Monday, February 2, 2009

I'm too sleepy to be mean




Kelly, who found this listing, and I have the same problem. We know we shouldn't like it, and yet... isn't it sort of wonderful? So cheery! So clean! And with that weird everything-in-focus quality so many of the Australian and New Zealandish listings have! I'm 90% certain the building doesn't exist and this is just a computer simulation, but hey, no house is perfect.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hear ya. Don't you just feel like you couldn't help but be happy if you lived there?

If I were feeling mean I'd suggest that that tablecloth is really wrong in that kitchen - the yellow is too cool, so it belongs in the tv room - but it all reminds me of some yellow furniture I had when I first had an apartment and the tablecloth my mom made, which clashed a little, but was still cute, and I couldn't afford to have a new one. So I just give it props for being equal in cheeriness.

Anonymous said...

I know this house is in Oz, but the cheeziness of that kitchen just made me start singing the opening song from Shock Treatment:

Denton, Denton, you've got no pretension
You're where the heart is, you're OK
Denton, Denton, I'd just like to mention
You're the home of youth
You're America's truth
You're Denton, Denton, U.S.A

GaryM said...

Any chance these people are related to there folks?

In the first photo, I keep waiting for a cheery woman in a dress, yellow apron, and pearls to appear with a plate of cookies. "Can I get you a glass of milk, dear?"

Anonymous said...

I like this, too. But I have to know: has there been *any* furniture imported to Australia since 1965?

PrincessLuceval said...

I love it!

Meg said...

Dig that crazy wallpaper.

Am I to understand that, in order to find my perfect Edward Scissorhands meets The Cleavers mid-century house, I have to move to Australia? I'm okay with that. I just want to know.

Liza Blake said...

what I love about this house is that there is an air conditioner in the fireplace. sign me up!

Anonymous said...

Just to offer some local knowledge, Australian houses do not look like a movie set for Pleasantville or Revolutionary Road (sorry Meg), and they didn't even look like this in the 50s and 60s :).

Anonymous said...

Well, this just takes me back to 1972, when I was about 7 years old and didn't have to worry about anything... everything was warm and sunny all the time...my parents did all the worrying for us.. Wait! How much is this house again!?!

Anonymous said...

heh. That's definitely a space heater in the fireplace. Common here in England in the time warp homes as well.

That said, I MUST own that sideboard. And the sink.

Talula said...

It scares me. It looks like those houses in the nuclear test sites filled with fake people. I'm closing my eyes.

Gamzulatov said...

Yellowy!

Brandy said...

Could you imagine dragging your bleary-eyed self into that kitchen EVERY morning? *shudder* That's just wrong!

Although I like that color of aqua tealy blue, I DON'T like it EVERYWHERE! It's an accent wall, people, not an accent ROOM!

The Stepford Wife is at the market?

Anonymous said...

I keep expecting a nuclear blast to come ripping through the windows and walls with dismembered dummy parts flying everywhere.

Laura said...

That's not an air conditioner in the fireplace, it's an old-fashioned gas fire. I'm just a bit puzzled by the clock which hangs down in front of the mirror...but has no reflection...

Anonymous said...

Here's the freaky thing. I grew up with that wallpaper and tablecloth in California. Then I moved away. Now I know where they went. It's kind of like finding an old friend on facebook.

Marytoo said...

Photo Shop strikes again.

Anonymous said...

Ugh, I once bought a flat that was entirely the same shade of yellow as that kitchen. Except for the cupboards in the bedrooms which were delightfully painted black for contrast. In Australia too. There must have been a special on paint.

Herding Grasshoppers said...

In the fireplace... a heater. Many (most?) homes in Australia don't have central heating.

Leigh said...

If I lived in that house I'd have to have at least two cups of coffee on the morning before I could even go into the kitchen! That yellow is just too intense.

Anonymous said...

In my part of Australia just about every house has central heating. We used to have poxy oil heaters like the one shown in this listing though!

I notice this is in Tasmania... that explains everything LOL.

jackie31337 said...

Anonymous said... "everything was warm and sunny all the time"

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has this impression of the 70s. I was only around for the last 3 years of it, but my memories of early childhood are all in hypersaturated color, with warm yellow/orange shades making the strongest impression. I have often found myself wondering if the 70s were really that bright, or if I've falsely reconstructed memories based on old photos I've seen.

JordanBaker said...

I kind of feel like I want to buy a lot of really cool Modern furniture and live there.

Amy said...

Hey, that's a vintage charmer, leave it alone!
Yeah, THAT MUCH YELLOW is a bit much, but I love the teal carpet and I WANT that mid-century side cabinet.

Aussie born and bred here and yes, I've seen a few homes like this in my time. They were always owned by your old maid or widowed neighbours.
These people are now dying off, so get ready for more YELLOW 60's KITCHENS to come on the market.

Dani said...

Finaly a place to wear my heals and pearls WHILE I vacum.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the clock either though. It DOES have a reflection, if you look at the larger picture. But it still somehow looks pasted-in. I would almost suspect it of being Photoshopped except, who would go to the trouble to add one, and add reflections, when they could have just avoided putting it over a mirror in the first place? If I were sticking a clock in this picture, I'd put it over the sideboard. Or something.

Anonymous said...

I'm an expat living in New Zealand and the first thing I thought BEFORE reading the comments below the pictures was "this looks like an NZ house!".

Anonymous said...

There's a suspicious dent in the top of the washing machine, as if someone has been enjoying the spin cycle a little tooooo much . . . .

Anonymous said...

Now how could you feel sleepy in Happyville? Definitely open a person's eyes. Who needs coffee?

cutiepie company said...

I love it, it's so 1950's Better Homes and Gardens!

Anonymous said...

I don't know what to say. I live in New Zealand (originally from Canada), and the number of homes that are still stuck in the Truman years is really overwhelming.

In NZ's defense, there are some stunningly beautiful modern houses too.

But those cost millions, and I don't have millions.

Heather said...

Yeah, there is just something wonderful about it. I'm kinda diggin' the 60's era feel or is it the 70's?

Anonymous said...

Dont you get it guys???? DON DRAPER IS SELLING HIS HOUSE !!!!!

Julie said...

Hmm, just down the road from me. If it wasn't already under offer I'd go in to visit!

First pic shows the Public Trustee, so it looks like a deceased estate. Sad, but these little time warps keep popping up occasionally!