1950s House

Exhibit at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, United States September 2025 thumb|Interior of the 1950s House, Shelburne Museum The 1950s House was a hands-on exhibit building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. The exhibit was designed to allow museum visitors to experience everyday life in 1950s Vermont. The house, which opened at the Shelburne Museum in 2000, brought to life the transformative history of America during the mid-20th century when a vibrant consumer culture developed after World War II. Having been built in the 1940s, it was outfitted in late-1940s design and decoration. The furnishings and decor highlighted the industrial boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Packed with the era's fashionable furniture, books, toys, food, and magazines, the 1950s House provided a window into mid-century visual culture.Shelburne Museum | 1950 House http://shelburnemuseum.org/explore/buildings/historic-houses-and-community-buildings/1950-house/ https://web.archive.org/web/20100613055522/http://shelburnemuseum.org/explore/buildings/historic-houses-and-community-buildings/1950-house/ dead 2010-06-13 2011-06-05 History Shelburne residents Frank and Helen LaFlam built the 1950s House on land purchased in 1948 from the subdivision of a 200 acre km2 on farm. In 1950 Vermont had abundant land and natural resources, and the town of Shelburne, which did not institute zoning until 1957, encouraged new home building. In designing their house, the LaFlams incorporated state-of-the-art amenities such as central heating, public water, and modern bathroom and kitchen appliances, including a refrigerator and built-in cabinets. The burgeoning industry of the late 1940s enabled the LaFlams to purchase a ready-cut house (see prefabricated home) modeled from architectural plans and specifications that was inexpensive and easily shipped to the building site. The one-story design, attached garage, plain overhanging eaves, and simple white clapboard siding represent the hallmarks of mid-century house design. The LaFlams detailed the windows and doors with broad, stained wood trim, which is the kind of simple detailing available in a lumber-rich place like Vermont. The house, which is neither a traditional Cape nor a typical ranch, has characteristics of do-it-yourself construction, with an engagingly awkward mix-and-match of new and old, typical and idiosyncratic, details. In the summer of 2000, the house was opened to the public as a temporary exhibition entitled "The Fabulous 50's: Welcome Home to Postwar Vermont".Louie Elaine Currents: Period House; 'Burbs Fresh From the Frigidaire https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/03/garden/currents-period-house-burbs-fresh-from-the-frigidaire.html?src=pm 2 October 2011 New York Times 3 August 2000 In 2002, the exhibition was extended through 2005.Old House Journal November–December 2002 30 6 3 https://books.google.com/books?id=ob3liF2nZvYC&q=shelburne&pg=PA3 Old-House Journal 2 October 2011 As of May 4, 2012, the 1950s house was torn down to make way for the Pizagalli center for art and education. See also Electra Havemeyer Webb 1950s References External links Shelburne Museum website Category:Shelburne Museum Category:Historic house museums in Vermont Category:1950s in the United States Category:Houses in Chittenden County, Vermont Category:2000 establishments in Vermont de:Shelburne Museum