The American Home 1973 House of the Year
by Helene Brown – American Home magazine, October 1972
Good design, great value and wide availability keynote American Home‘s “House of the Year” — top prize in the home furnishings industry’s “New Dimensions in Living – Debut ’73” Sweepstakes campaign.
This eight-room Highlander ($35,000 and up, depending on location) is manufactured by Boise Cascade, producers of Kingsberry Homes. A detailed story about the house begins on page 90.
This is the second year we have decorated a Debut house; the results are tailor-made for carefree, comfortable living. And you can see them this month, at Debut ’73 stores nationwide.
Out “House of the Year” is as modern as today: Inside, all is spacious and open; outside, redwood siding lends a natural look that fits anywhere, Maine to California.
Whenever possible, rooms are multipurpose areas, and this light, bright family room (below and opposite) is designed to accommodate informal family dining and lounging or the liveliest parties.
Furnishings, such as Founders Furniture Company’s plastic-topped Parsons tables and cane-and-steel dining chairs are durable, easy-care.
Dining end of family room is adjacent to the kitchen; the door behind blinds leads to a patio. Echoing the white walls and shiny white vinyl floor by Congoleum Industries are nine plastic wall lamps from Beylerian, Ltd.
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Soaring, light-filled interiors create new moods for decorating
Our handsome, contemporary “House of the Year” is a perfect showcase for Debut ’73 furnishings.
An artful mix of materials, textures, cool whites and naturals and warm, vibrant color was used to open up spaces and create pleasant, cozy retreats. Colorful patterns in judicious quantities — on rugs, pillows, wall hangings — enhance the feeling of spaciousness and add impact to each room.
Also contributing to the openness of the house: clerestory windows that let in additional sunlight, and window treatments — Roman shades, vinyl vertical blinds and wood-painted grillwork — that are deliberately planned to be spare and trim.
A brilliantly colored all-wool area rug by Karastan makes the lounging end of family room inviting. White vinyl upholstered sofa, magenta chairs and storage units of pale natural elm and cane are by Founders.
Above the sofa in the 1973 House of the Year is a fabric banner by Alexander Girard; at windows, vinyl vertical blinds by the Graber Company.
ALSO SEE: 70 vintage sofas from the swinging ’70s
Design is easy and open; spaces flow happily
Colorful and bright beneath high clerestory windows, living and dining rooms of the “House of the Year” are virtually one continuous space, interrupted only by a sleek fireplace wall that sweeps to a height of 17 feet.
Deep pumpkin carpeting smoothly connecting both rooms is dramatically emphasized by the living room’s crisp white walls — and subdued by the dining room’s soft, warm tones.
Patterns of color in paintings and on pillows and Roman shades enhance the feeling of lightness and vivacity. The 1973 House of the Year’s sunken living room, with its fireplace, sectional sofas and throw pillows, is an inviting conversation area; only one step away, dining room is ideal for elegant sit-down occasions.
Lush carpeting that flows from living room (right, foreground) to dining room (background) is an acrylic velvet by Firth. Stacking floor pillows in flower-strewn polished cotton add extra seating and color. The paintings in living room and hall are by Fraser Lewis, from Atlanta’s Reflections Gallery.
Understated style of living room (right) is picked up by Selig’s glass-and-steel coffee table. Pair of loose-back Kroehler sofas — available in many sizes, with or without arms — is upholstered in a silky twill that matches carpeting.
Window’s pierced wooden grille, painted white, prettily filters the sunlight without adding any fuss.
Pastel colors, mirrored wall and shimmering glass make the dining room appear spacious. Mirror is by Carolina Mirror Corp., steel-and-glass table by Selig.
Hickory’s white-lacquered chairs are covered in rough silk, whose colors are repeated on patterned shade fabric by Jack Lenor Larsen. White pedestals are by Founders. Imported chandelier, a blown-glass shape trimmed in brushed chrome, is from Koch & Lowy.
Pattern is the focus — and the basis for color
Warm and inviting, the kitchen’s color scheme begins with a floor of chevron-patterned ceramic tile by Interpace (top); cabinets and counter tops echo its colors.
White Textolite countertops and all major appliances are by GE. Roll-up bamboo window blind filters sunlight without cutting off the view.
Viewed from second floor (bottom), kitchen seems to float in space, defined only by its white freestanding partition walls. It opens to family room on the right, and has access to dining room at left through two louvered doors.
1973 House of the Year – study/guest room & kitchen
The subtle power of pattern underfoot is made evident in the study/guest room and in the kitchen. Design schemes for both were planned from the floor up, with textures and colors chosen specifically to add interest.
In the study, black, cream and rust carpeting is enlivened by shiny terracotta-lacquered walls; accessories are a mixture of exciting contemporary materials and textures: glass, steel, suede, leather and plastic.
In the cheery kitchen, cabinets and countertops repeat the pale pumpkin-and-white color scheme of the ceramic tile floor, and the rough-textured bamboo roll-up window shade contrasts with the various smooth laminated-plastic surfaces.
Study (below) becomes a guest room when vinyl-covered Hide-a-Bed by Simmons is opened. Carpeting is by Karastan; picking up its colors are a beige vinyl-and-steel chair and Selig black leather-and-chrome chairs. Wall unit and tables are from Beylerian. Joseph Almyda painting is from Atlanta’s Midtown Gallery.
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Amid open spaces, some rooms are snug retreats
Bedroom colors are darker, duskier than the rest of the house; each of these rooms was designed as a personal and restful retreat.
Smoky blue sets a subtly Oriental mood in the master bedroom, where textures are all-important: Velvety carpeting, suede-cloth shades and bedspread, shimmering silk-velvet pillows and dashes of brass and white china play against each other for rich contrasts.
The second bedroom, designed for two young girls, is wrapped in purple and white fabrics, with white furniture and bits of lime green adding lively accents.
Girls’ bedroom (above) is tailored to young, feminine tastes with delicate white-lacquered bamboo-motif furniture from the Kensington Collection by Drexel. Plush cream-colored polyester carpeting is by Lees. Washable Cohama polyester-and-cotton blend fabrics were used for walls, curtains, bedspreads and dust ruffles.
The feeling of comfort and repose in master bedroom is heightened by majestic pecan-wood four-poster bed and matching two-door chest – all by Flair. The white bedside tables by Hibriten contrast with the enveloping deep blue walls and velvety wool carpet by Magee.
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