A '50s home in original condition is for sale in Dallas with a rare feature: a set of original metal kitchen cabinets rendered in a breathtaking pastel pink.
The home is in Lakewood, just a few blocks west of White Rock Lake at 6946 Delrose Dr, where it's listed for $1,100,000 by Simone Jeanes with Allie Beth Allman. It's a custom-built 2,954-square-foot home, almost untouched, with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on a 0.39-acre triangular corner lot.
The listing touts its enormous living spaces, two fireplaces, custom storage closets, with wood floors under carpet in many rooms.
But the showpiece is the existence of the iconic stainless steel kitchen cabinets, which have in recent years become a prized catch in certain vintage home circles.
Steel kitchen cabinets originally came into use in the 1930s and remained a popular choice until the 1950s. In the ebb and flow of house design, the appeal of steel cabinets took a dive, but a resurging interest in mid-century-modern architecture has spurred a revival. What's not to like? As long as they haven't been hit by rust, metal cabinets are easy to clean, don't warp or stick, and have a timeless minimalism. Vintage fans have been known to drive thousands of miles to get a good set.
This is a good set. It's by Geneva, one of the big three manufacturers, who made them in pretty pastels such as yellow, green, and this pretty pink. The cabinets look to be in good condition, and have a flat, streamlined appearance, plus venerable features like the inset doors beneath the kitchen sink, so that you're not banging up your knees against the cabinet whilst rinsing off your set of Fiesta ware.
Pink is a recurring motif in the home, with a formal room that's painted pink on top with white wainscoting on the bottom, and pink walls in the hallway. The real estate listing cleverly name-drops a current pop culture reference: "You'll be saying this is a retro Barbie house!"
The house also has a grand, symmetrical facade, with a landing at the sidewalk and a set of stairs leading to the front door.
More pluses (that others might wrongfully view as minuses) include:
- a wood-paneled family room with built-in bookshelves and a pristine fireplace
- one bathroom with original 4"X4" tile done in pale gray, with a marbled vanity top and a pink sink
- one bathroom with original 4"X4" tile done in salmon and brown piping trim, also with a marbled vanity top and a salmon sink
The entryways to the family room and formal room are both extra-wide for an "open" feeling that was ahead of its time, and feature recessed pocket doors that can be slid open invisibly or closed.
A 2-car garage is accessible via a side entrance, and as the listing notes, Delrose has topography, trees, and "a special feel."
The home is located on a prime "quiet" Lakewood lot that's appraised at $1,300,000 — more than the list price — and it's surrounded by what used to be other glorious sprawling ranch homes that got mowed down unceremoniously for ugly modern new builds.
The odds are high that this home, which now has a Pending notice on the listing, will meet a similar fate. Even by vintage standards, the bathrooms would probably be considered "quirky" (though still so durable!). And '50s homes don't generate quite the fervor in Dallas as homes from earlier eras by architects like Cliff Hutsell. But hope springs eternal that there's a buyer in Dallas who could afford the house and also recognize the enduring quality of vintage tiles, hardwood floors, and houses constructed from old-growth wood.
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6946 Delrose Ave. kitchen cabinets from another angle.
