Name: Aaron & Wendy Congleton
Location: Mayfair, Denver, Colorado
Size: 2,640 square feet
Years lived in: 13 years; Own
Aaron and Wendy's house could easily be mistaken for a shrine to the gods of mid-century modernism, but even more fascinating than the pieces themselves are the stories of how they were acquired.
The Congletons have an arsenal of friends and family who are always on the lookout for interesting pieces to add to their home. Basement envy aside, one of my favorite areas in the house is the birch breakfast table with orange Herman Miller shell chairs. According to legend, Aaron and his friend Zach were scooting around Denver during a rally when Zach spotted a large stack of the chairs in what looked to be a junk pile. Fifty bucks later he had a wealth of shell chairs, and Aaron and Wendy were lucky enough to be gifted two. The tales of treasures go on and on, including one juicy Craigslist score: a very large Cado wall unit for $100!
Aaron and Wendy love to cook, and grow a good amount of their own fruits and vegetables as well as keeping chickens. Loretta, Patsy, Wanda and Dolly were added to the side yard a few years ago, and at the time, were among the first few chickens to be licensed in the city of Denver. Chickens, Koi fish, grapevines, pumpkins, rescue dogs and a sweet kitty make this lovely house an even lovelier home.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: We love kitsch and MCM. The coziness of kitsch tends to burnish the hard sterile feeling of modern. Case Study #8 is about the best example of this. I think about that house a lot. Personal mementos are what make that house great. It's a modern home that fells human. I like that approach to modernism.
Inspiration: We are using our house as our primary inspiration. We have tried to keep the spirit of our restoration more about the past than the present.
Favorite Element: The original owner was a brick mason who obviously was proud of his abilities. All around the house there are neat little examples of his talent and skill. One wall is built up with a checkerboard pattern, while another is herringbone. The house sports two sweet fireplaces. Each has its own vibe. We have really tried to keep that spirit alive as we work on the house.
Biggest Challenge: Daily wear and tear is a challenge. Some of our earlier remodel projects are looking a little long in the tooth. Our kitchen has seen massive meals turned out pretty frequently. This has taken a toll on the sink, countertops and floor. We are about to get bids on new concrete work, and a little tuck point here and there. Etc, etc, etc. Such is the life of a home owner.
What Friends Say: The best quote was "Time to set the watch back 60 years". Most of our friends get it. In fact, a lot of our furniture and housewares are gifts or hookups from friends. We have made a lot of friends because of their shared interest in mid-century modern, Italian scooters, and food.
Biggest Embarrassment: That would be the "Jesus Room". This is the room that has died for the sins of all the other rooms. It is a dark place filled with sports equipment and other stuff that really doesn't fit in with the decor. It's a mess, but a necessary mess.
Proudest DIY: That's hard… we rarely hire out work. We can look around and see our handiwork all around. Some projects went better than others. Some projects are still in progress. I really like the way the kitchen turned out. We built all the cabinets and built-ins out of 3/4" birch plywood from Home depot. We also tore out the stairwell wall to open the space up, double our countertop space, and eke out some nice built-ins.
Biggest Indulgence: 1967 Alfa Romeo GTV… but that's another story.
Best Advice: Take your time. Retail purchases rarely come with a story. Most of our finds come with a good memory or even a story that goes along with it.
Dream Sources: Good friends who share the bug.
Resources of Note:
PORCH
- • Butterfly Chairs: Garage Sale
LIVING ROOM
- • Nelson Bench: Bought from our friend Robert
• Blonde Console: Decade (thanks Kris!)
• Sette: Craigslist... refinished the wood and had Calico Corners reupholstered the cushions with Sunbrella fabric (thanks Brooke!)
• Jens Risom Credenza: Craigslist find
• Ligne Roset Coffee Table: Mecca Modern
• Cherry Eames LCW, Modernica Bubble Lamp, Nesson Floor Lamp: Modern Classics (thanks Rick!)
• Wire Base Tables: Herman Miller stock sale
• Eames 670 Chair: Bought it from our friend Wendi at Unek Environments
• Cameroon Masks: A gift from Gui-patrice & Christy
• Alessi BaybyBoop vase: A gift from David
• Monument Valley Photo: Cry Baby Ranch (thanks Roxane!)
DINING ROOM
- • Danish Credenza: Craigslist find
• Eames DCMs: Bought from our friend Robert
• Bicycle Prints: Denver Art Crank (thanks Josh and Tran!)
• Chandelier: Murano Italy
KITCHEN
- • Cabinets: Built by us
• Kohler Double Drainboard Kitchen Sink: original to the house
• Obligatory Stainless Steel Appliances: Sears
• Eames Aluminum Group Table: Ebay for the base and we made the top with Baltic birch to match the cabinets
• PH5: Ebay for the lamp, and we built the arch out of electrical conduit and wood.
• Eames DSWs: our friend Zach found the shells and the dowel bases came from Rick at Modern Classics.
• Dinnerbell: Cry Baby Ranch (thanks Roxane!)
BEDROOM
- • Paul McCobb Bedroom Set: Bought from a friend and awesome hairdresser Russ
• Saarinen Arm Chair: A gift from our friend Robert
• Bedding and Lamps: Ikea
• Heywood Wakefield Vanity: Modern Classics (thanks Rick)
• Route 66 Map: Cry Baby Ranch (thanks Roxane)
• Bill Amunndson- "Gas Food And Elvis": The Zip Gallery
BATHROOM
- • Sink and Bath Faucet Sets: Sign of the Crab from Do it Yourself Plumbing
• Bathtub: Kohler from Do it Yourself Plumbing
• Tile: Hakatai Tile
• Other fixtures are original to the house.
BASEMENT
- • Bar and Umanoff Barstools: These were left with the house when we bought it.
• Nelson side table. Herman Miller clearance sale
• Eames RAR and DAR: Bought them from our friend Robert
• Cado Wall Unit: Craigslist find for $100
• Sofa: Ikea
• Lane Tables: Crown Mercantile (we miss you Russel)
• Dr Pepper Machine: The Denver Pepsi Cola Bottling Company
• Velvet Elvis: The In Crowd Albuquerque
• Josh Wills "13 Star Flag": the man himself
• Eames Aluminum Group Lounge and Ottoman: ebay we restored the slings with materials bought from Graham Mancha in the UK
Thanks, Aaron and Wendy!
(Images: Ashley Poskin)
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love the backyard chicken coop and i've never met an eames chair i don't like.
i'm thinking the wall color probably looks better in person. love everything else.
I like your warm and cozy way with this look, the kitsch and the sophisticated playing off each other as you so well described in the survey. This blend and the soft green wall color remind of some of the neighbor's homes when I was a kid.
I'm so impressed with your DIY skills especially as seen in the kitchen with that pipe and plywood stair rail a particular favorite.
As a Denver resident I enjoy seeing familiar stores and dealers in the resources list and I appreciate that you included thanks to individual shopkeepers and friends. It was so sweet especially to see you acknowledge the late Russell Enloe. R I P, Russell.
Amazing home. Love it both inside and out.
What's the green in the kitchen? It's just bright enough to not be overwhelming. I love it.
Wonderful home, especially love the kitchen, the Twiggy picture, and the chickens! Great job, thanks for sharing.
Very interesting house tour. The window and fireplace in the living room are incredible. I also like that cool plywood stair rail, and the basement.
Nice work Congeltons. Your chicken coop is much cuter than ours. If you ever run out of projects and want to come by to give ours an upgrade, we'll repay you in...oh, there must be some sort of canned good you haven't mastered.
- Beth K (yeah, from work)
I was clicking through, marveling at how tidy and spare everything is...and then I read that they have a junk-filled ugly room that's hiding off camera. Now I get it: they do have stuff after all. Just like the rest of us.
There are some great treasures in that house (the vanity table in the bedroom, for one). The basement brings back memories (I am that old). The one thing I don't get is the window covering for that wonderful triangle window in the living room. It seems out of sync with such a carefully thought-out decor.
About the comment that "personal mementos are what make the house great": I wonder why the home is so sparsely decorated, then. There are so few mementos displayed, with the exception of the one mantel in the slideshow.
Nice basement!
...on the city/suburb chicken trend: a lot of chickens end up dumped at shelters or on the roadside because people got them thinking it would be cool to have eggs, but they didn't realize hens molt, egg production declines over time, and chickens are smelly and messy. I would hope that anyone keeping chickens is prepared to either keep the layers through their molts and eventual "retirement", or be ready to prepare them for stew. Just, please, think it through.
I want that groovy basement!!!!
The kitchen is really nicely done --your DIY skills shine in there. Also love the shades for the unusual windows. It's a great house ~ and sweet little Fiesta pieces on the table, and a sweet cat too.
This home is really nice and represents the owners very well! Great place!
You know what I like here? The bathroom. I love the tile, and how it goes all the way around the room, and I think the cornice over the tub is just so striking.
I don't know if I could deal with that much linoleum though.
Thank you for all the kind words. We really appreciate the opportunity to share our house.
PI- The green in the kitchen was based on the Fire King Jadeite green. I don't have the color on hand, but I could look that up tonight.
RSR- Agreed, As we were compiling the list we stared to get really bummed out at all the really awesome stores that are not around anymore. Russell was a super good guy. He had an incredible eye. His house would easily put our house to shame. Wendy and I both were hit pretty hard by the news of his death.
KASSGOOD- Fiesta... best dishes evar. How can you not smile when you see it? We have Ronnie C to thank for our love of Fiesta Ware.
Beth- You Rock
Great home. Looks like someone took high res photos of a modern house from years ago. A truly vintage home but in a good way.
To Rural and Rueful, the large pieces in this house are the mementos due to the their sources and associations, being gifts or to friendships with the retailers. i don't know these homeowners but as I mentioned I recognized many names of artists and shops in their source list. Their involvement in these circles and the camaraderie lend the personal association to the pieces.
Lovely home,all that gorgeous Denver light! How I miss it! I am wondering though, what the bathroom floor is made of? Wouldnt change a thing! Well,maybe that bathroom floor.
LOVE the old metal cabinet and porcelain sink in the kitchen! And the hydroponic puffed clay balls around the barrel cactus made me chuckle.
Har har, Jesus room. Good one, y'all.
I love that you thought hard about respecting the brickwork. Very nice.
That's an interesting drapery solution for the triangle window. Part of me thinks that the cacti in front of the window sadly preclude seating there, but then again, what seating (other than some cushions) wouldn't ruin the effect?
wow this house had so many similarities to my own home: built by a brick mason, two distinct fireplaces [one stone, one brick which was never used], lots of exposed brick but 900 miles apart. amazing!
Do those chickens sound as good as their namesakes? When will Tammy and Kitty be joining the gang?
Love your home. The vibe comes right through the photos. We have a mid-century stone house in upstate NY and are getting lots of good ideas from you. Double drainboard sink, check; stone fireplace, check; danish credenza, check; chickens, no, wait, no chickens.
One idea -- we also have the IKEA Karlstad leather sofa. We hacked the legs, replacing the chunky wood with a set of tapered hardwood legs. Uncle Bob's workshop on Etsy sells these. Easy as pie -- just twist them on. These seemed to fit the style of our other furnishings.
Would I be right in guessing that the chickens are named for Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Wanda Jackson and Dolly Parton? I most heartily approve. (As if my approval matters!)
Oh, I see Imagotherapist got there first! Will there ever be any roosters (Hank, Johnny, Buck, Waylon, Willie, Conway......?)
JOHNCB- The floor in the bathroom is cork. We chose that because it retains ambient temperature, it is anti microbial. and it was used in many of the houses from this era. I will have to admit that I'm not 100% happy with the play off of the other colors in the bathroom. But in person it isn't too bad and it feels really nice under foot on a cold winter morning.
MIDMOD PAM- Thank you for your suggestion. I was thinking about finding something along these lines. I think I'll give Uncle Bob a go. BTW- are you the same Pam that does http://retrorenovation.com/?
imagotherapist and RSR- You got it. Patsy is our favorite, Wanda is the mean one, dolly is a bit ditsy, and Loretta is the top hen in the pecking order.
PI- The color is Behr Azurite (1B53-1)
Great home!
For me the questionable parts are the window covering above the beautiful window, the white chandelier, Nelson benches and Eames lounge chair because they look too new.
What a sweet home!Looks so sweet!
The old metal cabinet in the kitchen is really amazing!
Hey...
What shade of green is that in the kitchen? Exactly what I'm looking for.
The best part of this tour for me is seeing a home with baseboard heaters. I am always struggling with placing furniture in my condo because of those stupid things. This is a great example for me of just going for it and not worrying about the placement.
Great work and thanks for sharing! (Now off to Ebay to find the FLW viewmaster)
Beautiful house Congletons! Thanks for sharing your lovely cozy home. That window adds some friendly gothic style, and the basement is sweet.
The green tiles in the bathroom and green paint in the front room and that window...! *bites fist*
The placement and furniture is great. Cool window in the living room too. The only thing that bugged me was the color scheme. The whole house feels like it only has two colors in it, green and the same kind of wood color throughout. That just made it feel a bit flat after a while.
Green with envy over everything in your home! Especially that wall unit--just amazing. Wonderful, lovely work! I love the way you've kept the original elements; that's really refreshing and looks more modern than the modern stuff, if you ask me! Thanks for sharing your inspirational home!
LOVE this tour! Great house, great work, great style!! I also love the statement about the "Jesus room." Best name for the space we all know we have and are trying to hide.
This home is BEAUTIFUL but it feels like (to me), like a model home..except for the basement, I find no personality to this home.
Is it just my monitor, or is the does the green paint throughout the house look cold and too blue? It seems to really fight with the warmth of the brick and wood. I love green, but this shade just seems off. Otherwise, lovely job.
Absolutely adore this home! Great work! I love how all the furniture is placed throughout.
I am from east Texas,45min west of Shreveport,La. On our local Creigslist ,yesterday, a listing for (1950's) tiles in the green shade you have,another color,AND beautiful pink toilet,bathtub and sink. Would this be desired information for you all?
I am from this era..it is wonderful you have acquired these styling "genes"
I read a comment earlier.someone questioned the E/ Herman Miller furnishings.
I am very familiar with that line..properly maintained furniture can look that "new". There is a manufacturing company who does a very close copy. With a little RESERCH ,one may learn the difference.
Also, your "Jesus room " we all should have. I hope to have a "supply closet" when we move to our retirement community ,in Florida, I like to do seasonal and theme decorating.This is a great idea for children's toys,etc. keep out a few items to display,one will appreciate what we aquire through purchasing, gifted,road side fine, or inheritated. Did I leave anything out?
I have enjoyed this blogging. Totally new experience,since I received the iPad in May.
Artjunk, this color of green ,from the 50's ,was the primary instituteual color for calmness.
Also,the blue and green are part of natures pallet. Soft on the eyes too.
@acdc, nope, i'm not that pam i'm this pam. saw your link to my blog and came to check this out. love your place!
RAE)YCLE- Thank you for the Craigslist offer. At this point we aren't in the market for any tile but PAM KUEBER's website (http://retrorenovation.com/) posts finds like this all the time. The color in the living and dining rooms was derived by the color that was in my grandparents house. This is the third color that we have had on these walls. The first was a cream. Then a Wedgwood blue. This green is by far our favorite. I think it plays off of our many species of wood really well. And yes it is pretty calming.
PAM KUEBER- I am not worthy. I love your blog. I do have admit that we had to kill off our Mamie Pink bathroom. It had the pearlescent white and pink tiles. It was in pretty rough shape before we decided to throw in the towel. We couldn't find any mastic or replacement tiles. The final straw was that we were told by an old fire fighter that the plastic would put off a really toxic smoke if it ever caught fire. If we would have found your blog before we did the restoration I'm sure we would have gone back with pink.
I would call the kitchen color Dr.'s office green as it seemed to be prevalent in the 50s. Now, in this pic, it looks fresh and new again. Trying very hard to like the triangular window; it's radical, cool, but my flaw is, I can't like it.
That bit about the Jesus room brought a big fat grin to my face, I am going to use that. Lovely home.
my favorite house tour ever. i love the paint colors and the furniture. they look like happy people too and it is reflected in their house.
Well done! Bravo!....smiles
LOVE the basement
Beautiful home!
The sideboard in the dining room is beautiful!
What a gorgeous home!!! I would love to know the paint color in the living room!