After their children were married and had moved out, Sharoll and Tony Toenjes were ready to downsize from their two-story, 4,000 square foot house and were actively searching for a home where they could 鈥渁ge in place.鈥
When they attended an open house at a one-story midcentury modern residence, they recognized the potential in the home that had not been updated since being built in 1953.
鈥淭here were 30 people there, and the next day ours was one of three bids,鈥 Tony recalls. 鈥淲e were not the highest, but we offered cash and waived any inspections, and we got it.鈥
What they purchased turned out to be a nine-month project most people would never undertake after retirement. But, with the experience of three prior home renovations behind them, they got to work doing much of the labor themselves.
Construction techniques used in the 1950s made demolition of interior space particularly difficult. Walls were two layers of drywall over one layer of plaster lathe embedded in a wire mesh. 鈥淭he strength of the walls may have been holding up the house,鈥 Tony says pointing out where termites were discovered near the kitchen.
All floors were replaced and all the electrical and plumbing was updated. Thirty linear feet of new, floor-to-ceiling windows were installed along the living room wall, overlooking the pool. 鈥淚n the winter you could only sit by those old windows if you had a coat on,鈥 Sharoll says.
Three bathrooms and the kitchen were gutted, and each replaced with new custom cabinetry Sharoll designed, but which included the recycled 1950s hardware from the original cabinets.
Surprisingly, the home had a different mailing address for an attached mother-in-law suite that had its own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. It had been accessed through its own outside entrance but separated from the main house by an open breezeway connected to the home by a common roof.
They enclosed the breezeway and converted the suite into a primary bedroom, converting the kitchen into a large bathroom.
鈥淲e were getting separate sewer bills for the suite because it was listed as having its own sewer line,鈥 Tony says. 鈥淏ut when we replaced the plumbing, we discovered there was only one sewer line into the house. Previous residents had been double paying, maybe since the home had been built.鈥
In 2020, after nine months of renovation that filled five dumpsters, they moved into the three-bedroom, three-bath, 2,369 square-foot home and began to fill it with period-appropriate midcentury modern furniture. Some pieces were purchased, and others were given to them by friends. A few were purchased at estate sales, and one large hutch was found on the street awaiting pick up by the garbage truck.
New wood floors are accentuated with bright rugs featuring geometric patterns popular in the 1950s.
Architectural elements common in midcentury design have been left untouched. A fireplace wall of pink granite is a focal point of the living room wall, which extends outside the home as an exterior wing wall. Distinctive midcentury long, narrow windows located high on bedroom walls remain.
Outside, original walls of thin horizontal stone in a random mix of slate and limestone in hues of pale yellow and green run the length of the front and define the low, 135-foot-long home as unmistakably midcentury.
So does the doublewide turquoise garage door, a color popular in the 1950s. 鈥淚t had been painted pink when we moved in,鈥 Tony says.
Today the residence appears as if it was newly built and furnished when the midcentury design movement was at its height.
鈥淚 grew up in the 1950s, but never thought I would live in a 1950s home in 2024,鈥 Sharoll says laughing.
While the couple installed new landscaping and filled empty planters with a profusion of colorful flowers, several groves of 20-foot-tall banana trees were left in the rear yard where their huge palm leaves impart a tropical sensation growing next to the pool.
鈥淚n the winter, we cut them off about a foot from the ground, but they grow back 12 inches in a day in the spring,鈥 Sharoll says.
Photos: Peek inside this midcentury modern home in Belleville
Sharoll and Tony Toenjes give an overview of their sleek midcentury modern home on Friday, Oct. 4, in Belleville, Ill.
The firebox is surrounded by a pink granite stone wall that extends through the windows on the left and forms a wing wall outside the home. The view is out to an inground pool through new windows that replaced inefficient windows installed in 1953.
When the Toenjeses purchased the home, this room was a breezeway, open on both ends, and connected to a mother-in-law suite. They enclosed the area, creating another room, and turned the suite into a primary bedroom. The stained glass windows purchased from a neighbor are thought to have originated in a pub in England.
The kitchen was gutted and a new kitchen designed by Sharoll was installed. Sharoll鈥檚 design included the innovative raised circular surface on a corner of the island. 鈥淚 had four under-the-counter chairs but only space for three,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he circle top was the solution.鈥 Cabinet hardware was recycled from 1950s cabinetry that was replaced during the renovation.
The dining room abuts the kitchen on the right, which was designed by Sharoll. At the end of the room the fireplace is surrounded by a pink granite stone wall. The colorful rug in a 1950 pattern is one of several found throughout the home and is in keeping with the style of d茅cor popular when the residence was built in the 1950s.
The primary bedroom looks out onto the pool through a window wall. The frosted glass door into the room is divided into three large panes. During the renovation all interior doors were replaced with doors of the same design.