The house came with an electric range (there is no gas at the moment — adding propane is high on our agenda as will become clear) but no refrigerator. While I was (more or less) patiently waiting for the bank to come through and closing to be scheduled, I began browsing around websites looking at refrigerators. Both new and used, on sites like Lowes and craigslist. We knew that we were going to have to do a remodel of the house early — it is liveable as it is, but it doesn’t flow well and to fully enjoy the place we feel that some initial edits are needed (opening a sleeping loft, adding a lot of windows, and screening in a porch are among the tasks we anticipate). So looking at refrigerators so early was difficult in that I didn’t know what the kitchen would look like, and what aesthetic we’d be going for in the remodel.
Then, one day, I found on craigslist for sale a refurbished 1953 Admiral refrigerator. I love this “retro” look, but the companies making new appliances in the retro style are suuuuper expensive and also, well, not really “authentic.” But here was a mint green refrigerator from 1953, which papers showing its expert refurbishment by a company in Georgia (antiquesappliances.com). I quickly emailed and had a call with the owner of the refrigerator, a man named David who at the time of our first call was driving in Indiana to see Mayor Pete announce his candidacy for president. David indicated that he and his partner were about to undertake a kitchen remodel in their Murray Hill, NYC penthouse and were parting with their lovely antique appliances. I asked, “appliances? plural?” and learned that they were also selling a matching mint green Chambers range from 1953!
A couple days later I was welcomed to their apartment to look at the appliances (offered, and accepted, a glass of wine while we chatted) and fell in love. They told me that two artists had previously owned their apartment and had designed the kitchen around these appliances which they spent around $15,000 to buy and transport, but David and his partner (also named David) were going for a more modern look in their renovation. So I gave them a deposit, and committed to purchasing these beautiful appliances.
The timing worked perfectly. We needed to pick up the appliances immediately after their renovation began, as their contractor would be needed to pull out and unplug the appliances before we could take them, but the appliances also had to get out of the way. This all lined up to be the Tuesday after our Friday closing. I signed on a moving company (which ended up charging more than 50% more than their initial quote, ugh) which picked the appliances up in Manhattan and moved them to the house where Jesse was waiting to receive them.
So our kitchen will now be remodeled around our new beautiful appliances. We’re still using the electric range until we get the propane hooked up for the Chambers, but the Admiral is on and working and we love it.
