Could you salvage the cabinets? Yes. But with such a large footprint, you could do so many amazing things if you got rid of everything. I feel like keeping the cabinets would considerably limit your options.

When you search you do not see formica cabinets but usually wood, IMO this kitchen could be amazing with the right KD and IMO formica cabinets are really not worth keeping.

It could certainly be done but you may not like the result even after paying for all the other finishes. To decide if you want the house I'd ballpark $75K for the kitchen if you replace it all.

Agree with suzyq. I'd also lower my offer to accommodate for bathroom renos. Sounds like this house has great bones, but hasn't been touched in decades. If so, its a great opportunity, but do not underestimate how much money it will cost to bring it into the 21st century.

Ya, nope.

Too bad their realtor hasn't leveled with them and adjusted their expectations. I don't know how competitive this neighborhood is. If it's not so competitive, submit a lower offer with a short time limit. They'll counter. Explain given the amount of work it needs you can't afford to pay more and that's your final offer, give them another short deadline. After a few days, they may choose to accept. If it's super competitive, decide on the max you'd be comfortable spending, knowing how much the renovations will cost, and offer that, understanding that while you may lose out on the house, you won't overpay or be housepoor.

Jadeite! I love it. How long has it been on the market and whats the closest comp? The retro features are cool, but young families want the look without the hassle. So retro bathes are cool but really retro kitchens not so much. If the right family comes along with an emotional need to save this house, maybe the buyer will get lucky. Or maybe it sits and you can swoop it up. Or you can pay full price now and adjust it over time. What is your timeframe for the house?

I do love that pink oven! Wilson art makes a vintage-style pink laminate, so you could stick with the vintage theme and do that. It’s going to be tough to add an island that works well, but you could find a period kitchen table and chairs. There are some vintage-style fridges around that might work.

You probably need to go all vintage, or gut and re-do. A re-do will be at least $75K. Putting granite countertops, new pulls and appliances won’t work. You’ll have none of the advantages of a new kitchen, without the charm of vintage.

This sounds like a case where you will have to wait and let reality sink in with these sellers. Vintage is popular, but few buyers will pay top dollar for old plumbing, old wiring, etc., unless you live in a really hot real estate market.

It's been 2 months, which isn't long enough for them to come to terms with reality. Regardless, unless money is a non-issue, it would be a mistake to offer 100k more for a smaller house that needs the equivalent of a gut reno; you'll never recover the equity even after sinking $100k+ into the renovations. Furthermore, that reno will probably cost way more than you budget because if the finishes haven't been touched in decades, imagine the mechanicals, which are $$$$. Even if you did offer full asking, there is no way the house would appraise in this condition. There are other houses....either play the waiting game until they come to their senses, or find one that makes more financial sense. Neither option is very fun :(

I can absolutely see a kitchen refresh with your cabinets and oven. I think the idea of an island would work well, and there are easy sources to contemporize the finishes so they give a nod rather than a shout to the time period. You will need a budget for lighting, flooring and counters whether you keep the cabs or not, and if you do get the house, plan to sell what you do not use. The owners are right about their retro treasures being desirable, even if doesn't help them sell the house. Best of luck!

Do you have a contractor friend? It might be worth having someone check out the roof, furnace, insulation, etc. The house could well have asbestos, which, depending on where you live, can cost a lot to remediate.

You are approaching this the right way: loving the home, but looking at the deal with your eyes open.

Does this guy need to sell? Is he using an agent? Often an agent can be very useful as an intermediary.

If keeping this kind of cab, I think you're smart to really embrace the vintage aesthetic as much as possible. Maybe a fresh formica counter in a cosmic boomerang?

That said, slab from walnut cabs would be beautiful and compliment the age of the home, also. You could even repurpose the cab pulls, if you wanted, to pay homage to the age of the house.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/95172733/thumbs/retro-kitchen

Please visit RetroRenovation for tons of photos and real-life stories of folks who've had to make the same decisions about renovating an older house.

We used to sell a lot of Formica 5-7 years ago, but even then it was for house flippers and basement kitchens or laundry rooms. Formica is great, but if you are willing to remodel the entire space, then go fo new cabinetry. You don't have to do expensive to replicate the style fo kitchen you want, just do things smart.

Just like smartphones, kitchens get new updates every day. There are drawer slides that help maximize space, door hinges with integrated soft-close, and so many different accessories that its impossible to count.

Good luck with your decision!

I grew up in early 60s ranch and have owned 2 since, well late 50s, all had real wood cabinets in them.

Ugh! Are Americans so desperate for something older, that they consider this worth keeping? In Europe it is detested junk, that sinks the price of any house enormously. It should be the cheapest house in the neighborhood by far!

It will cost triple the price you think to restore. The plumming will need an update, electricity probably too. The floors might creak and squeak and that's no fun, believe me.

Buy a complete country house in Eastern Europe with all its original features for 10.000 to 25.000 dollars and enjoy your holidays there instead.

What ever you do, the ceiling light fixture on the slidey track with the weights must stay. Coolest thing evah.

Buncha Philistines with zero historical or design appreciation. 15 minute fad followers every one. If this were an intact Edwardian or Craftsman, you’d love it, because echoes of that are currently popular. While not currently popular, this represents excellent design.Other than the carpet that someone inflicted on it. In the name of “updating” it no doubt.

This is an awesome intact MCM house loaded with original higher end details. The pink bathroom is prefect! Laminate cabinets like that will outlast any of your trendy IKEA 10 year kitchens. This is all VERY nicely done. And quite expensively for its day too. The house is likely priced appropriately for the higher end details here. If you don’t love those original details? Pass it by. It doesn’t need to be obliterated in a remuddle that destroys it.

My first thought was to keep it, as well. But what about that oven? It looks to be a 24" w model, and those are getting harder to come by.

I don't know about anything else but that teal tub is amazing!!

This kitchen has lived it's life. Time to go. Laminate cabinetry (Formica is a brand of laminate like Wilsonart and others) is actually making a comeback. But that doesn't help your situation. As others have pointed out the configuration is bad. The soffits should go if possible. The lighting is bad and the appliances are in need of replacement. You are looking at a gut rehab. You will be much happier in the long run and you will be adding value to the home.

The big thing I see here is that there are old, original things in this kitchen that haven't failed yet but will do so in the future and you won't be able to match. It could be that the laminate starts peeling or chipping, or that the oven goes and you can't replace it with another pink 24". You can already see that this has happened with the DW and the fridge. I'm not trying to talk you out of buying it, but I think the important thing is to buy it wide-open eyes, but not with stars in them.

I'd only buy it if the price were low enough to justify putting $50-100K in for renovations. This family needs to cast a wider net to buyers who are want to live in this house despite the costs. If it were my money, I'd take a pass.

When we were househunting many years ago, hubby and I were very interested in a high end ranch from the late 40s that was virtually original condition...it even had a half bath in the garage for the chauffeur and a fur storage closet and a magazine cover photo kitchen. But after 6 months on the market, the owners weren't realistic with the price and weren't ready to let it go so we passed.

As the years have gone by, I am thankful that the price was unrealistic as we weren't prepared to manage updating a house of that size and quality. With an ordinary tract home, you can use ordinary materials and workers but a high end house deserves high quality materials, experienced craftsman and lots of time, effort and money to make that happen

Every fifth house and apartment in Eastern Europe still has this stuff, because they don't have the money to replace it yet, although all want it desperately.

Formica was the cheap stuff and those pink tiles and colored sinks were everywhere, like the white was everywhere in the eightees. It was the cheap and ordinary of its time. Nothing special, whatsoever.

But hey, some try to sell it as exquisite. Be my guest. Maybe we should start shipping this stuff to America. They obviously believe it is priceless. Hurray! Maybe they consider buying our children's paintings for Rembrandt prices as well... I'm rich...

rough day my dear?

Gotta love a kitchen so big you can square dance in it! The pink oven is the boss... IMO I would go with "vintage inspired" rather than keep every single detail. Keep us posted!

Check this out:

You can order the Smeg fridge in pink.

http://www.smegusa.com/smeg-refrigerators-and-freezers-exuding-style/#filter_url=%2Fajax%2Fproducts_listing%2F&model=c&id=338&p=1&np=&order=&f%5Bcolor%5D%5B%5D=1215

I would let someone else buy it and when they reno, buy the pink oven and anything else you love that they are getting rid of. Then build you a kitchy little MCM getaway cottage.

Amanda, I think the reasoning behind their carpet decision was twofold. Wall to wall had the same degree of desirability then as hardwood does now, and the heating in this house makes it a practical decision. In fact, most of the selections I see here have been made with longevity and practicality in mind.

This won't be an issue of telling the owners that xyz needs to be replaced. You have said yourself that the quality is pristine. Add to that a finished attic, mature scaping, stone fireplace, etc. This means that your counter offer will be based on undesirability of aesthetics, which is , as you have noted, a harder row to hoe. I hope you continue to compare other options as you work on estimates. Best of luck.

(edited to remove RE listing.)

I love it...And IMHO (although I know nothing) it's priced what it should be to keep away the flippers.

It's not very often that you come across a house of any age that hasn't been touched (read: "improved").

This house is for someone who loves ALL of it just the way it is. It's lasted this long, I doubt that peeling formica will be an issue for the time you'll live in it.

However, if you buy it, of course you get to do what you want with it...but I really urge you to read retro renovation..it's a fun site and it might give you a new appreciation for the existing.

I would adore every square inch of that house.

I am ridiculously in love with this house!

Amanda, I looked at the listing, the updated comps are going for the same price.

Can you negotiate the closing price or something else?

When was the roof last repaired?

How many kitchens built now would last 60 years? I love the kitchen and think there would be no problem with a sympathetic modernization. Good craftsmanship is hard to find and if this house is mostly original then it was built right in the first place. However don't overlook all of the possible hidden costs such as plumbing, electrics, roofing, foundations, moisture issues, as well as the possible use of asbestos products. You seem to be the sort of person who should be buying houses such as this to preserve them, not force them into this era.

You can get a Vintage Makeover done with your kitchen, there are many places here and there, selling vintage parts etc.. Many people love vintage kitchens.. some examples from Houzz pages here:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/1920s-historic-kitchen-farmhouse-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~1446160

https://www.houzz.com/photos/london-loft-apartment-transitional-kitchen-london-phvw-vp~36844402

https://www.houzz.com/photos/ursulines-apartment-traditional-kitchen-new-orleans-phvw-vp~11329976

Amanda, are you okay with the electric stove?

Janelle, I have to respond to that. How many of us would live with the same kitchen for 60 years? People are too changeable, most of them don't want to live with the same thing for too long. Now I've been married for 32 years. I wonder if there's something I can change out for a newer model...?

There will be a perfect blend for this house, a little bit of new and old. I would never tear down walls in this house or rip out all the tile in the bathrooms. I'd love to somehow rework the cabinets, definitely new countertops, as I am not a pink/blue person. Rework the kitchen layout, with minor changes, but valuable ones such as an island. Polish up the hardwood floors. I'd never paint the trim or the doors, but i may want a new front door. Change is good, but respecting the house is good and can be balanced. My current house is not even 20 years old and I've already changed it up. That's what we people on houzz forums love to do!

yes, going to gas is not an upgrade, it is just what you are used to. I really question the age of that kitchen. Those cabinets are what was standard in the 80s. maybe the appliances were special order or rescues.

Carolina, expiring minds simply must know, what or is it whom are you thinking about upgrading? lol