Frozen in the heydays of bygone eras, these time-warp houses have been left unchanged for decades. From magnificent mid-century homes that look straight out of the 50s to pristine condos from the groovy 1970s, the décor is as fresh and fabulous as the day the front door closed for the last time. Click or scroll through and let's take a tour of these incredible domestic time capsules...
From the outside, this desert home in Palm Springs, California, is somewhat unassuming. Yet take a walk down the driveway and step through the front door and you'll be faced with an interior that might just make you feel dizzy...
The 2,289-square-foot property was built in 1979 and remains hardly changed since then. Loud and in your face, every single room in this bespoke house is alive with colour. From futuristic silver wallpapers to heavily patterned wall coverings in blues, pinks and creams, this one-of-a-kind home is not for everyone.
The kitchen is a real time capsule, thanks to its dark wood cabinets and wallpapered ceiling. Laid out over two floors, the desert house is kitted out with eye-watering décor, including retro plastic chairs, animal statues and faux palm trees. Many of the rooms also boast mirrored walls and ceilings, as well as custom furnishings you won't find anywhere else.
The property offers two bedrooms and two bathrooms, each decorated with the same loud wallpaper with matching blue carpets. The master suite even comes complete with palm trees, mirrored accents and neon lighting. How's that for retro nostalgia? The house was offered for sale in January 2021, fully furnished, and sold four months later for a cool $450,000 (£334k).
Known as Dennis Severs' House, this iconic property in the heart of Spitalfields, London, has become world-renowned thanks to its truly one-of-a-kind interior. Let's step inside and discover its fascinating story...
Dennis Severs arrived in Spitalfields in 1979 and quickly snapped up a derelict house. Undertaking a renovation project unlike any other, he redesigned the five-storey townhouse to tell the story of the imaginary Huguenot family, who had lived at the residence since it was built in 1724.
Severs arranged each room to represent a different family scene, taking inspiration from the atmosphere of the house itself. Every space reflects a different century, from 1724 to 1919, and Severs spent years collecting authentic furnishings and ornamental items that he placed around the home as if the members of the Huguenot family had just stepped out for a gentle evening stroll.
Severs began offering tours of his fascinating residence in the 1980s and the property is now a popular museum, running night tours and silent visits, where guests can walk through every room without speaking, taking in the fragrances that Severs added – perfume, wood smoke and oranges – and listening to the sound of ticking clocks and crackling fires. During the festive period, the house is transformed with authentic vintage Christmas decorations.
Located in the city of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, this 1950s time capsule is bold, bright and beautifully unique. Nestled on an attractive 14,120-square-foot lot, the large family home appears fairly ordinary from the outside, barring its baby blue paintwork. Yet once you cross the threshold, you'll find yourself in an entirely different era...
The 3,050-square-foot home still boasts much of its original interior design. From vivid geometric carpets to metallic wallpapers, net curtains and shiny mahogany panelling, this vintage property is eye-watering and enchanting in equal measure. Enter the front door and you’ll find yourself in a sunken foyer, lined with shimmering gold wallpaper. Another staircase leads down to a huge open-plan lounge, which boasts a vaulted ceiling, dining zone and an eye-catching carpet in pink and green.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home offers a unique split-level floorplan and comes complete with a retro kitchen, a formal dining room and a vintage bar lined with glossy mahogany. The bar leads out to an exterior patio, while the home's basement is equipped with a games room.
Yet the home's bedrooms might just be its most surprising features. Covered in loud wallpapers that stretch onto the ceiling, shag pile carpets and nostalgic quilts, these interior spaces appear to have been left untouched for decades – and we just can't get enough!
Inspired by the iconic designs of (perhaps) America's most renowned architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, this mid-century marvel can be found in the town of Hamburg in Erie County, New York. Built in 1953, the property boasts all the hallmarks of a classic Wright creation. Think organic architecture, sharp lines, rich woods and endless texture...
Located on a cliffside within three-acre grounds, this 50s gem was designed by self-taught architect, Nelson Keem Sr., and it’s been owned by the same family since it was built. While the home's exterior is decorated with panelling, a cantilevered roof and thin, textured bricks, the inside is almost too good to be true. Spanning an impressive 3,479 square feet, the four-bedroom home is laid out over four broken-plan floors, all linked by staircases covered in deep shag pile carpets.
The mid-century modern aesthetic is well and truly alive and the house remains almost untouched since it was created almost 70 years ago. Inside, every room is kitted out with curving angles, textured walls, colourful carpets and steel accents. The front door leads into a mirrored entrance hall, while a Cinderella staircase leads down to this wonderfully retro living space.
Elsewhere, you’ll find an untouched kitchen, decorated with Italian marble flooring, Corian countertops and cherry wood cabinets that were made from trees sourced from the garden. Other vintage gems include the home’s bathrooms – one of which is pink, one is electric blue and the other is decorated with shimmering gold wallpaper – as well as the home’s flagstones, which are the same as the ones used in Wright’s iconic property, Falling Waters.
Inside, the vibrant living room is a kaleidoscope of colour and clashing patterns. Typical of its era, the loud scheme features an ochre and brown colour palette, bold floral wallpaper and curtains, patterned linoleum flooring and a futuristic pendant light.
Connecting the home's two pristine storeys – and one of our favourite focal points – has to be the curved, open-tread staircase, complete with an unusual rope balustrade. Flanked by ochre tartan wallpaper and an emerald green feature wall, this characterful hallway is seriously spectacular.
Calling all maximalists: this bedroom pushes patterned wallpaper to the extreme. The busy, floral print even extends to the doors of the fitted wardrobes! Designed by its previous owners, the time capsule home went on the market for the first time in 2018 and has since changed hands – here's hoping some of its quirky, original touches have been preserved.
Nestled in the affluent London suburb of Highgate on a street that's now a celebrity property hotspot, this unassuming two-storey house gives no hint of its remarkable interior from the modest brick façade. But what lies within offers a glimpse back in time to domestic life in the wake of the Second World War, long before the home's famous neighbours moved in...
Built for a doctor and his wife around 65 years ago, the pristine property is virtually unchanged since it was finished. The original mint green kitchen features the same cabinetry installed all those years ago, as well as a quirky flip-down banquette in the open dining area. Vinyl and Formica, are still in place just as you'd expect in a 50s kitchen.
Decked out with blush pink tiles, the vintage bathroom is a pastel dream. The couple's son, who lived in California at the time, would write to them about the newest home features he'd discovered in the US, and one of his suggestions, a toilet with a foot-pedal flush, still features in the suite today.
A cutting-edge house in its day, the property is packed with early versions of smart home tech, many of which are now commonplace in modern properties. The two levels of living spaces, including the balcony and garage, are wired with a centralised radio system, allowing residents to listen to their favourite music anywhere in the house.
This picture-perfect Gothic pile in the town of Euraka, in California, could be straight out of a fairytale. The Carson Mansion, built in 1885 by the nouveau riche lumber merchant William Carson, was designed to his exacting specifications and little has changed to this day...
Stepping inside, visitors are confronted with the jaw-dropping redwood staircase, sourced from the Carson lumberyard. Featuring exquisite carving, turning and illuminated by a six-panel stained-glass window, no expense was spared on the construction of this house. It rivals the great chateaux of France in its finery!
The formal dining room was a very important room in the Victorian household and as such it has been fitted out with a hand-carved oak fireplace, a gilded ceiling and the original oak table. This room would have been used for hosting dinner parties and family meals, though larger social soirees would always be held in the ballroom.
When this four-bed family home in Ramona, New Jersey hit the market in 2017, the real estate agent Lucas Wolf was overwhelmed with interest. According to Realtor, he described it as the “coolest house I’ve ever been inside” so it's no wonder that the perfectly preserved property drew multiple offers before selling very quickly for $461,400 (£343k).
Stepping through the front door into the green flocked hallway, it’s clear that this house hasn’t been decorated since the 1960s. This living room goes for a 'more is more' approach to combining textures and colours, with a white exposed brick wall, ornate gilded finishes on the windows, mirror and furniture, and an abundant interior flower bed that adds even more greenery to the scheme.
The maximalism continues in this formal sitting room, with what might have been called an ‘oriental’ theme at the time. Check out the black lacquered furniture, orange satin-lined panels on the window and a reclining leopard statue – it’s totally wild!
Heading upstairs into one of four bright vintage bedrooms and it's clear that peacock blue inspired this brave decorator from the past. The silk curtains and bedding have been colour-matched to the bold motif wallpaper and walls, while an old-fashioned TV sits on an adjustable stand. Despite – or perhaps because of – the décor, the house was snapped up in no time.
Known as Stephan's Folly, this amazing home in Palm Springs was built in 1965 and eventually purchased by 'plumber to the stars' Jack Stephan, who spent a great deal of time and money refurbishing the interiors in 1971.
A textbook example of 1970s style, the home has a sunken living room, curved wet bar and a screening theatre. With three bedrooms and five bathrooms, it also includes a butler's pantry and walk-in wardrobes.
The only part of the house that takes a break from the swathes of red is the nostalgic vintage kitchen. Decorated with mustard yellow counters, an orange window blind and dark wood cabinets, it's also fitted with original appliances and a suspended ceiling.
The nostalgic cottage is full of furniture from the 1960s. The flecked carpet immediately draws the eye – it seems the owner wasn't afraid of a pattern or two. The colourful kitchen features vibrant turquoise units and matching chairs for the ultimate throwback.
What 1960s home would be complete without a pastel bathroom? This time-warp dwelling has a colourful blush pink toilet, a combined bath and shower and a matching pink vanity unit.
Covered floor to ceiling in bold white and blue patterned tiles, the bathroom suite is typical of the flamboyant designs of the 1960s and though new owners have added the odd anachronistic touch, most of the effects are still true to the time.
This rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home was previously put up for sale by its original owners with all of its authentic features intact. Sold back in 2018 for $1.2 million (£892k), this impeccable mid-century modern masterpiece isn't short on wow-factor.
Created by the visionary American architect, it was built in 1958 and completed just after Frank Lloyd Wright's death in 1960. It has been owned by the same couple for nearly 70 years, who are now in their 90s. The intriguing kitchen features exposed brickwork and quirky angles – just look at that hexagonal island and the matching hexagonal bar stools!
From a mint green hearth to Louis XV-style sofas, this sugar-sweet living room certainly makes a statement. Fitted out with pastel pink décor, period touches and statement wallpaper, it's a perfect time capsule of the era.
Throughout the house, the rooms are colour-themed, from deep purple to turquoise green, fitted out with what are now very desirable vintage homewares, furnishings and accessories.
This untouched home from the early twentieth century was originally furnished and decorated to the fashionable tastes of Mrs Florence Straw, after the family relocated to the property in 1923. The house was occupied and maintained by her two sons, William and Walter Straw, after she passed away.
After the death of her husband in 1932, Florence Straw made very few changes to the house and kept his memory alive by keeping his belongings in their proper place. By the time it was left to the National Trust, the home had collected all sorts of items, from snuff boxes to an upright piano, making it a truly unique collection.
When the lady of the house also passed away in 1939, her sons took over possession of the house and kept everything much the same. Their tendency for thriftiness and frugality led to very little modernisation in the house, and its protected status means that their home will remain a snapshot of family life frozen in time.
The kitchen is an incredible homage to the era, with bursts of pink dotted across the old-fashioned cabinetry and woodwork, plus original flooring, curtains and wallpaper. We hope it never changes!
This unusual house in the small town of Gladewater, Texas was built in 1952 and hasn't changed much since. After sitting untouched for decades, the rotund property was first put on the market back in 2014, but has since been withdrawn. We can't blame the owners for struggling to part with it!
No detail was overlooked in the home's design, from the Dentil crown mouldings to the Federal-style mantel in the living room. The heavy floral curtains complete with draped pelmets were also a huge trend at the time.
The second living area is a darker space with mustard yellow curtains, a brown sofa and dark wooden floors. The geometric and floral wallpaper brings a welcome burst of colour, which is carried through to the small bathroom with its vibrant maroon fixtures. It's a huge contrast to the light spaces we love today!
This Illinois ranch home was built in 1965 and doesn't seem to have changed much since then. With 6,550 square feet of space, it's a fine family home and so far it seems its occupants have honoured the house's mid-century origins.
Inside, the house has been seemingly frozen in time since the mid-1960s and reminds us of what our grandparents' homes looked like. The living room, which has large windows along one wall, is decked out in pale pinks and dark wood with pelmet curtains and even a vintage TV.
The kitchen leads through to the dining area, featuring a four-seater dining set flanked by large patio doors that open out onto the garden. The '60s flooring follows through from the kitchen, a boon for any fans of vintage design.
In 2015, an unassuming Victorian house in Paddington, New South Wales was listed for auction, complete with a remarkable interior that's been largely untouched since it last changed hands a century ago. It was owned by the same family for 100 years and is one of the few remaining examples of a traditional 'worker's cottage' in the area.
The two-bedroom house, which unsurprisingly looks a little worse for wear, includes a combined laundry and bathroom space with a hot water copper or water heater for filling the bath, as well as an antique wooden dresser.
Relics of yesteryear, there are old sepia photographs still hanging around the house, and a single-wire bed frame lingers in the living room. The historic space offers a fascinating look back at how houses would have looked for an ordinary Australian family 100 years ago.
From the outside, this home looks like a recently built property designed in a mid-century modern style. The growing appetite for retro design means many new-build houses reference the popular 1960s aesthetic, but here we have an example of the real thing.
Frozen in time, bright colour-matched schemes, typical of the era, are found throughout the house. As well as a regal, royal blue bedroom, kitted out with a grand quilted ottoman, a plush queen-sized bed and a built-in mirrored wardrobe, this crazy Barbie pink bedroom is almost too nostalgic to be true.
Amazingly, the rich colours haven't faded and are as striking now as they would have been when the property was first decorated. Design trends popular in the late 60s appear throughout the décor, such as the dark wooden finishes, shag pile carpets and low textured ceilings.
One unit in the Country Villas West condo complex, just outside San Diego, caught everybody’s attention when it hit the market in February this year. Built in the early 1970s, this ordinary-looking exterior hides a retro-lover’s dream inside; an almost untouched home that has been barely inhabited for 30 years.
Last sold for $340,000 (£261k), this 1,800-square-foot home is so authentic that even the magazines on the coffee table are 30 years old. It’s also got bags of space spread over two floors, with a fantastic old-school spiral staircase, complete with treads covered in the vibrant green shag pile carpet.
The pristine interior was the work of an interior designer, hired by the condo complex developer in the ‘70s. Vivid lime green was chosen as the signature scheme for the house, with the citrus hue used on the floor, walls, fabrics and furnishings. Real estate agent Nancy Maranan describes the three-bed, three-bath condo as “a true time capsule”.
In the master bedroom, the bold use of colour continues but a busy floral pattern steps the whole look up a notch. There’s even a customised bedspread and curtains to match the signature wallpaper. We bet lots of vintage-lovers out there would love to move straight in!
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