There's something viscerally disgusting about watching an uninspired home flipper purchase a beautiful, distinctive vintage home, only to rip out its insides and replace everything with a crumb of uniqueness with the most bland, generic stuff ever for the sake of "upsellability" or "minimalist chic" or whatever. It's become such an epidemic (especially on home reno TikTok) that anytime I see a unique vintage home, I pray no one lays a finger on it, even when there are aspects that really could use an update.
But are there home renovations that can strike a happy medium and preserve a property's unique edge while updating its aesthetics? It's a fine balancing act, but Bay Area realtor Matt Petullo would argue that this mid-century modern "little slice of heaven" in Orinda pulls it off. Check it out and see what you think:
According to @mattpetullo , this home was originally built in 1955, in the iconic mid-century modern style that dominated residential architecture in California at the time. Since then, the home has obviously undergone a lot of changes to bring it up to date, and its current aesthetics match the modern minimalist design trend that's very hot right now. But does this ruin the home's original MCM charm?
As Matt remarked, the layout of the home itself is very classically mid-century modern: living spaces on one side of the home, sleeping areas on the other. As is typical of most MCM homes, the house has tons of skylights and large windows to admit as much natural light as possible. But I must admit, nothing about the home's interior really screamed "mid-century modern" to me until Matt entered the enormous open kitchen/dining room/lounge space.
That was an MCM jackpot . The funky light fixtures, the enormous windows, the sloping ceiling, the swanky sitting area right past the dining table - even with a more modern, "clean" sheen, this room had a fun, retro feel lacking in the rest of the home. Outside, the scenic stilted floating deck past the courtyard also enhanced the room's luxury MCM vibes.
The Modern
Like I said, the majority of the home felt more "modern" than mid-century. The good news is, the home's worst "offender" in my book is a relatively easy fix. I'll fully admit that as a maximalist, I'm not a fan of the monochromatic interiors that seem so popular right now. All the walls, built-in furniture, and countertops being stark white were just obnoxious to me and killed the home's "mid-century modern" vibe. Still, slap on some new paint and maybe jazz up the countertops, and I think one could restore a lot of that missing MCM feel.
The bathrooms were also all modern, no mid-century. OK, some of them had nice intricate tiling, and the wood paneling in that one shower was... interesting, but that's grasping at straws. Still, nothing was ugly, and I can understand the appeal of having bigger, more up-to-date fixtures in the bathrooms. Matt's bewilderment over the push doors amused me, but hey, if you're going to modernize the showers anyway, why not go all the way?
The only modern addition that really rankled me? That barn door over the living room coat closet . I'm not even a barn door hater, but in a mid-century modern home? Come on now.
Old Meets New in Orinda
My final verdict? While a lot of the updated interior decor suffers from trendy modern "sameness," the home itself has these beautiful mid-century modern bones and absolutely breathtaking scenic views. This gorgeous property kinda has the best of both worlds going for it, and with a little effort, I don't think it would be too hard to restore a lot of the home's original MCM charms (should the owner desire it).
According to the home's Redfin listing , a pending sale was put through yesterday (and after spending only 5 days on the market, too). While the home is already stunning in its own right, I hope its future owner leans into the retro aesthetic more and takes it back to the past!
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