And just for fun, this one I saw recently — a reverse flip. A historic Austin MCM (history of it in property details), redone in the 80’s. The current owners researched it and restored it back to its former glory. It’s awesome.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4511-Balcones-Dr_Austin_TX_78731_M74907-51197

I love the pink wall phone in the bathroom!

Girl, we are polar opposites! lol I graduated in '72 so I remember those houses well. Didn't like them then, don't like them now. We lived in an old 4 square on Main street, where all the old houses are. Beautiful old neighborhood and my mom was a natural decorator. Early American was her style. I kind of copied it. Weird.

Don't tell anybody, but I hated the Brady Bunch orange & green kitchen. Come to think of it, I don't recall having any modern anything in the house except heat and air.

Terezosa, I love that phone, too! And the intercom in the 70’s house ... we had one when I was a kid. My friends and I would go from room to room and talk to each other. Early cell phones, “Can you hear me? Yes, can you hear me?” :D

Oakley, your childhood home sounds awesome! My mother loved Early American, too. Wish I had some of it (heck, I wish I just had pictures of her). I can totally understand people not liking the 70’s aesthetic. I really love every era of old houses except Queen Anne Victorian. I appreciate and admire them, but wouldn’t want one.

I love it!

Oakley, I'm with you. Lived through the 50s, 60s, 70s and can't think of anything I'd go back to. I grew up in a MCM house and longed for antiques. Redoing those houses would be such an ordeal. I think I'd look for another house.

I love that house! Many things would have to go, def anything that mustardy yellow, drapes simplified, carpets replaced, etc. But I love that 60’s vibe And the house could be turned into something very livable and relevant.

My mother has always had a penchant for French furniture so we missed the groovy sixties decor completely. We grew up with gilt mirrors and cabriole legs and bergere chairs. How I envied those stylish Brady Bunch looking homes!

I've never been fond of MCM or Atomic Ranches, so I would let someone else buy it and make the renovation decisions.

Just the front porch / entrance -- even without the metal gate -- makes me want to run from the house.

The MCM house reminds me of military housing. No carpet, sterile, hollow cold. No thank you.

Those were really nice homes, but I kind of agree that I don't remember liking that style even back then. I graduated from high school in 1970, but I grew up in NYC in apartment land. The friends or family I knew who did have houses either in the city or in the suburbs did not have houses like that.

I do enjoy these threads!

I love the house and would change very little if at all.

(If appliances still work lol-they stay as well)

Needless to say I've no childhood associations with MCM houses either.

Furnishings would be mine, of course:)

I could live with a lot of it as is. Certainly wouldn't gut it unless the electrical, etc. needed major upgrades. Love the pantry wall and terrazzo floors (not my first flooring choice for walking on but they are pretty indestructible so I wouldn't change them just to change them). Would change the bathrooms though. I'd go with a contemporary and minimal aesthetic in there. A lot of the furnishings were pretty classic for a contemporary house. Too frou-frou for the house, imo. I don't mind the entry screen, for example, but don't think it particularly suits the house. This could be "updated" very well in that warm modern aesthetic.

ETA: They did it pretty well in that second link you shared, Jinx. Not everything to my taste (the checkered floors? meh.) but they restored a lot of the worthy features of the era, I think.

What's not fab about these details? The door and sidelight cutouts, the railings, the wood partition. The closet does seem a bit small but Texas doesn't have a 4-season climate, does it? :) The wood floors are gorgeous! I do think the white is a bit stark but that could be the pics.

The 70’s house is straight out of Bradyville. You don’t often see a fully restored 70‘s home. Really enjoyed looking at these but neither home would be for me. Like others here grew up wanting a more of a vintage home. I always liked the homes from the 1920’s. Of course. I currently live in a nondescpit confused style 1960’s home that has been remodeled multiple time by prior owners so I obviously am not a purist.

Is it easier to update an actual MCM house, I wonder? This one popped up on my Pin feed today. Love the vanity in one of the bathrooms and the panel in the living room is fab! Lots of luxe touches in this update. Hope you don't mind my adding to your thread, Jinx?

Add away, Tartan! :)

Ohhh, yes, that panel is awesome — love the front door, too!

I really only started appreciating MCM as an adult ... my real love is for architecture and decor much earlier than that. But as I read more and more about the history of it, I‘m fascinated and impressed. I don’t think I’d want to live in a time capsule, but I do like mixing some Mod in with my various other styles. It’s lighthearted and fun.

The only thing I like about the 1970s house is the trees. There is way too much brown in that house, and that makes me feel nauseous. I also dislike burnt orange.

I do like the house on Balcones Drive, which is one of my favorite streets in Austin. I went to a student ASID meeting at Lynda Bird Johnson's house on Balcones in 1987, and I liked her house as well. I've always liked MCM, including the 1960s versions, and I've always hated the 1970s, as I've never been a fan of brown & beige, or the oranges and avocado greens that were used then. All of the 1970s colors are off for me. I also did not like disco music in the 1970s and was rather upset that I had to listen to it when I went out - at least until around 1978 when punk and new wave became popular in San Francisco. I'm not really a fan of Victorians either - I find them a bit too tedious. I much prefer minimalism.

Lars, please tell me Lady Bird was at that meeting?!