Walter and Nettie Laughlin House
830 York Street • Mid-Century Modern • Built 1959 • Builder: Walter Laughlin
Walter Laughlin, a local contractor, built this house for his family in 1959. According to family lore, Walter and his wife Nettie designed the home on the back of a napkin.
In the early 1980’s, after attempts to sell their home failed, the Laughlin’s donated it to the Seventh-day Adventist church. The church rented the home to parishioners for approximately 20 years. Overwhelmed by ongoing leaky copper pipes, the church put the house up for sale in 1999. The current owners ⎯ highly skilled, serial renovators ⎯ were undeterred and easily resolved the problem over a weekend.
Restoration and Renewal
They went on to update the kitchen and bathrooms and all the doors, and replace light fixtures. They installed all the oak flooring, when pulling up carpet revealed a plywood subfloor, not the hardwood they were hoping for. The inset carpet in the hallway was to accommodate the owners’ large dogs. Retaining the original window openings, they upgraded with new window with the same narrow profile as the original.
Exterior Mid-Century Design
The exterior mid-century modern (MCM) elements are the low-pitch roof with offset gable, long horizontal windows, vertical wood siding, and steps and built-in planter in Arizona sandstone, hinting at what is inside.
Laughlin House has yielded more than one remarkable discovery. During renovations, the current owners found a family Bible hidden behind built-in cabinetry—eventually tracing it back to its original owner and returning it decades later. Learn more >
Interior Features and Details
The interior MCM elements are high-pitched ceilings, open plan public spaces, 3/4 height wall separating living room and hallway. The most impressive of all is the freestanding fireplace divider wall that is also a supporting structure for the roof. It is in the same Arizona sandstone as the exterior, and features a 2–sided and 3–sided fireplace at either end. The raised planter ⎯originally a gold fish pond with liner and plumbed for an automatic water feed to maintain water level⎯is in the same Arizona sandstone. Its placement in the corner of the living room is extremely unusual, more typical is an in-floor planter near a doorway or full height window.
The entryway floor is the original marble mosaic. In the hallway are the original door chimes that play the Westminster Chimes. The two front bedrooms have original vaulted ceilings and valence, and characteristic frame-less doorways.
Original Details and Modern Updates
The phone jack in the main bathroom is original to the house, as was the one in the powder room, that was removed during renovation.
The original back deck has been maintained, and upgraded as required. The addition of an automatic awning engineered to accommodate the sloped roof line protects the deck from sun and rain. The exterior auto shades on the living room and back bedroom windows block the summer sun and reduce reliance on air conditioning.