Ugly House Photos

Let’s take a step back in time to the 1970s with these four homes.

Phoenix home built in 1973.

Phoenix home built in 1970 with freestanding fireplace.

Pretty drapes in a master bedroom of a Glendale, Arizona home.

Late 1970s kitchen in a Phoenix home, complete with harvest gold refrigerator and range hood, striped wallpaper, & butcher block Formica counters.

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Green drapes were all the rage in the 1970s as seen at this 1974 Glendale, Arizona home.

Family room with slump block fireplace.

For a comprehensive look at furniture, home design, and home features in the Phoenix area from the 1950s to the 2000s, check out the index of 77 posts.

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Phoenix home built in 1971 with original kitchen and appliances.  Avocado green!!

Green carpet!

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You’re sure to get a kick out of these advertisements from 1974 for home décor & interior design in Europe.

Lots of dark wood used in the shelving.  Velour fabric sofa.

Patterned drapes.  Minimalist furniture design.  There’s no side table for the telephone.  Look how low the coffee table is!

European kitchen from 1974.  Kitchen island with two burners and a small grill.

Nothing like having a kitchen next to the horse stables.

Modular office design from 1974.  Precursor to IKEA in the 2000s?

Bedroom design from 1974.

Looks like IKEA.

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What did bathrooms look like in the 1970s in Europe?  Let’s take a look at some bathroom design advertisements from 1974.

The German word for bath is “bad.”  Do any of these 1974 bathroom designs look ”bad”?  Would you like towel racks under the sink?  Would you get tired of bending over to hang the towels?  The separate bathtub & shower design would become common in new home construction in Phoenix homes in the 1990s.

Avocado green sink, tub, & toilet.  Note the pedestal sink from 1974, which would become very trendy in Phoenix homes in the 2000s.  The hidden toilet tank takes up less room.

Gotta love those crazy wall tiles!  It looks like wallpaper but they’re ceramic tiles.  The floating sink vanity was used in bathroom design in the 2000s in Phoenix.

Orange bathroom fixtures.  Again, floating sink vanity with cubbyholes for toiletries.  Separate tub and shower.

Geometric wall tile design.  Floating sink vanity, again.

Oops!  Sorry to walk in on you.  We just wanted to check out the yellow bathroom fixtures.  Those rounded sinks are kinda cool.

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Here are some advertisements for home decorations in the 1970s in the United States.

Talk about blending in.  Your clothes match the sofa and the drapes!  Back in the 1970s, people did put their stereos next to the couch.  That way you could adjust the volume or station while making out.  The speakers were hidden behind the couch or to the side.  Is that a perfume diffuser on the table (which is very trendy in 2008 & 2009) or incense sticks?

Now that’s a wild bedspread and matching stool and rug.

For the kid’s room.  Looks like fun.

How can fake fur be genuine?  How can something genuine be fake?

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Design Through the Decades - part 73

This is part 3 of 3 for home décor & interior design of the 1970s in Phoenix.  The late 1970s were known for dark colors: oranges, browns, and golds.  Plaid patterned sofas with wood arms were popular as was wood paneling.

Dark carpeting and more wood paneling at this 1970s Phoenix home.

How about the infamous 1970s cork tiles and mirror tiles set in a checkerboard pattern?

Bar stool chairs were found in many Phoenix homes in the 1970s.

Oil lamps thrilled many homeowners in the 1970s.

Here’s a Phoenix home with a hanging macramé planter and a macramé owl.

Shiny, striped wallpaper was all the rage in the 1970s as seen at this 1979 Scottsdale home.

Light blue striped wallpaper, vinyl flooring, flower petal light, and bar stools are on proud display at this Glendale, Arizona home.

Lots of wallpaper at this 1970s Mesa, Arizona home.

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Design Through the Decades - part 72

This is part 2 of 3 for home décor and interior design in Phoenix in the 1970s.  Let’s take a look at the mid 1970s where the biggest shift in design was color.  Olive green carpet was replaced by gray, blue, or white.  Chairs and drapes went from oranges and greens & golds to blues.

Looks like the green on the carpet from the early 1970s transferred over to the chairs.

Velour chairs in wine and blue became popular.  Wood tables started to show up in the mid 1970s.

Dramatic drapes were still in vogue in the mid 1970s.  Whites and yellows were used in this Phoenix home.

Blue-gray carpeting.  Oil painting of a landscape.  Classic 1970s décor.

Large lamp shades, blue chairs, gold carpet, and a wall of mirrors.

Large lamp shades, orange chairs, and blue carpet at this 1970s Sun City home.  Was there only one furniture store in all of Phoenix selling only one style of chair?

Check out those casual dining chairs at a Mesa, Arizona home.

Another Mesa, Arizona home from the 1970s.

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Design Through the Decades - part 71

Interior designers in the early 1970s in Phoenix loved home décor with greens, yellows/gold, and oranges.  This 1971 Phoenix home had olive green carpet, gold drapes, orange velour chairs, table lamp with big shade, a hanging lamp, and wire wall sculptures (replacing the cityscape paintings of the 1960s).

Green swivel chairs and gold vinyl flooring have stood the test of time at this 1971 Sun City home.

Green carpet and orange chairs plus wood paneling are found at this 1971 Phoenix home.

For a down home feel, just add some yellow theme wallpaper to the brick kitchen as seen at this 1970 Phoenix home.  Note the orange counter top and the flower metal light.

Cool pastels in paint and carpet were popular design choices.  Here is a 1973 Glendale, Arizona home.

Back to the green carpet, pale green drapes, large table lamps, and hanging light of the 1970s.

More green carpet and green drapes in the bedroom, along with a God’s eye art piece.

I think we get the idea now.  Green carpet, gold drapes, large lampshades, velour chairs (this one is pink!).  Classic 70s.

Sculpted carpet (green once again) was a popular flooring choice in the 1970s.

Some homeowners opted for ivory and cream whites in the 1970s.

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Design Through the Decades - part 66

Roofing In Phoenix, Arizona

The 1970s - Roofs:

Most Phoenix homes in the 1970s had gable style roofs with white asphalt shingles.  The carport roof seen here makes this 1978 home have a cross gable design.

Flat foam roofs started to show up more frequently in the 1970s.  Here’s a 1971 Phoenix home.

Red tile officially made its debut in Phoenix homes in the 1970s, at least for decorative purposes.  The home here is still a flat roof with foam.

Wood shake roofs were not that common in Phoenix from the 1950s to the 1970s.  Here’s a 1970 Phoenix home with wood shake.

There was a time when white rocks were placed on top of a white foam roof.  The thought was that the rocks pulled the heat away from the roof.  The white foam reflected the hot summer sun.  Here’s a home from 1971.

The 1980s - Roofs:

The 1980s in Phoenix became the decade of the red tile roof.  It may not account for over half of Phoenix homes or even 25%, but it left a lasting impression on roof design.  Here’s a modified roof with flat & gable styles with red tile at a 1984 Phoenix home.

Pink tile was also used toward the end of the 1980s.  The pink or red clay tile was arched.  This created air space between the tile and the underlayment felt paper.  Clay tile roofs are supposed to last a lifetime, which they may, but the intense Arizona sun can make the underlayment brittle over time, requiring a re-roofing.  Roofers have to carefully remove all of the tile, store it for re-use, replace the underlayment, and re-lay the clay tile.

Flat foam roofs were still popular in the 1980s in Phoenix.  Foam roofs require more preventative maintenance than shingled or tiled roofs.

Whereas gable style roofs were common from the 1950s to the 1970s, reverse gable style roofs were used in the 1980s.  This is a 1986 Phoenix home with asphalt shingles.  Note that you cannot see the roof when viewing from the front.

This is a 1980s Phoenix home with a double cross gable roof design with shingles.

Vaulted ceilings were very trendy in 1980s Phoenix homes.  The roof pitch was much more pronounced in these homes.

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