1952 Large and In Charge House

We attended the first estate sale in the downstairs at this breathtaking Piedmont, California home in August of 2014. And again in the upstairs public rooms in April of 2015. To my understanding the owners at the times of the estate sales bought the home furnished from the original owners. They sold the fantastic original furnishings, did some light remodeling and put it back on the market for a nice 2 million. During the times between August 2014 and April 2015 we stumbled across a craigslist ad for a downstairs apartment for rent. Oh lordy! It was the fabulous downstairs of this house! Our excitement was quickly diminished by the outrageous rent. But gee, how nice it would have been to have that glamorous bar in our living room!

You better click below to see the MANY MORE PHOTOS!

1958 Mid Century Modern Then and Now

 Piedmont, CA

We attended this estate sale in 2012.

One of the most memorable sales! This house is located in the affluent Piedmont hills. The house was in amazingly pristine condition. It was so clean! And there were lots of fantastic things for sale too! I think we went back everyday they were open and kept on buying cool things. We even went back the day after the last day of the sale and to our luck they had put lots of stuff out on the curb for the garbage! We rummaged through the pile and got a ton of old 78's, some vintage ephemera and all of their amazing Kodachrome slides! Those slides are my favorite things I got from this house because they were mostly from the 60s and many of them were taken at the house so I was able to create this awesome before and after post of this stunning home!

1932 Houvenin House Designed by Carr Jones

Piedmont, CA

We Attended this estate sale in May 2014.

Storybook madness! The second we saw the listing for this estate sale and realized how spectacular this house was, we jumped right on over to tour this stunning piece of architecture! Even though the house was buzzing with activity, we still felt like we were alone wandering through this rambling house. There are so many nooks and crannies, winding hallways and staircases, its like we have been transported to another land! Though everything for sale here was way out of our price range, we didn't care, it was a privilege to have walked through this house!

1954 Wood Paneled House Before and After

Oakland, CA

We attended this estate sale in March 2012.

When we attended this estate sale we over heard the people running it that the real estate agent was going to paint all the beautiful warm wood in this house. A man reacted in disgust (as did we) except he voiced his opinion to leave it all alone. He said there will be plenty of people who will love all the wood in this house. And we think he is right. Wood adds such coziness and character to a room, and if its Mid Century wood paneling it adds a sophisticated look as well. But alas we checked the real estate listing and surprise, surprise all the wood was painted awful white. Now, we do admit that the house needed to be freshened up. It was looking a bit tired looking in our photos at the sale, but slapping on some cheap latex white paint on gorgeous wood is not the answer.

1956 Hillside Ranch

San Leandro, CA (Bay-O-Vista Neighborhood)

We attended this estate sale in July 2013.

The Bay-O-Vista neighborhood never disappoints! This neighborhood has so many amazing Mid Century homes, most of them incredibly intact. And this neighborhood has a great track record for killer estate sales! We can safely say this was a great day! This house was massive. It doesn't look like it from the street, but it sits on a hill and there is lots of room on this lot. There was a bar downstairs with original streaky tan asphalt tile (Yummy), an indoor swimming pool, upstairs there was a family room with gorgeous Mid Century fireplace with BBQ... there is just too much to list, go check out the rest of the photos and see for yourself!

1946 Modern Sophisticate House

Oakland, CA (Montclair Area)

We attended this estate sale in June 2014.

So, our landlady called me this past Saturday asking if I could swing by this estate sale and help her load up a set of vintage rattan furniture that she scored a great deal on. I was just excited to see the furniture she bought, I didnt know my heart was going to be stolen by this house! Both Jake and I really want this house! But, it was a little difficult getting to this house. Saturday, I came at the end of the day to load the furniture, took a super fast look around, not even seeing some of the greatest parts of the house. Sunday was Fathers day and my parents were in town and I had to go to work. By Monday, I figured it was over, but I said to myself, what the heck, I will check craigslist, and sure enough the sale was still going on Monday! So I finally got to tour this fabulous house and buy a little something too!

1945 Spanish Ranch Styled House

Oakland, CA

We attended this estate sale back in January 2013.

What a delight this house was! It is located in an affluent part of the Oakland hills with gorgeous older homes. We didnt expect to find any good deals but we did come home with a couple of nick-knacks and also great remorse for not getting there earlier. There was a spectacular 1950s gem just waiting for us, but unfortunately someone beat us to it and bought it already. Read more to find out and see pictures of what we missed out on. Anyway, this house had some extraordinary intact rooms, even after the house was spruced up to be sold on the market. I am very proud of them for keeping this house intact! All in all, it was a fun day full of eye candy!