of births — the beginning of the Baby Boom generation. But there was just no housing to be had. Young couples with children were living above garages, in spare rooms, in tiny apartments with their parents; returning veterans were forced to live in their cars. The government erected temporary veterans shelters to ease the problem in particularly overcrowded areas. But what people wanted was housing: good, affordable housing.

In 1946, we were overwhelmingly a nation of renters. The ideal of actually owning a house was distant dream to the average working American. It took years and years to save enough for the hefty down payment on even the most modest pre-war home. Many people simply could never do it. So all that most young families asked for was just something clean and decent to rent. They considered home-ownership something completely out of reach until much later in life, if at all.

But for once Congress was far ahead of the American people. Starting as a modest provision of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (popularly known as the "GI Bill of Rights"), the government gave each of the over 13 million war veterans the ability not just to rent, but actually purchase a modest first home by guaranteeing part, and later all, of his or her mortgage. For the first time ever, the average working guy — the policeman, the electrician, the bus driver, the assembly line worker — could own his own home; and a solid, well built, home, that could not, by government regulation, cost more than $10,000.

Millions of fzmilies who never even dreamed of homeownership suddenly found themselves in the market for a first home.

Housing demand, already huge, simply exploded.

The American Dream House...All in a Row...
With a keen 20/20 hindsight some 60+ years later, we can clearly see the many problems caused by the mass postwar migration to suburbia: the sprawl, the highway congestion, the pollution, our growing dependence on foreign oil, the row upon row of almost ...Row after Row — Just as Far as the Eye Can See...
Photo: Tony Linck for Life Magazine Click to enlarge Click to enlarge

All the men and materials needed to build a Levitt Cape Cod circa 1948. A small army of trucks rumbles over newly paved streets. Every 60 feet they stop in front of a just-cured 800-square-foot slab of concrete and drop identical bundles of lumber, pipes, siding, bricks, shingles, tile and rolls of electrical wire. Construction crews arrive in small groups and go immediately to work; raising walls, framing roofs, hanging Sheetrock®; siding, roofing, bricklaying and painting. Each crew does its own particular job, then rushes over to the next site and does it all over again.

Under this furious assault of men and machinery, new houses rise at an astounding rate: one new home finished every 16 minutes. The houses sell for $7,990.00; $20.00 down and $57.00 a month — a mere 20% of a working man's income. As many as 350 of them are sold in a single day.

Alfred Levitt designed his houses with an eye to mass production, and William Levitt, based on his experience in the Seabees building pre-fab structures for the Navy and Marines, broke down the building of a house into 26 discrete steps.

Levittown, Pennsylvania
Photo: the Levitt Corporation.
Levittown Sidewalks border grassy lawns and wide, clean streets leading to community parks, swimming pools, and ball diamonds. Backyard fences are prohibited to foster neighborliness. There are no four-way road intersections to promote accidents, and "no child walking to school has to cross a main street to get there". Subcontractors, paid by the piece, not by the hour, did the actual building using precut lumber and staircases already assembled in a central warehouse. Doing exactly the same job over and over and over again, crews quickly developed blazing speed and incredible efficiency (See: "A Carpenter Remembers", below).

President Harry Truman's Veterans Administration was determined to use its mortgage guarantee leverage to ensure that houses for returning war veterans were substantial, but still did not cost over $10,000. In an era in which building codes were rare, the VA's detailed regulations for GI Bill housing became the de facto building code in many localities. Every house was inspected. Every house had to pass. VA inspectors were veterans themselves, and merciless.

To beat the $10,000 limit, garages and basements had to go. Levitt houses were built on slabs, parking was at the curb. But these were solid, well-built houses, not cracker boxes.

"Just Look How Wonderful It Is."
"They [had] just paved [the street], but it was covered with mud. And I said, 'Oh, that's our house right there.' Downhill [Lane] 33, there it is.'"

"We walk up and there's this slab in the ground, and believe it or not, we're looking at it, and I said, 'Well, let's see: The bathroom's over here; there's where the bedroom is. And I laid down right on it. The wet slab. She said, 'Get up, you fool.'

'Nah", I said, 'just look how wonderful it is.'"
David and Mildred Glaser
One of the first Levittown couples. Courtesy the Levitt Corporation. All had underfloor radiant heat and Thermopane® windows (30 years before anyone else). Venetian blinds were installed on every window. Kitchens were decked out in enameled steel cabinets with Formica's amazing new countertops — hygienic and durable.

Photo: U.S. State Department Moving day Move-in day at a newly completed sub-division, 1953. Every house came complete with a Bendix automatic clothes washing machine (and by 1955 a clothes dryer), a General Electric range and refrigerator, a built-in bookcase and flower boxes beneath the front window sills — all included in the price of the house. A staircase led up to the unfinished attic that could be turned into more bedrooms as the family grew.

There were no extras, there were no options. You got, with minor variations in color, trim and exterior finish, the exact same house as everyone else.

And it was a wonderful house — the American dream house — all in a row — row after row — just as far as the eye could see. indistinguishable tract houses.

What we seem to have completely forgotten, however, is that in the immediate post-war years a tiny suburban house with its own little parcel of green lawn, some scrawny rose bushes, and two gangly saplings in the front yard was a dream come true for Depression-dazed, war-weary American families.

Our cities were tired, run down and dirty. There had been little new building for two generations. And no money for repairs. City treasuries during the Depression were mostly bare. City streets were indeed mean: poorly lit and crumbling. There was yet no word for smog, but there was plenty of it — coal was the primary home heating fuel. Rents were high and apartments were small, old, and squalid. Many had no hot water and only limited electricity. The shared bathroom was down the hall. There was no parking for the new cars nearly everyone could now afford.

People just wanted out. They wanted something nicer, cleaner, and newer, with air you could breath. And for $20 in closing costs and a mortgage payment of $57 a month they could have it — a brand new Cape Cod with its own yard, a modern kitchen with built-in cabinets and appliances, heated tile floors, and central hot water; curbside parking on wide new streets, and abundant privacy ensured by a goodly expanse of green lawn between your house and your neighbor's.

The name of this glorious place where the American dream came true was...

Levittown
William Jaird Levitt will always be one of the most controversial figures in American life. He taught the world how to mass produce high-quality, affordable houses (see sidebar), and built more of them than anyone else in history, but never owned a house himself, and hated the suburbs. He rented a 5th Avenue apartment in New York City.

A Carpenter Remem­bers.
By Larry Hahn, a post-war framing contractor in Southern California.
[T]he demand for new houses was so enormous that it required revolutionary thinking about how to build them. We didn't have time to build one house at a time. We needed to find ways to build 500 houses at once...

To compete you had to specialize. As specialists we got pretty fast. When I started out as a carpenter, I was expected to hang eight doors a day. With a helper and the advantage of production tools, my friends Al and Royal Schieffer could hang nearly that many in an hour....

[W]hat was lost in the massive building boom was not quality. What was left behind was all the hand-crafted details that take time to create. We weren't building California bungalows or Victorian ginger­bread houses. We were building solid tract houses that working-class families could afford to buy. And you know what? More than 50 years later, despite frequent earthquakes, those houses are still there. Hundreds of thousands of them."
excerpted from: "One Carpenter's Life", Fine Homebuilding #177, March, 2006) He is one of Time Magazine's 100 most important people of the 20th century, in good company with the likes of Franklin Roosevelt and Robert Goddard of NASA fame. But he died penniless in 1994, unable to pay his bill at the hospital to which he had donated millions of dollars.

Like it or not, William J. Levitt forever changed our world. His ideas literally rebuilt America. He gave us not just a new kind of house in a new kind of neighborhood, but a new style of living with a new word to describe it: "suburban".

By 1950 every major metropolitan area in the United States was in midst of a housing boom — barely slowed by the United Nations "Police Action" in Korea. And by the mid 1960s the majority of Americans had become "suburbanites". William Levitt's mass production techniques had enveloped the nation. Between 1945 and 1965, 28 million new homes were built — an average of nearly 5,000 houses each and every working day — more single family homes than had been built in all of American history up to that time.

Levitt's mass production methods helped ensure that houses stayed affordable. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, the cost per square foot of a new home barely budged. Although selling prices were rising about 5% per year, the average house was at the same time getting larger and more luxurious: 40% bigger by 1965 with central air conditioning, better insulation, more appliances, improved design and extensive landscaping. In 1950 the typical new house was a one-story two-bedroom Cape Cod that cost $8,000. A generation later it was a climate controlled, landscaped, two-story three-bedroom colonial with attached two-car garage that cost just $20,000 with a mortgage that was still less than 20% of a workingman's wages.

The Postwar Cape Cod
Enlarged Cape Cod Adding a wing or two to a classic Cape Cod was a simple and relatively inexpensive way to get more space. Many floor plans were designed with provisions for future expansion. The Levitts did not invent the Cape Cod style. It was a traditional Colonial Era architectural style: boxy, low to the ground with a sharply pitched roof and narrow eaves. It is a style that re-appears from time to time in American architectural history. It briefly emerged from the shadow of Victorian architecture in the late 19th Century Colonial Revival period, then again beginning in the 1920s when it was re-popularized once more by Boston architect Royal Barry Wills Typical Post-War Cape Cod Plan Click to enlarge Click to enlarge

This efficient 950 square foot design made use of every inch of space. whose writings sparked a revival of early Colonial styles, primarily in New England. The Levitt brothers, however, successfully adopted the Cape Cod to their mass production techniques; and both the style and the techniques were adopted widely during the postwar housing boom.

The Levitt Cape Cod had 4-1/2 rooms: living room and kitchen across the front, two bedrooms at the rear and a bath tucked in behind the kitchen. But it kept the boxy rectangular shape, high pitched roof and narrow eaves characteristic of the original Cape Cod style. The floor plan was soon revamped so that the kitchen was at the back of the house, for reasons of better privacy and to make it easier to watch the children in the back yard.

But relatively few pristine postwar Capes still exist. Improving your tract house became something of a nationwide obsession in the 1960s, spawning a whole new "do-it-yourself" industry and creating the tool-belt-totin' "weekend warrior". Almost as soon as the paint was dry on the original house, American homeowners turned to making it bigger and better. Finished basements, new gardens, garages, porches, decks and, for the very ambitious, bedrooms in the attic or whole new additions. In Nebraska a lot of Cape Cods were built as one-story homes with relatively low hip rather than gable roofs, reducing the opportunity to expand easily to a second floor. But this did not prevent owners from expanding them: out the back, out the side, or remove the roof and add a story. Some expansions are so extensive that it is had to tell that there was once a Cape Cod under all those additions.

The Postwar Colonial
Early Postwar Colonial House An early postwar Colonial house. Take away the second story and the fancy front portico, and you can get a glimpse the true ancestor of this style, a simple Cape Cod house. In fact, another name for this style is the "Colonial Cape". Note the typical Georgian trim detail at the peak of the dormers and around the front door. The Colonial style of house has been around in one form or another since before the Revolution. There was a revival of the Colonial styles after 1870 that lasted into the first two decades of the next century. The Colonial Revival is often seen as a stylistic backlash against the excess of Victorian housing styles and a yearning to return to the country's "more wholesome" agrarian past. This sentiment helped trigger the Arts and Crafts movement that gave rise to the various architectural styles that had swallowed the Colonial Revival by the 1930s.

During the postwar housing boom, the Colonial style arose once again to serve the need for a larger house that could be mass produced in very large numbers. The Cape Cod was just not enough house for many postwar homebuyers. They wanted three bedrooms rather than two and a little more space. Builders, already familiar with the humble Cape Cod, merely added a second story. The additional story allowed the bedrooms and main bath to be moved upstairs. This, in turn, permitted a full formal dining room as well as a larger kitchen and living room with a guest bath just off the entry hall. And thus was born the mid-century Colonial house.

Dutch Colonial A Dutch Colonial style house with its gambrel roof on Worthington Street, Irvingdale area of Lincoln. Like the Cape Cod, easily added to, Colonials soon sported wings, decks, porches and attached garages. As time went by, fewer and fewer of the smaller Cape Cods were sold and the larger Colonial in its many variations, particularly the split-level, became the dominant tract house style by the mid-1960s.

Many variations on the original postwar Colonial soon appeared. The second story was made larger by cantilevering it over the ground floor. The larger space allowed for a small additional bathroom attached to the "master bedroom" — a term just coming into use. Variations in roof styles and detailing emerged. Adding a gambrel roof turned the structure into a Dutch Colonial. Split foyer colonials inspired split-level colonials with the obligatory unfinished "recreation" room in the basement. These allowed as much living space as ranch style houses (see below) without the large lots required for ranch houses. Integrated one and two-stall garages became indispensable in the late 1960s. Modern Colonial House A late post-war split-level version of the Colonial with integrated garage. The house is now far removed from its Cape Cod roots and not a hint of the Georgian detailing remains. But it now has the obligatory bay window, purely decorative, non-functioning shutters, an integral garage and unfinished "rec room" in the basement. In many ways a more functional house, it has, however, lost a lot of its charm.

But by that time the style has lost many of the elements that had originally defined it. The early Georgian detailing such as the entry cornice and detailed eaves was gone as was the two-story rectangular shape. Split-level and split-foyer variations had so diluted the style that it was almost unrecognizable. In fact, whether a split level house is termed a Colonial or a Raised Ranch is now often a matter of which label will most quickly sell the house. The Colonial had become a "left-over" style. Any two story house that did not fall easily into another style classification automatically became a "colonial".

The Ranch House
The Ranch Style became become one of the dominant home styles during the middle decades of the century and passed the Colonial in popularity by the 1970s. The Ranch was geared to casual indoor-outdoor living with its open floor plan, semi-enclosed patios nestled between the wings of the house and extensive use of glass doors and large picture windows to bring the outdoors in. In 1977, 77% of the single-family houses built in the U.S. were single story Ranches and Cape Cods.

Photo: Lancaster County Register of Deeds Ranch A Ranch style house on Fall Creek Road. The Prairie influence is very evident in this house. As this example shows, the Ranch Style which is often considered relatively bland can have a great deal of character and charm. The Ranch was born in the sprawling southwest. Architect Cliff May is widely credited with having built the first Ranch style home in San Diego in 1932. Although to the modern eye, May's house does not look very much like a ranch-style house, it did have all the usual ranch features. It was greatly influenced by low-roofed Spanish-adobe houses on which thick walls, broad overhanging eaves and tile roofs were intended to keep the house cool in blistering desert summers. The complete absence of blistering desert summers did not keep the style from quickly migrating north and east into the suburban landscape.

This was due to a unique confluence of events. First, a casual, west coast style of living promised by the one story open Ranch design struck a chord with American homebuyers. Second, relatively inexpensive land in the suburbs meant that even the modestly affluent could afford the wide lots required for a rambling Ranch style. Third, and possibly most important, central home heating had become inexpensive and convenient. In the days when a wood-burning fireplace or coal stove was the main heat source, heating a house took a lot of work cutting wood or shoveling coal. Building up rather than out made the most efficient use of heat rising from the first floor to also warm the second (and possibly third). But in the 1950s, reliable, cheap central heat was available just by turning up the furnace thermostat. It made Ranch houses possible in cold climates. Without central heating and later air-conditioning, the Ranch style would probably be nothing more than an interesting Southwest regional curiosity.

Ranch The promise of casual indoor-outdoor living: Large windows and glass doors open onto a secluded patio nestled between the wings of the house. As the house style migrated north it shed much of its characteristic southwest flavor and began showing more Prairie style influences — at least in more affluent neighborhoods. In its tract house version, builders seemed to make a special effort to make it as bland and characterless as possible. In fact the Ranch style is often described as the "complete absence of style" — which is absolute nonsense. A well-styled Ranch has as much character as any other house type. It's just that there are not that many of them. The defining characteristics of the style were also muffled when the variations started such as the "Raised Ranch". Today the Ranch is largely a "left-over" style like the Colonial. Any one story house with a low roof that is not a Cape is probably going to be identified, rightly or wrongly, as a Ranch.

The Ranch style has been declining in popularity because it requires so much land, and land is getting more expensive nearly everywhere. In 2005 single story houses, including Ranches, had declined to just 42% of new homes sold — far below their post-war peak. But the main features of the Ranch style, the open floor plan and merging of indoor and outdoor spaces, have retained their appeal, migrating to contemporary housing styles that look absolutely nothing like a ranch.

Atomic-Age Interiors
Postwar housing featured what we might call "minimalist" interiors. The advent of gypsum drywall eliminated the need for the wide trim The Eames Lounge Chair An icon of the post-war period: the Charles Eames Lounge Chair® and ottoman have been in continuous production for over 60 years. Available from Herman Miller, Inc.. boards required for wet plaster walls. Very narrow trim soon became the standard. Many houses started with tile floors. But the asphalt tile used at the time became brittle after a few years and broke apart. Few houses had it after 1960. Oak wood strip floors eventually became the standard, lasting until about 1975 when wall-to-wall carpeting took over (made possible by the invention of the inexpensive vacuum cleaner — but that's another story). True linoleum and later sheet vinyl were the standards for kitchens and baths. Plain doors and windows, and the absence of crown or chair molding contributed to the "vanilla" look of the period.

Most did not stay vanilla very long, however. Homeowners immediately set about adding the special touches that made their new house a unique home. Some of the more faddish postwar decorating trends came and went quickly. Remember Campaign furniture and the (best forgotten) Mediterranean style? Both appeared and disappeared in about five years, leaving virtually no trace that they ever were. Art Deco Room An art deco-influenced living room designed by House To Home. A comfortable club chair and bold geometric patterns in muted colors are typical of the style.

But the nice thing about postwar houses is that they can adapt to just about any interior styling. They are extremely flexible. While fussy Victorian may look out of place, any of what are termed the "modernism" styles can be used: art nouveau, art deco, industrial, and Scandinavian. Colonial houses lend themselves well to Colonial styles. Cape cods can adopt any of these as well as a toned down Arts and Crafts look.

Art Nouveau/Art Deco: Art Nouveau began in the late 19th century as yet another reaction to Victorian excess. Art Nouveau Living Room Bold geometric paintings adorn monochromatic walls. Chrome, glass and leather chairs complement a comfortable bright fabric loveseat in this Art Nouveau style living room. It morphed into the Art Deco movement that lasted in somewhat muted form until the 1970s. It was most popular in the 1930s and gave period movie theaters their characteristic look. Neither was a true architectural style. They were styles of decoration that emphasized shape and form. Ornamentation consists largely of low relief geometrical designs, often in the form of parallel straight lines, zigzags, chevrons and stylized floral motifs. Stylists and designers such as Charles Eames, Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus School made full use of the possibilities of new materials such as bendable plywoods and moldable plastics to design furnishings with sweeping curves

Typified by strong and large geometric designs, extensive use of glass in both interior detail and furnishings and bold use of color in carpets and accessories, the Art Nouveau/Deco styles fit perfectly inside the modern ranch house. The walls are typically monochromatic and light to keep the look clean. The tone of a room is often taken from its rugs, usually containing rich colors and strong geometric shapes. A comfortable sofa, at least one club or lounge chair and a coffee table are almost required elements of the Art Nouveau/Deco living room. Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Clean lines and natural materials; a Danish Modern dining room.

Scandinavian Modern: Called by many names, the most common being "Danish Modern", no style captured the post-war spirit quite like Scandinavian Modernism. The style actually began in the 1930s. It was refined during the austerity of the World War, a time when most imported and Scandinavian Modern living room Teak, chrome, a monochromatic color scheme, sparse and simple decoration of the Scandinavian Modernist style fit well in minimalist mid-century modern interiors. man-made materials became unavailable and Scandinavian designers were forced to return to local, native materials such as oak, birch, rush, clay and linen cloth. After the war a few exotics slipped in, notably teak and rosewood, but the designs generally remained faithful to their wartime roots in native, natural materials and simple finishes. The style is characterized by simple, uncomplicated designs, minimalism, and functionality, designed always with an eye toward low cost mass production.

Taking hold in New York soon after the war, the Scandinavian style quickly spread all across America. Young modern families found it to be the ideal expression of the new, informal, suburban lifestyle. The lines were geometric, clean and unpretentious and the scale was well-suited to the smaller houses of the postwar period. "Hand rubbed" oil-and-wax finishes on wood furnishings meant freedom from worry about the interaction between young children and fine furnishings. If a table got damaged, it could easily be repaired. Framed seating with removable, slip cushions meant that a new look could be had at any time with some simple reupolstery. Light weight Scandinavian furniture made cleaning and re-arranging a snap; and the natural materials and fine craftsmanship were a nice counterpoint to the mass produced, man-made materials that seem to explode into middle of the century: plastics, nylon, Orlon®, chrome, Melmac®, vinyl and Formica®, to name just a very few.

The Postwar Kitchen
Among their other contributions to the American home, the Levitt brothers largely invented the modern, fitted kitchen characterized by wall-to-wall built-in cabinetry and appliances tucked into recesses. Photos: The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Levittown Exhibit The Levittown Kitchen

Click a thumbnail to view details of the Levittown kitchen.
Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Click to enlarge

The standard 1950s Levittown kitchen as it looked on move-in day — in pinkish — as recreated by the State Museum of Pennsylvania. This incredibly well organized kitchen contained everything the post-war homemaker needed to prepare family meals and take care of the laundry all while watching the kids in the back yard, and all in a 10' x 12' footprint.


The concept of built-in kitchens had been around for decades. Most urban homes built after 1900 had at least some built in cabinetry. But, unless the kitchen was designed by an architect, not much thought was given to how the room should be organized. Often it was built by a carpenter who, after locating the sink under the kitchen window, built adjacent cabinetry where it looked right to him. It frequently ended up an absolute horror to actually cook in.

The Levittown Kitchen
Photo: Pompano Beach Historical Society The 1930s Kitchen Click to enlarge

A typical pre-Levitt kitchen as recreated by the Pompano Beach Historical Society. Just a decade or so older than the Levittown Kitchen, it looks, and is, primative. But by the end of the World War science was being applied to kitchen design. In 1944, the President of the University of Illinois at Urbana ordered the formation of the Small Homes Council to research housing issues. By war's end, the Council had already published a number of research findings on kitchen organization, eventually developing the famous "kitchen work triangle" that became the cornerstone of kitchen design for the next half century. (The kitchen triangle endures today as part of the Kitchen Design Rules published by the National Kitchen and Bath Association).

The professors had the theory, but the Levitts had the design and production genius. They incorporated the first widely available modern kitchen into their houses. The new kitchens were fabulous selling points, and the Levitts promoted them heavily and very successfully. Their kitchen featured, among other things, durable and hygienic enameled steel cabinets (faster to install than carpenter-built wood cabinets), Formica® countertops, a single-spout mixing valve faucet, a Waring® blender base built right into the counter top, an electric range with oven, a refrigerator, a washer and dryer, and a built-in chopping block next to the sink. It was revolutionary and an absolute miracle of function and organization. All of the basic household services were placed in one conveniently arranged location: cooking, laundry, cleanup, storage; with a view of the kids playing in the back yard. Virtually all kitchen innovation since the Levitt kitchen has been mere refinement of the basic modern kitchen born in the genius of Alfred and William Levitt in the immediate postwar years.

Other Post-War Kitchens
Photo: Formica Corporation. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge
The retro mid-century look is becoming so popular that Formica has reintroduced many of its original 1950s patterns and colors. This one is "Boomerang" from the Classics collection in skylark, charcoal, coral and aqua. Photo: Rejuvenation Inc. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge

The mid-century modern kitchen stunningly recreated by Rejuvenation Inc. as a setting for its period lighting and cabinet hardware. Everything in this kitchen is well-researched and authentic, down to the turquoise tile, Melmac® dinnerware and period cookbooks. For more information about this company, see "Resources", above. Outside of Levitt-built communities wood cabinets were more common than Levitt's preferred enamel-on-steel. The kitchen was streamlined with plain-as-day cabinet doors and drawers. Color was imported in tile and counter top patterns, some quite bold, and in colors rarely seen today including flamingo pink, lemon-lemon and turquoise. Typical features included drop soffits, Venetian blinds and a breakfast table of tubular chrome steel with a laminate top and matching chrome and vinyl chairs. At least one corner or end cabinet would be outfitted with open shelves for Mom's cookbooks. Colorful Melamine dinnerware completed the mid-century modern look. Millions of these kitchens were built; most have, unfortunately, been "updated". But the look is coming back as "50s-Retro". Vintage steel cabinets, chrome and vinyl kitchen table sets, and even 50s appliances, if in good shape, are commanding impressive prices in the antiques markets, and just about all of these are being widely reproduced.

The mid-century kitchen was usually well thought out and functional, but small for the purpose into which it very quickly evolved - the social center of the home. Kitchen design did not really catch up with this revolution in kitchen status for nearly 25 years, but somehow American families made their little kitchens work. By the 1960's with the addition of a built-in dishwasher, disposer, undercabinet lighting, and the electric range ventilator, the modern kitchen came into being. The only significant innovation since that time is the microwave.

Cabinets: Cabinet wood was overwhelmingly birch, due to the widespread postwar availability of high quality birch plywood (originally developed to make war planes and PT boats). Natural varnished birch captured Reproduction 1950s range This Heartland Appliance gas range would be at home in any reproduction mid-century modern kitchen. the light and airy look favored by the new suburbanites. Most cabinet doors were simply lipped sheets of plywood with exposed hinges and mechanical or magnetic catches. Cabinet corners were often rounded. The simple, unadorned cabinet designs fit in well with the Scandinavian furnishings of the day. (For more on cabinet door styles, see Cabinet Basics)

Countertops: For true authenticity, countertops should be laminate, preferably one of Formica's retro patterns. These were often edged in chrome trim, but if not, should have a square or diamond edge treatment. Ceramic tile was also used, and the tile was often carried up the wall to the bottom of the wall cabinets. Tile patterns were typically bold as were the colors. Solid surfacing with a laminate look would work. The key is to keep the square edge typical of the period. Granite and manufactured stone tops would be out of character in a Retro-50s kitchen.

Big Chill Retro Refrigerator Completely modern and frost free on the inside, this retro refrigerator from Big Chill is com­fort­ably at home in any mid-century kitchen. As is the dishwasher. If there had been built-in dishwashers in 1955, this is probably what they would have looked like. Flooring: Kitchen floors typically started out in asphalt tile set in bold patterns of alternating colors. Asphalt tile is no longer available for the simple reason that it is not very good tile, but there are plenty of vinyl tile replacements. Sheet linoleum was also used. True linoleum is once again available, and in authentic colors and patterns for the period. A good substitute is sheet vinyl. In an upscale kitchen ceramic tile could be found, again in bold patterns and/or colors. Slate and oak strip flooring are also authentic. Oak and slate-look laminates would look right and be easier to care for.

Chrome and laminate kitchen table Chromed tubular steel table with laminate top and vinyl-covered chairs — an essential item for an authentic mid-century modern kitchen. Molding: The molding in a mid-century modern kitchen should be plain and understated. Complex mouldings were not a design feature of the style. Mouldings were largely treated as a necessary evil, needed to hide wall edges, but were deemphasized as much as possible. Birch, Sweet Gum and Fir are the most authentic. Pine is a good substitute and is more readily available in the Midwest. Sweet gum is now so rare, due to overcutting and disease, that it is classed as an "exotic" species. But authentic gum trim can often be found in stores that specialize in architectural antiques. Elm and oak were also used.

Appliances: It is certainly permissible to use completely modern appliances in your mid-century modern kitchen. But it would be vastly improved with retro-look appliances. Many are available. They have all the functionality of modern appliances, but feature an authentic style and period colors such as Buick Red, Lemon Yellow, Flamingo Pink and Robin's Egg Blue as well as White, Bisque, and Black.

Most Requested Feature: More space. Many postwar kitchens are small — very small. The idea of kitchen as family social center had not occurred to mid-century architects. Kitchens were considered utility rooms, like the bathroom, to be kept as small as possible to add space to the living areas of the house. Now that we generally see kitchens as part of the living area - in fact, probably the most important part - the space is just not there. There are a number of tried and true options for getting more space for that dream kitchen, however. We can remove a dividing wall between the kitchen and another room, add a small bumpout to the kitchen or even a full addition to greatly expand the space. All of these possibilities are more fully explored in Finding Some More Kitchen Space.

The Post-War Bathroom
Mid-Century Modern Resources StarCraft Custom Builders has no economic interest any of these resources.
Associations
2020 Omaha: Omaha's preservation association dedicated to preserving the best of 20th century Omaha architecture.

Furnishings
Big Chill: Retro appliances. All of the features of modern refrigerators, ranges and dishwashers in post-war colors and styles.

Elmira Stove Works: Retro 1950's and Victorian Era appliance reproductions whith completely modern workings. The line includes ranges, refrigerators, range hoods, microwaves and dishwasher panels.

Mid-Century Modern Furniture: Mid-Century Modern Furniture specializes in the finest reproductions of modern furniture classics, including re-issues from the original furniture designers and manufacturers including Knoll, Vitra, Modernica, Cherner Chair Company, Architectural Pottery, Malm Fireplace and Daniel Donnelly.

Rejuvenation For period lighting, hardware and house parts plus a raft of ideas and illustrations, we know of no better place than Rejuvenation. Truly excellent customer service.

Vintage Danish Modern: Post-war danish modern furnishings. Inventory varies, but there is usually a nice selection of furnishings for every room. Prices are reasonable.

Publications
Atomic Ranch: Atomic Ranch Quarterly Magazine celebrates midcentury houses—from 1940s ranch tracts to 1960s architect-designed modernist homes with an emphasis on affordable solutions and homeowner renovations.

Preservation Magazine: The journal of the National Trust for Historic Preseration.

Web Resources
Fifties Web: Fashion, music, style, year-by-year history — just about anything '50s, including a whole section devoted to Burma Shave signs.

RetroRenovation: Probably the most complete Web source for 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s interior design, fashion and style. The site is essentially a moderated user site with lots of imput from homeowners and remodelers. A great source of inspiration and ideas with good articles and lots of illustrations. It even has ideas for making a pink bathroom work.
Do you know of a mid-century modern or Retro 50s resource we ought to add? Please contact us.

Are any of these links broken? Please let us know.
The post-war bathroom was small and Spartan. Architects of the period considered the bath to be a utility room, like Post-war tile bath in Pink Tile bathroom in pink. Vanities, if used, should be painted rather than varnished wood. More common was a wall-hung or pedestal sink. the kitchen, furnace room and laundry, it had to be just large enough to do its job, without taking space away from really important rooms like the living and formal dining rooms. The rooms were just large enough to hold a toilet, sink and tub, typically 5' x 7' or 5' x 9' in upscale houses.

Small and Spartan, however, should not be taken to mean absent all style or refinement. These were well thought out, attractive and even pleasant spaces. The overwhelming motif was tile — tile floors, tile on the walls, tile countertops and even tile wainscoting. Most of the tile was ceramic. It was so well set that more than a half-century later a lot of it still exists. Some was plastic. Plastic was the new space-age material in the 1950s and very au courant. All we can say now is that very little of it still exists because it was truly terrible tile. What has not fallen off by itself was removed years ago. We see very little of it now, praise the Lord.

Photo: Apartment Therapy Post-war tile bath in Pink An original unrestored circa 1950s bathroom discovered by Apartment Therapy in Los Angeles. There is nothing to improve here. Colors were vibrant. Like the kitchen pallet, decorators preferred bold pastels — sea cerulean blue, turquoise, pink, peach, lemon, black and white — but with little pattern. Partly this was a stylistic choice, but it was also faster to lay patternless tile, and post-war builders were for anything that saved time. If tile designs were used, they were almost always geometric and repetitive. Borders in a contrasting color were common.

Fixtures were fully modern. Aside from the low-flow siphoning toilet, every fixture in a mid-century bath is identical to those in today's bath. The only feature that has been added since then is power ventilation required by the advent of whole-house air-conditioning. Before air-conditioning, window ventilation was adequate. As the 1950s approached the end of the decade, showers were becoming routine. Tub/shower combinations were a mainstay of nearly every new bathroom by 1958.


  • Adapting a Kitchen to a Budget
    A terrific kitchen does not have to break the bank. We may have to get creative and even make a few compromises, but you will end up with a wonderful kitchen that will serve your needs for years to come.
  • The Bathroom Revolution
    The role of the bathroom is changing rapidly. The importance of the bath in our homes has grown dramatically. Spacious rooms, closeted toilets, double bowl lavatories, whirlpool tubs, and recently large walk-in showers have found their way into our homes. No longer just a functional room, the bath is becoming a retreat. How can you modernize your bath into one of these gracious rooms? Find out here.
  • Behind the Scenes — The Kitchen Structure
    Behind the beautiful new cabinets, under the sparking countertops, beneath the gleaming tile floor are the invisible bones and sinew that make the kitchen work - electricity, venting, heating and plumbing. Find out all that's needed behind the scenes.
  • Cabinet Basics
    There's oak, maple, hickory, ash, cherry. Faced and unfaced. Framed and frameless. Custom, semi-custom and manufactured. MDF, Melamine, Thermofoil, even steel. So many choices. How do you pick the cabinets that are just right for you? Click here to find out.
  • Creating More Bathroom Space
    Our fondness of open spaces within the home doesn't end at the bathroom door. Unfortunately the acreage needed to create that spacious feeling just is not available in many older bathrooms. Often the key to updating a bath is creating more space — or at least the illusion of more space. This article examines where additional space can be found both outside and inside your existing bathroom.
  • Designing Efficient and Effective Kitchen Lighting
    The kitchen uses a lot of energy for lighting. While remodeling your kitchen, you have the perfect opportunity to create a highly efficient lighting system.
  • Finding Some More Kitchen Space
    Learn where to get more space, or at least the feeling of more space for your new kitchen.
  • Flooring Options for Kitchens and Baths
    Wood, stone, vinyl, ceramic tile, laminated flooring. What are the pros and cons of each? Learn the fundamentals of kitchen flooring.
  • How to Measure Your Kitchen
    All the steps required to measure a kitchen explained and illustrated. Learn to measure like a pro.
  • Mise en Place: What We Can Learn from Commercial Kitchens
    Organized to prepare a large variety of appetizing meals at a moment's notice, we can learn a lot about kitchen efficiency from studying commercial kitchens.
  • New and Traditional Countertop Choices
    Is solid surfacing, laminate, stone or tile your best choice of counter top? Or maybe something more exotic. Take a look at the incredible selection of modern counter top materials.
  • Off the Wall Kitchens: Living Without Wall Cabinets
    Wall cabinets are unquestionably useful storage, but with drawbacks. A major disadvantage is that wall cabinets make a kitchen seem smaller by closing in the space at eye level — which is where we subconsciously judge how large the space around us is - and limit the number and size of windows in the kitchen. Can your new kitchen do away with wall cabinets? Probably. Find out how.
  • The Rules of Bathroom Design
    The Kitchen and Bath Association has published guidelines for designing a safe and functional bathroom. Created and maintained by a panel of expert designers, these recommendations should be closely followed in any kitchen plan.
  • The Rules of Kitchen Design
    In 1944 the University of Illinois conducted a study of kitchen design and developed fundamental design principals that are still very much in use today. Here are the rules for designing great kitchens.
  • Selecting Bath Fixtures
    The choices of bathroom fixtures are a little overwhelming. Tubs, showers, sinks, faucets and toilets come in so many shapes, sizes, colors and with such a great variety of features that choosing the right fixtures can be a challenge. Here are some guidelines and suggestions.
  • Sources of Supply: Faucets
    Thinking about buying a faucet? Before your do, see our list of major faucet manufacturers with ratings and guidelines on what to look for and how to select a good, lifetime faucet.
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