Name: Daniel, Erika, and Ezra Beahm
Location: Westminster, Colorado
Size: 1,366 square feet
Years lived in: 5 years; Own
Surrounded by a sea of McMansions, in a suburb Northwest of Denver, is the Dot House (named for its original owner). With views stretching from south of Golden up to Estes Park, the Beahms' home is a completely original mid century treasure.

The couple fell in love with the home on their first walk through and immediately made an offer. Since it was in original condition, the home hadn't gotten a lot of traffic, and the house was theirs! The listing realtor was so impressed with the couple's fondness for 1950's style that she called Erika to see if she wanted a closet full of 50s dresses and hats to put in her 50s home. She enthusiastically said "yes" and is now set for the red carpet.
Design challenges have changed a bit in the past year for the family, as 1 year old Ezra becomes more and more interested in mid century design! Thankfully, the home has many built -ins and storage spaces, allowing the more fragile pieces to be taken out of rotation for a while. Additionally, a detached recording studio is in the process of being built out back, complete with a butterfly roof and car port.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Our Style: Erika likes 1940's and 50's, Daniel likes 1950's and 60's, so we live in an amalgamation of these eras — Danish Modern meets Panton Kubrick meets Kitschy Knick-knacks meets "Perfect Housewife".
Inspiration: Daniel's great grandfather was a Danish carpenter, so it's in his blood. We are both
filmmakers and Erika is a
dancer, so sets/surroundings/spaces have always been important to us.
Favorite Element: Daniel: I would have to say the
Clairtone G2 is the coolest piece in the house, even though it has been a sore spot for our relationship in the past (though more jokingly now that nearly a decade has passed since the floating console stereo was procured). I won an eBay action for $250 and drove from Columbus, OH, to Chicago in a crazy blizzard to pick it up. I nearly died. Erika was pretty angry about the whole thing. And for now, the stereo is in storage, as it's the perfect height for toddler-destruction.
Erika: My favorite part of the house is definitely my "nook" in the kitchen. I love the view. I love my cherry table cloth over the Saarinen table. I love the light. This is my refuge. This is where I write. I also love the Marimekko style curtains in Ez's room and the vintage children's screen prints. And then there's the light in the living room at the golden hour… stunning.
Biggest Challenge: The landscaping. Living pretty with a one-year-old.
What Friends Say: Cocktails at Dot House at sunset!
Biggest Embarrassment: It's been five years and we haven't touched the master bedroom except to purchase a vintage floating Danish platform bed (Lee Alex Décor - Denver) and hang some vintage copper hanging lights (Mod Mood - Denver) as nightstand/reading lights. We actually had blankets over the windows for years. I guess we've at least hung the hardware for our panel curtains now (made from pocket door hardware), but the material hanging from the runners is still pretty hodge-podge (though at least vintage — scraps left over from one of our movie sets).
Also, Daniel is dying to get at the steel "shanty town" roof over the patio. Hopefully in the near future it will be replaced by solar panels.
Proudest DIY: The cedar patio fence. The cork floors.
Biggest Indulgence: The high chair was ridiculously expensive (luckily a bunch of our friends banded together for the baby shower), but it looks SO good with the Saarinen Tulip chairs in the kitchen! Everything else except the Nelson Bubble Light is a vintage score!
Best Advice: Craigslist. Craigslist. Craigslist. Also, visit our friends Heather and Theo at
Lee Alex Décor on Broadway in Denver.
Dream Sources: We wish we could just buy whatever we wanted from
1stDibs.com or walk into a
Knoll showroom and point! Even better yet, I'd love to have the kind of connections in Hollywood to snag vintage "left overs" from sets and sound stages there.
Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
Unfortunately the house had been "real estate whitewashed" when we moved in. We later found out that the mahogany panels and roof beams in the living room had been a nice translucent forest green stain the color of the exterior trim. Though we'd love to have things the original color, the white was actually a nice place to start from "ground zero." We've also left quite a few things white as the sunsets and sunrises do amazing things with color in the living room , entrance, and hallway.
We found our "Dot Blue" (the 50's aqua that runs throughout the interior and exterior) by matching a Hollywood style Heywood Wakefield swivel chair we had previously reupholstered in a nubby 50's aqua.
The grey/brown was selected for its warmth and neutrality while existing somewhere on the spectrum between dark brown and charcoal (it can exist nicely as either).
• The grey/brown is Behr Premium Plus: Trail Print
• The "Dot Blue" is Valspar: Crystal Aqua
• The white is a giant 5 gallon bucket of Kwal-Paint that came with the house: "2810 White." It's a pretty good "warm white" without getting too yellow/orange.
• Downstairs in the "Peacock suite" we used a Ralph Lauren metallic "Regent Blue" that they've unfortunately stopped making.
ENTRY
• Vintage hanging light (original to house)
• Burwood Peacock (Craigslist)
• Cork floors - "Cassatt" from Lisbon Cork co. ltd. (Lumber Liquidators) - check out Daniel's blog post on the subject here
• Cobalt Blenko Glass Collection (Blenko Glass)
• Gainey & California Pottery pots and planters (Craigslist)
LIVING ROOM
• Vintage sectional sofa (Decade - Denver)
• Saarinen coffee table (Craigslist)
• Curtis Jere chrome hanging light (Paca - Champaign, IL)
• LeCorbusier Lounge (eBay)
• Teak Moebler Bar with vintage Eric Buck stools (Craigslist)
• Blenko Glass collection (Blenko Glass)
• Pyrex Coffee decanter collection (thrift stores)
• 1950's Knick knacks (thrift stores)
• Gruendig Console Cabinet converted to utility bar (Furniture Lounge, Champaign, IL)
• Vintage Sunset landscaping/patio books (thrift stores)
• Vintage Hollywood tripod side tables (inherited from our friend Mo's parents)
• Original Cherner/Plycraft arm chair (thrift store in northern Michigan)
• Mystery "Panton" style rocker (gift from our friend Dan in Champaign, IL) -somebody please tell us who manufactured this chair!!!
• Unused Royal Haeger ashtray and lighter set (gift from Markas and Kevin)
• Vintage birdcage and stand (Furniture Lounge and Lee Alex Décor)
DINING ROOM
KITCHEN
• Saarinen 42" round table (eBay)
• Saarinen Tulip side chairs (eBay - knock-offs and we regret it! Read the blog post here: http://realmod.blogspot.com/2008/04/we-commited-carnal-sin-purchase-of.html)
• Cherry oil cloth table cover (Traverse City, MI, boutique)
• Vintage General Electric P7 stove
• Vintage Osterizer blenders (thrift stores)
• Original boomerang counters
• Cork flooring (Lumber Liquidators)
• 27 Fondue pots! (thrift stores and family)
Ez's BEDROOM
• Millenium Falcon, 1977 Kenner Toys (Salvation Army)
• Mis-matched Marimekko style curtains (hardware: Ikea, fabric: Jo-Ann Fabrics)
• 1950's desk (Furniture Lounge)
• 40's TV cabinet converted to dresser (built by Daniel's great grandfather)
• 1950's Danish hutch as bookshelf and toy chest (family heirloom)
• Vintage 60's-70's children's screen printed wall hangings (Furniture Lounge and Salvation Army)
• 1950's toys (family, garage sales, thrift stores)
Thanks, Beahm family!
(Images: Ashley Poskin)
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If that ain't the truth, wmjr. The home has a beautiful view.
Wonderful house!!!!
Cute family, and they really scored a nice house.
I like this house because it's kept its original charm - the bathroom especially. It's nice you haven't caught up with the hype and felt you had to go the whole hog and gut the place - this happens so often these days.
as someone with a millennium falcon hanging in my home, I was tickled to see it here! This house may not be for everyone, but it's so refreshing to see a house tour that looks so different than the rest. Good work!
Most homes of normal people are works in progress, and I really enjoyed seeing this one. One change I would make in time would be to replace the diaper bin with an R2D2/droid replica container below the Millennium Falcon ;) Thanks for sharing your home!
Love how the white shelves with dark trim are mirrored by the white chairs with dark trim.
Nice. Great view. Hip space. Colorado people....I just know they rescued that sweet dog. :) Westminster is awesome. Lots of nice views of the front range there. They are lucky they scored an original home. So many of them in this area (and Boulder) are being popped and are overcapitalized.
p.s. Daniel-check out Clutter in downtown Boulder. A consignment store. Patty gets some pretty good things in there...though it's kind of hit and miss. I love going in there when I'm in town.
I haven't even looked at the tour yet..but wanted to ask a question...how were you able to match the high chair with the dining chairs in your kitchen? That is awesome! Now on to the tour...
Love the house! I'm so excited though because I have the very same picture hanging in my youngest son's room. The one above the crib! I don't know anything about it and always assumed it was a one-off original handmade item. Do you know anything about it?
Very cool. Great bones. The original details are so well preserved but the home feels fresh. What an incredible view! Nice one on building a recording studio; sounds like it will be the ultimate live/work place. I love that one of the favourite things is the light and the light as it changes over the day. That type of experience is priceless.
Aww, pups! I bet the dog is protective of Ezra and the whole family.
I love the color of the kitchen. I also love the name Ezra. I'm expecting a boy and that name is on our list.
@Portlandrules - do you live in Boulder and know Patty? I went to school with her daughter and love to see Clutter getting some love here :)
Also, this house is so great - mid-century modern without feeling like a showroom of MCM pieces. I also adored the Millennium Falcon and all the little "kitschy"-but-classy touches.
@500 No I don't live in Boulder, but frequently visit. I love Clutter and always find one or two awesome things there. A friend told me about it. She lives close by and frequently walks by the store and has picked up quite a few nice things in there.
I like this house and this family a lot. MCM is kind of my thing, and I don't feel this house is too far gone, too precious, or too much museum. You could live there and it feels real. Loved the light blue kitchen. And the glass collection on the bookshelves. Very cool.
Love the house! Looks like a happy place to live. I'm so excited to see the children of the world wall hanging. When I was little I had the same print on my bedroom wall. I love it! Where did you find it?
The views are beautiful indeed. I am perhaps the only person on AT that does not really care for "mid-century" almost to the point of being "anti mid-century" so unfortunately, I can't say I like the decor choices at all.
Where or where does one find a "Now Playing" sign? So perfect for so many reasons. Ezra's room is awesome! What a fun family.
omg you beat me with that question! the sign is awesome.
love the fan above the stove.
Carpet in the bathroom???????
Almost 100% original (minus the carpet and paint added at the seller's realtor's suggestion --which was a bummer but so much better than what happens to so many of these places)!
@comicbookheroine: hmmmm... I like it. Maybe I can get out the paint and convert that Diaper Champ to an R2D2!
@Portlandrules: Yes, Luther is most certainly a rescue, not to mention a champion snuggler and Ezra's best friend!
@Tracy333: We just got lucky with finding the high chair that matches the Saarinen Tulip chairs... however, the chair is SO difficult to clean that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! It looks fantastic (and we still love it for that reason), but if we had it to do again, we'd likely go another route.
@joybean: No good information about the screen print except that I too remember it from somewhere in my childhood. I took it down and unwrapped the corner to find this text: "Exclusive Design International Printworks" Inc [sic -for the quotes] and then a copyright symbol, but no date. We bought this from our friends at The Furniture Lounge in Champaign, IL. I purchased it for nostalgia reasons, and it's been hanging in my studio for several years. Now that we have a kiddo, it's perfect for his room!
@RebeccaMCMRemodel: Yes! Modern shouldn't be "difficult." My blog (which, like so many people, I don't update nearly enough) tries to center around that. I think most of the "forefathers" of MCM were looking for ways to do things intelligently, affordably, and beautifully.
Regarding the glass: my first job out of college was designing for Blenko Glass... they made AMAZING pieces in the 50's and 60's.
@infvr: yeah... carpet in the bathroom. that was part of the real estate sale "white wash." The same carpet was in the kitchen as well, believe it or not (carpet in a kitchen?!). We'll be replacing the bathroom carpet with the same cork that's in the kitchen and entry as soon as we can.
Thanks to everyone for your kind comments! When approached for the shoot, we were warned that some of the AT commentors might be a bit snarky [smile], so it's nice to receive such kind and thoughtful words. We're pretty busy with film, music, dance, and our wonderful kiddo, but I'll try to keep checking in and responding to any questions/comments that people might have!
No Bynskimiss,your not the only one.I like SOME mcm,but the majority I dont.But this house demands it,as long as they dont go overboard,and so far they havent.I will say,though I dont like the couch uphostelry,though I do like the lines of it.But that gorgeous Colorado light(wich I miss terribly) can make up for many ills.
Love this home! What a find. The architecture is so great and really seems to highlight, both the views and your great vintage furniture. It is so rare to find an MCM era home that needs so little work. Would love to see an update when you get to the bathroom floors. I'll definitely be peeking in on your blog for that. I agree that the original wood tones would have been awesome throughout the home, but the white really looks fantastic and is probably cheerier to live in. I can just imagine how beautiful the living room must look at sunset.
Looks like a comfy, cool home.
This house is a real gem, and the owners seem to be honoring everything that is special about it. Also, that is THE best nursery I have ever seen--the colors are unexpected and gorgeous.
Well, THANKS, sally305! ;-) That's definitely Erika's favorite room in the house, and I think Ez digs it too. :-) I'm getting ready to do a "floating box" shelf that runs the length of the wall above the crib (mounted high on the wall). I'll do a soft glow (LED's) on the underside and it will also provide some "out of the way" space for more cool goodies that belonged to mama and papa when we were kids (and even grandma and grandpa --I've actually got a 1950's UFO and little green men in their original box that belonged to my dad!).