It was with a fair amount of trepidation that I approached the first images of the recently listed Adams house in Vinita, Oklahoma, on Zillow. We first saw the house back in 2023 when it re-appeared on the market after failing to sell when listed in 2010. Surprisingly, I did not feel nauseous when viewing the transformation.
I was greatly relieved to find that changes were both minimal and largely cosmetic. This is one of those very rare times when I actually think that the renovated version of an historic piece of architecture is an improvement over what it had been. The cosmetic changes have made the interior much brighter—-a welcome change from the gloominess which once detracted from the otherwise magnificent spaces. The non-cosmetic changes have, for the most part, been respectful of the original design and intent and serve to make the house more livable. Let’s take a look!
The only significant change to the exterior appears to be the addition of a squat cupola which replaces the original skylight but brings more light to the interior.The front door sports a new color. Flanking entry lights have appeared since 2023 and their traditional styling is out of sync with the rest of the house. A single recessed downlight centered in the ceiling of the recess would have been less obtrusive and provided a more dramatic effect at night.Wow. White paint replaces all that was previously dark blue. Light flooring is a welcome contrast to the previous sea of oppressively blue carpeting.Inside the conversation pit. The reconfigured skylight does not detract from the design and definitely brings in more light.The dining area is also cleaner and brighter. All interior window sash–previously painted blue–has bee painted white.Kitchen millwork and other built-ins have been updated with new stained finishes. White countertops further brighten the space.The removal of the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen was done about as sensitively as possible. The boxed-in area attached to the ceiling is a tad awkward, but less awkward than the original wall cabinet which previously protruded in front of the adjacent window. Mercifully it is clad in wood.The new VCT flooring is fun in a period way and a great relief from the previous depressing 70’s-era linoleum. I wonder if this design was based on the original kitchen flooring?Definitely more livable and breathable.While normally not a fan of white paint, its use on bedroom walls and select built-ins has made the house more comfortable for younger buyers and therefore more marketable.Another bedroom…The bathrooms were, erm, “updated”.And the other one.The utility room awaits new utility.
It’s definitely much brighter inside now. Love how they replaced the skylight. Do not love the bathrooms. And as always, I appreciate and learn from your posts.
Thanks, Barb! I was really surprised at how much I liked (most of) the changes. I really hope the house finds a buyer now that it isn’t so depressing inside.
Thank you for writing about this special house. Your observations about the recent renovation are surprisingly generous.
I understand why the current owners misread the house’s Organic Style specialness to turn it into a more-marketable (and blander) Palm Springs Mid-Century style revival. The HGTV-inspired updates already look dated and cheap IMO. Was the whitewashing done to turn it into a Vrbo, I wonder?
Strip the white paint and bring back that signature shag carpeting now please! Goff interiors were intended to be organic, weirdo, and grotto like (and all that moodiness is back in vogue, interestingly enough). Goff homes were intended to reinvent how we live and be a bit experimental and challenging to regular folks. In this case, the regular folks killed some of the magic of a masterpiece work of art to make a buck. Will it work?
My observations about this renovation would not have been as generous ten years ago! But a lot has changed since then.
While the updates do indeed already look dated as you note, I doubt that the arguably more dated concept of Vrbo was the inspiration here. The location is not, to the best of my knowledge, a vacation destination and our failing national economy no longer supports the vacation rental model as successfully as it once did. Design trends lag in the center section of the country and the bland look still dominates for both flips and new construction.
The house first appeared on the market in 2010 (as Lara noted in a comment following my 2023 post about the house) and prospective buyers at that time were turned off by the dark interior, lack of privacy and noise transmission. Those qualities aren’t any more in demand now than they were then. The house had years to find someone to cherish it the way it was, but no one stepped up to do so. The people most likely to value the house as it was built are not likely to want to live in Vinita. The people who do want to live in Vinita either didn’t want this particular house or couldn’t afford it… it’s a real predicament. So what is one to do with a house which is worth preserving but fails to attract preservationist buyers after literally years of effort? The optimal solution to this dilemma is impossible given the very nature of the problem.
I think the end result is a reasonable compromise and one which does not rule out a more sensitive restoration in the future in the highly unlikely event that the world will continue to function more or less as it has for the past half-century. Will it work? We only know that it didn’t sell as it was.
As an aside, I see your house in Worton is on Old House Dreams! It’s been forty-odd years, but I’m pretty sure that it was one of the jobs that came through Jim Wollon’s office. I worked for him in Havre de Grace in the 80’s. He was one of the most knowledgeable preservation architects ever (in terms of understanding the local architectural vernacular) and while I didn’t always agree with his approach to every project, I certainly learned a lot from him. He was fantastic at “reading” old buildings and detecting subtle clues that others would miss. I hope your house finds the perfect new steward(s) to care for it going forward!
It’s definitely much brighter inside now. Love how they replaced the skylight. Do not love the bathrooms. And as always, I appreciate and learn from your posts.
Thanks, Barb! I was really surprised at how much I liked (most of) the changes. I really hope the house finds a buyer now that it isn’t so depressing inside.
Glad to see a new post from you. 🙂
And I’m glad to see a new comment from you!
Thank you for writing about this special house. Your observations about the recent renovation are surprisingly generous.
I understand why the current owners misread the house’s Organic Style specialness to turn it into a more-marketable (and blander) Palm Springs Mid-Century style revival. The HGTV-inspired updates already look dated and cheap IMO. Was the whitewashing done to turn it into a Vrbo, I wonder?
Strip the white paint and bring back that signature shag carpeting now please! Goff interiors were intended to be organic, weirdo, and grotto like (and all that moodiness is back in vogue, interestingly enough). Goff homes were intended to reinvent how we live and be a bit experimental and challenging to regular folks. In this case, the regular folks killed some of the magic of a masterpiece work of art to make a buck. Will it work?
My observations about this renovation would not have been as generous ten years ago! But a lot has changed since then.
While the updates do indeed already look dated as you note, I doubt that the arguably more dated concept of Vrbo was the inspiration here. The location is not, to the best of my knowledge, a vacation destination and our failing national economy no longer supports the vacation rental model as successfully as it once did. Design trends lag in the center section of the country and the bland look still dominates for both flips and new construction.
The house first appeared on the market in 2010 (as Lara noted in a comment following my 2023 post about the house) and prospective buyers at that time were turned off by the dark interior, lack of privacy and noise transmission. Those qualities aren’t any more in demand now than they were then. The house had years to find someone to cherish it the way it was, but no one stepped up to do so. The people most likely to value the house as it was built are not likely to want to live in Vinita. The people who do want to live in Vinita either didn’t want this particular house or couldn’t afford it… it’s a real predicament. So what is one to do with a house which is worth preserving but fails to attract preservationist buyers after literally years of effort? The optimal solution to this dilemma is impossible given the very nature of the problem.
I think the end result is a reasonable compromise and one which does not rule out a more sensitive restoration in the future in the highly unlikely event that the world will continue to function more or less as it has for the past half-century. Will it work? We only know that it didn’t sell as it was.
As an aside, I see your house in Worton is on Old House Dreams! It’s been forty-odd years, but I’m pretty sure that it was one of the jobs that came through Jim Wollon’s office. I worked for him in Havre de Grace in the 80’s. He was one of the most knowledgeable preservation architects ever (in terms of understanding the local architectural vernacular) and while I didn’t always agree with his approach to every project, I certainly learned a lot from him. He was fantastic at “reading” old buildings and detecting subtle clues that others would miss. I hope your house finds the perfect new steward(s) to care for it going forward!