By Barbara Falconer Newhall
Jon and I live in a house that can only be described as a mid-century ranch stacked in three stories down the side of a hill. The ranch house style was popular when our house was built in the 1950s, and my best guess is that the builders who designed our house decided to adapt that style to fit our steep hillside lot.
Our house on a hill has some 1950s amenities — hardwood floors and a biggish kitchen indoors and, outdoors, wide redwood siding. But, true to the ’50s ranch style, it has too many walls and too many rooms, hallways and doors. It was built for the ’50s woman who wanted to close the door to the kitchen when her family sat down to dinner in the dining room. It also fit the ’50s family that didn’t mind living in a house with three bedrooms and only one bathroom on the top floor.
Old as it is — it was built around 1952 — ours turned out to be a really nice house. Jon and I bought it back in 1978 when housing prices were skyrocketing, and we thought we should grab a house, any house, get ourselves into the market, and trade it in for a better house later.
We were newlyweds hoping to have kids, and we were pretty sure we’d never get through their teenage years in this house — with only one bathroom on the bedroom floor. We grabbed it anyway.
But we never got around to trading in our wannabe ranch for that pie-in-the-sky better house. And here we are, 40 years later.
We’ve made improvements over time. We remodeled the kitchen. We finished off the basement rec room. And we remodeled that sole upstairs bathroom. But the house still has too many walls and too many halls. And we never found the time and resources to add a second bathroom up there. Somehow we got through the teenage years unscathed with the two kids who eventually found their way into our lives.
Peter and Christina have left home for far-away cities, but they do visit. And, Christina says
to me, Mom, it would be really nice if you and Dad had a master suite bathroom, so that Tim (her new husband) wouldn’t have to worry about running into you on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
OK. Done. Whatever it takes to get those kids to come visit, and for their SOs to actually have a good time while they’re here, we’ll do it.
With that, Jon and I engaged a designer, and as I write she’s figuring out a way to shoehorn a master bath in amongst those three upstairs bedrooms.
While she’s at it, she’s looking at ways to banish the dark halls and multiple doorways on our main floor.
Jon and I, meanwhile, are searching our mid-century souls — do we dare take down that wall between our kitchen and dining area? Do we open our minds to 21st-century open concept floor plan living? Or do we keep the door closed on that mess in the kitchen?
Watch this space.
2020 Update: We ultimately decided to break this project into stages. We went ahead with removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room, but we decided against taking out all of the hallway walls on the main floor — better to have some wall space for an art and photo gallery. The hoped-for master bath addition will have to wait. But we went ahead with new sliding doors for the living room, a brand new deck, and a totally fun skylight at the top of the stairs.
More stories about life at our house at “Time to Crack Open That Hope Chest and Live a Little.” Also, “Feng Shui for the Writing Room and the Bedroom: Your Mother’s Not Allowed and Neither Are the Kids.”
Fun stuff! I’d get rid of the wall and the kitchen table and add an island with eating area. (Great cookie decorating spot for grandkids) Although, I don’t know the existing kitchen layout. This is exciting.
Thanks, Liz. Interesting, everyone who has responded has encouraged opening up the kitchen — and none of them are Millenials. This definitely gives me courage to give that open concept layout a whirl. I guess one could always put the wall back up; I’ve heard of that happening.
Absolutely remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room! We lived in an Eichler in Walnut Creek, and I loved the open floor plan.
I love those Eichlers . . .
Love it! I’m looking forward to seeing what you two come up with and do!
The architect is going on vacation, so we won’t see her ideas for a few weeks. Fun stuff.
We like no wall between kitchen. And dining room-brings everyone together more. By the way, Barb, when are you coming to Michigan this summer?
Thanks, Wendy, Chery and Sharie. Food for thought. I notice that when we have all four kids and spouses here, everybody winds up sitting around the table in the kitchen — six people at a three-person table. The dining area is darkish compared to the kitchen, and not so appealing. Removing the big awning over the deck is helping by bringing better light into dining area.
We live in a neighborhood where the houses are nearly identical. Some owners take down walls and the next owner puts one or two back in. The rest of us are always curious to see how the new owners have adapted the space. You can do whatever suits your present style of life. “Living” space in a good basic house.
Yes, it’s nice to see how neighbors with a similar layout rearrange things. One of our neighbors took out one of the three upstairs bedrooms in order to expand the master. But I’m a big believer in having the kids’ bedrooms on the same floor as the parents’ — when the kids are little anyway. b