Thursday, November 13, 2008

New "It's Lovely!" HQ




Oh my god, this is wonderful. It was found by Gav who, I'm guessing from his Austin Powers comment, thought it was shagtastic. But I love it! Really! It's excellent! Look! It's like a museum, or a Dwell photo spread!

I'm buying it and moving in and keeping it that impeccably clean. I'll use an orange rotary phone, and listen to LPs, and look things up in World Book. I shall cook meals involving cans of condensed soup.

And then I'm going to hang up portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong-il in every room, just to finish the look.

74 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that place is a time capsule. And it's huge! You could swing a reasonably patient cat in the hallways!

Must. Have. Vinyl. Bar.

Apparently those people own nothing but liquor and barware.

Tvini said...

That is amazing. I'm in awe.

Stuart said...

Oh. My. God.

I love the Bradyness of this place. It totally makes me want to nail my co-star and then write a book about it 30 years later. But seriously, this is awesome. It's like Ikea threw up something it ate in a previous life.

I want this place. Oh yes.

Unknown said...

I love it when I walk into a home and cast a shadow on the wall.

Mortimer's Mom said...

throw in a nipple-vase and it's like Jonathan Adler's dreams come true.

Gamzulatov said...

I think the top photo is Michael Brady's home office.

Chazya said...

its so pristine that it looks almost fake...like some sims house 3D program of the future..a virtual home...only using real old 70's decor

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to tell James Lileks at lileks.com about this. He's fanatical about classic 50s-60s decor - he'd have conniptions over this immaculate, perfectly preserved time capsule of awesomeness.

A.B. said...

When you buy it, will you need a housemate??

Anonymous said...

Wow!

All it needs is that pole dancing pole from another post right next to the "Wines and Liquor" sign and the house is done.


Also, why does it seem like every photo is of the roof and the room is just sorta lucky to be in it?

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else get a weird feeling like the decor is all photoshopped in? The shadows...the colors...it's weeeeirding me out.

Anonymous said...

I have no idea why, but I love it.

jackie31337 said...

Wow, even the TV set is seriously retro. It's like the house that time forgot.

Anonymous said...

The Brady's have already been mentioned - whew!

I just want to WALK all around that place. All those turns and corners? Wow!

Anonymous said...

If that furniture is real, I'll eat the 70s-pattern chaise lounge.
That has all the looks of a photoshop disaster to me! I think it's that something seems off about the colors and the way the furniture doesn't quite blend around the edges and doesn't cast shadows in the right spots. And NOBODY has that many stamplike patterns on their walls!

Melissa said...

Just OMG. That's all - OMG.

I don't know what to say...even the TV and stereo are period. Not a thing out of place. No one ever really lived here, right?

Anonymous said...

The angles are throwing me off. It looks like someone made it in The Sims.

Anonymous said...

Do they have more than one pool table? I've been trying to figure it out for 5 minutes.

Robin said...

I am so envious. Your new office space is extremely cool.

Or is it hep?

Swell?

Anonymous said...

Is that a typewriter I see on the desk in the office? That's awesome. Interesting to note in the sales pitch they say "First time home is on the market since it was built." Really? With such modern conveniences as a typewriter and a color tv, I would have never guessed!

Becca said...

I love the 70s! Even the stuff under the bar is neatly arranged in a perfect line. The pink toilet is my fav.

Marytoo said...

Here's the story, of a lovely lady...

I see the Bradys have already been mentioned, so it isn't just me.

It's either the Bradys or the Twilight Zone. This place is just creepy.

Anonymous said...

That is my dream house.
I love it.

Liana said...

I agree with the commenters who suspect this is faked using photoshop or Sims or something. All those patterns, too-bright colors, the couch looks stretched, weight lighting...yeah. Unreal.

Also, the end of the post about hanging up those pictures TOTALLY cracked me up!

Anonymous said...

I love that house! I don't understand where all their stuff is, but I love that house.

But how on earth did you escape putting the bar picture on the blog?

Anonymous said...

I WANT THIS HOUSE.
today, now, really
and I love New Zealand, it is perfect, I have already written to an Aussie friend and told her we should buy it and move there..of course she will say no, but I am trying anyway

Herding Grasshoppers said...

I LOVE THIS HOUSE! Okay, yeah, a little redecorating is in order, but it's so big and open. Well, it's uncluttered. And so much LIGHT.

I don't think it's photo-shopped. My great-aunt's place had a similar feel... on a much smaller scale.

And it's Down Under... the light is just different there. And that would partially explain the time warp, too. :0)

Anonymous said...

ooooo! SOOO CLOSE! There is a cordless phone in the bedroom.

Otherwise perfect set for the show "That 60's Show"

Anonymous said...

I dig it! There's some definite camera lens stretching thing going on, however, unless their piano has 10 octaves. But you never know.

Anonymous said...

It's what Tuscan kitchens will look like to people 40 years from now. :)

Meg said...

Oh sweet jesus! I'll offer the sellers one million dollars right now to pack only their clothes and move out. Wait...I'll bet their clothes are awesome too. One mill to just leave.

This seriously makes me want to put on a girdle and apron, put an Esquivel record on, and serve my man (wearing a suit, of course) a martini! Gotta go fix my bouffant!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

LOL - World book...now that's obsolete!

Blank said...

A rumpus room?? A rumpus room!!
I'm also loving the thought of having a conversation while sitting in the arm chairs in the formal living room:
Me: WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!
Guest: HUH? WHY ARE WE SITTING TWO MILES FROM EACH OTHER?

Marytoo said...

And what's with all those weird angles? Something is definitely, ah...askew.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous!
- Mid-C Frank

Anonymous said...

Best. House. Evar.
First, I couldn't get over the padded bar. Then I started drooling over the kitchen. When I got to the office, I nearly fainted--is that a DICTAPHONE on that desk?
I think it is!
Some questionable furniture and light fixtures but overall, I'd buy it in a second if I had the money.

Juliet said...

Ah yes, the weird angles, that's the standard wide angle shot that Open2View (at least in NZ) seems to do. Look at practically any listing on there and you'll see the same thing.

This place is just up the road from us. I'm so tempted to see if they're having an open home just so I can go see it in person.

Marytoo said...

So this place is for real? Jayce, if they're not having an open house, why don't you just call the realtor and get them to show it to you. And then give us a report!

Anonymous said...

Well I guess we've found the set to the CBS series SwingTown.

Old House Junkie said...

The best listings are all in NZ!

Stuart said...

Two more things, because I just can't help myself:

1) I so want to sit at that office desk and pretend that I'm Mr. Tate.

B) The bar is in the hallway, making it handy for grabbing a quick martini on the way to the linen closet.

That is all. Carry on.

Marytoo said...

Old house junkie, I noticed that, too.

Anonymous said...

It's so COSMIC! I have an odd feeling of DeJaVu...as if I have actually been in this house...I just can't shake the creepy feeling!

Anonymous said...

It's so COSMIC! I have an odd feeling of DeJaVu...as if I have actually been in this house...I just can't shake the creepy feeling!

Anonymous said...

How can I save those pictures? I keep trying, but all I get are overly small images.

Anonymous said...

I had to come back and stare at it again. It's not photoshop, it's real. Notice the carpet is approriately worn around the furniture and down the hall.

For some reason, it makes me sad this house is for sale. I'm imagining an elderly couple that passed on or went into a nursing home.

Anonymous said...

This is a fantastic example of NZ architecture and decor from this period. I was raised in a house in Auckland eerily like this one, and I remember most relatives and family friends had very similar houses too. Something to do with extremely large Catholic families and the mid-level executive entertaining culture. Those massive lounges and kitsch bars really were put to use frequently, while all the kids were herded downstairs to the rumpus room.

This house shows craftsmanship by the builders who really cared about their work back then. Sure, it could've done with some renovations every decade or so, but you can't fault the quality of the place.

Marytoo said...

This post seems to have hit a nerve.

FonHom said...

Calling David Lynch! Calling David Lynch!

Anyone else notice the aqua intercom next to the toilet?
@jayce - PLEASE tour this gem and find some backstory on the lovely people who built it!!
@neal snow - for much bigger pics click the link in "Take the: Photo Tour" right above the main pic of the house. They've got a few jpeg artifacts, but you pick up many more fascinating details.

FonHom said...

Tried to save pix and found that even the large ones are in javascript. In Windows, I used Ctrl-S to save them as "web page, complete" one by glorious one.
If you want to go a step further you can then go into each "file folder" and save the largest "jpg file." Get rid of the rest and you've got all the photos.
Whew!
Please tell me there's an easier way.

Sara said...

FonHom: I just drag 'em to my desktop.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sara! Sometimes the easiest methods are the best.

Anonymous said...

What would it take to get floorplans for this house?

Anonymous said...

Trust me, this look is quite common in both Australia and NZ.

Marytoo said...

Also in the Twilight Zone and at the Bradys'.

Anonymous said...

that's awesome, the perfect place for cheese fondue!

the three amigos said...

That is just bizarre. It's like they set up the house in 1965 and never actually lived there. It's the house that time forgot. Bizarre!!!

Anonymous said...

Don't go past the patchwork beanbag in the pool room!

Anonymous said...

I remember going to a house kind of similar to this when I was a kid - in the 70's! Amazingly, that house was in Lower Hutt too. Hmmm. These photos put me in a serious time warp.

I'm coming Mum....

Melanie McMinn said...

It is the FONDUE HOUSE. Filled with cheesy goodness that went out of style when I was a toddler.

What I don't understand is how I could be the first person to add this gem of a post to StumbleUpon!

Unknown said...

For the record - I believe that is not an intercom next to the toilet, but a toilet roll holder/radio.

My Nana had one exactly like it...

Anonymous said...

What about the little indoor pond under the staircase. looooovely! This will be real, I looked at a house in a nearby area, it was equally 70's gross (in the nicest possible way).

Doug Richards said...

I can't understand why people are going ga-ga over this, it's just an old person's house. In my job I visit people in their homes and I've seen dozens like this in Auckland, I think it's boring

Anonymous said...

This house is amazing! I live in Auckland in a neighborhood of houses that were once like this, but have all been renovated beyond recognition :( I love the enormous hallways!! And that bar is huge!! I would love to throw a party there. I really hope the new owners appreciate the awesomeness of this place..

Samuel said...

This thing really demands wall-to-wall heritage protection. Doug's right, these places are more common than you'd think, but not for long.

Pretty awesome stuff which sadly will probably not survive the next buyer.

Kiraboodog said...

I'm totally with Meg- here's money, get out & leave ALL your stuff behind, because without it, this awesome, awesome house just wouldn't be the same. And yes, could someone please just drop a big plastic bubble over it to preserve is just as it is (and maybe charge admission for "time traveling"). Y'all have restored my faith in humanity- I thought I was a nutjob thinking "I WANT!!!!", but obviously I'm not alone in that sentiment.

Lynnie said...

When my parents finally leave this mortal plane and we try to sell their 1955 ranch house, we will be posting pictures of a finished basement covered in knotty pine with black and gray linoleum squares on the floor, and a ping-pong table and bumper pool. Dad's "office" is still down there, complete with dictaphone.

Their den also has wood paneling, and a complete World Book set, along with Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking."

Their home is a complete 1950s museum. Maybe I won't sell it after all, but just charge admission for a total '50s immersion experience . . .

I love this blog, BTW . . .

Unknown said...

I really don't know what all the fuss is about. This is what New Zealand is STILL like. Everyone here lives like this. When I came here in '98 and showed them a cellphone I was immediately given wizard status!

Jono said...

It looks freaky photoshopped, but the furniture is consistent through all the pics. Its really weird.

Robert: Maybe you should come out from under your rock and leave then.

Sara said...

There's a discussion here about the camera involved, by the way:

http://ask.metafilter.com/108028/Camera-lens-question

Anonymous said...

The amount of traffic generated by this blog had the agent mystified for a while - how much traffic? It made the NZ national news! Even better ... more photos.

http://tinyurl.com/chzxe7

LMA said...

Clearly, an estate sale. You can see the original owners in the photos on the office wall; squinting at the pictures you can see they were both judges (hence the funky black robes with weird white lace and wigs English barristers sport). And from the "shalom" plaque in the entryway and the beautiful silver menorah in the dining room, we know they were Jewish. (What gets me is why their heirs would leave behind something as personal as the menorah -- nice Jewish couples who built homes in 1960 with rumpus rooms and full sets of the Encyclopedia Britianica *always* had kids -- otherwise I wouldn't be here amazed at this link! So, sure, if you aren't April Wheeler in "Revolutionary Road" [the book, not the movie] you don't feel sentimentally attached to the White Horse mirror. But why leave your parent's Judaica behind?).

Also -- that entry way with the curved wall, the floating staircase and the indoor rock garden/fountain underneath? Never saw one in a private residence, but that is the splitting image of absolutely every single "kosher catering banquet hall" in and around the New York/New Jersey area in the 60s/70s. They all had that feature. In fact, when looking for a site for my wedding in '92, we frighteningly saw a few places that *still* had them. Only not as beautifully preserved as this gem in New Zealand!

Honestly, this really *SHOULD* be purchased as is by a historical society or museum and preserved as the most pristine, authentic mid-century architecture/furnishings in the world. No joke.

Morgan said...

I love, love, love it. I went to school for a year (as an exchange student) in Lower Hutt and lived very close to this house. I wish I could go back and see it in person!

One of my host families had a home similar to this one. A bit smaller, but with lots of 1970s features, and it was completely immaculate and beautifully preserved.

Unknown said...

I showed this place to my friend, who in turn showed it to her mother- who, in 1975, used to hang out and play pool in that very rumpus room during lunchtimes at the neighbouring high-school (where I went also)! There's a beautiful row of 1960s and 70s houses just around the corner, in a street named Wai-Iti Crescent- one of which is even more fabulously retro than this- it has a 'floating' lounge sited above the drive- under porte-cochere...

For those speculating, yes, the owners are Jewish, and they had two children. Lawyers wear wigs when they are admitted to the bar in New Zealand, though my friend's mother did not remember them being judges. The owner's brother was a cabinet minister, too- so I'm imagining the parties they had there were pretty classy, for Lower Hutt in 1968, anyway!