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The Bar!

mid-century bar remodel

Check out this mid-century gem. Found her on craigslist last week. After coordinating a truck and some borrowed brawn, we went down to Newport Beach and picked it up on Saturday. Special thanks to two big brothers I never had: Roy, for the roomy Tundra, and Hector, for the burly awesomeness.

mid-century bar danish modern

It’s been in the same family of sisters since the fifties. They were military brats — baby boomers — and their father got it while they were in Japan in 1956. Their pop was quite the entertainer, and used the bar to serve many generals and a wide range of characters over the decades. It eventually made its way to the states where it found temporary action in Northern California, South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and eventually Southern California. (Far-out piece of trivia: one of the sisters had a girlfriend who dated Robin Williams back in the seventies. He partied on this bar, so one can only imagine the stories its surface could tell.)

mid-century bar

It’s solid wood, which looks to be oak or walnut. Tons of storage, which includes a cutting board and a supercool lined ice drawer.

I’ve always dug the mid-century vibe for some reason. I suspect it may have something to do with my love for The Twilight Zone, my favorite body of storytelling ever, which aired on television from 1959-1964. There’s something about the show’s tone — particularly within the context of the material — that has a certain timelessness to it. It’ll never feel dated to me. My subconscious probably associates the mid-century flavor of the Zone’s sets with timelessness. (Incidentally, my Slingerland kit is the same vintage; the shells are 1958 and ’59.)

So here she is at her new home, fitting right in with those 1945 oak floors in a crib that’s turning out to be a mashy mix of the loftily crafticious urbomodern remodel wrapped around the post-WWII California bungalow core. Now it’s time to gear up with tools and stock the thing, which I’m getting quite a bit of feedback on. I’ll be putting together a shopping list and slapping it at the bottom of this post shortly.

mid-century bar

mid-century bar

mid-century bar

mid-century bar

mid-century bar

*UPDATE 06.11.09*: Barstools!

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