We absolutely adore midcentury time capsules, homes that have clearly been barely updated in decades. Why? For one thing, those of us who are older than dirt tend to love the kind of styles of furniture and homes that were popular in our carefree days of childhood. We also love the idea that back then, people tended to stay in one house for decades. That’s how we want to live personally, but few people do these days. These houses meant a lot to their owners: they were lovingly designed at one point and the people who lived there saw no reason to update.
Plus, in many ways, the decorating styles of past years have a lot to teach us today. A corollary of people moving often is that they’re afraid to decorate in anything but the most staid, boring, generic, colorless, anonymous style because they don’t want to “wreck” resale value. White walls, the same old white kitchens and baths, blah blah blah. You can’t go wrong, but the flip side of that is you can’t go really right either. Back in the day, people weren’t afraid to let it all hang out, decoratively. Mirrored walls? Smoked mirror walls? Wallpaper? Wallpaper on the ceiling? Fun colored bathroom fixtures? Fun colored kitchen appliances?
Being afraid wasn’t an issue for the original owner/builder of this Montauk house. Two words: conversation pit.
Oh we love that conversation pit with the brightness of a thousand suns. And dig the light fixture! And the shag carpeting!
Two more words: built in planters. (Next to the Montauk stone fireplace, naturally.)
Smoked mirrors! A built-in buffet/sideboard! A passthrough to the kitchen, and more of that sexy shag in the dining room.
OK, we will admit that the kitchen isn’t too exciting, though we like the breakfast area. In case anyone is scoffing at 1970s kitchens, watch The Exorcist some time–now that’s a gorgous 1970s kitchen. (Yes, we are nerdy enough to pay more attention to the interior design.)
While the bedrooms and bathrooms aren’t too exciting in this house, there’s a decent number (four and 2.5) as midcentury houses go, and they would be easy to update.
The exterior of this property, which is repped by John D’Agostino at Martha Greene and Margaret A. Harvey at Town & Country, is another standout. There’s 1.7 acres abutting reserve, which includes attractive gardens, decking, and stone patios. There’s even your own private pond for fishing, natural watching, or skating, and while there isn’t a pool, there’s room, of course.
Asking price for all this is $1.7 million. The property has been on the market for a while and the ask was just reduced. C’mon people, have some vision, and think about lovely evenings with California dip and chips in that conversation pit.
For more, click here or here. 17 Upland Road, Montauk
