The Vintage Bathroom Remodel Debate: Preserve vs Overhaul?

Vintage bathrooms, in all their boldly-hued, dramatically tiled glory, have become a social media obsession—antidotes to the sterile, stone-clad spaces of “quiet luxury.” Yet when it comes to function and efficiency, contemporary fixtures and modern materials are hard to beat. When it comes time for a home renovation, should a historic facility in need of improvement always opt to preserve its past? As design companies like Kohler and Vola introduce heritage color collections of fixtures and accessories, and the retro trend cycle moves from midcentury to 1970s to Y2K and back again, AD PRO asked designers to meet us in the bathroom for a healthy debate.Don’t Touch ItWith vintage fixtures and original plumbing, AD PRO Directory designer Brittny Button reinvigorated this historic bathroom in Palm Springs, California. Photo: Jessica AlexanderJayne Mansfield’s Pink Palace served as color inspiration for the 1930s Spanish abode. Photo: Jessica AlexanderIf a project has serious historical pedigree, designers say, let that be its star power. Los Angeles–based AD PRO Directory designer Brittny Button was tasked with refreshing Mesa Bungalows, a 1930s Spanish abode in Palm Springs, California, once home to actor Ali MacGraw. The house’s Old Hollywood glamour was already blockbuster. Button just needed a few costars to amp up the wattage. “My inspiration was Jayne Mansfield’s Pink Palace,” she says. Luckily, the bathroom had good bones and well-functioning original plumbing. Vintage fixtures and refinishes got it ready for its close-up: Button restored the bath with a pedestal sink and vintage clam-shaped sconces, installed a claw-foot pink tub, and set the scene with a background of deep green square tile with white grout. “The inclusion of vintage fixtures is vital,” says Button. “It infuses the property with historical relevance.”Sources:Clam-shaped sconces: vintagePendant: vintageTub and sink: Vast StudioMirrors: AnthropologieKeep the SpiritWith a light touch, designer Amber Lewis remodeled the bathroom in her own 1937 home in Lake Arrowhead, California, which is featured in her forthcoming book, Interiors. Designer Amber Lewis argues that a purist approach isn’t always required—a sensitive update can go a long way. The Calabasas, California–based talent recently refreshed her family’s own 1937 lake house, nestled between coniferous trees in Lake Arrowhead, California. “It was tempting to gut everything and start over,” she says, “but a house built in 1937 has a soul and you have to be willing to sit with it.” After a “half-done remodel in the ’80s,” the bath, in particular, “wasn’t in bad shape,” she says. “It just needed a little love.” The existing wall paneling and trim were in fine fettle; the countertops, sadly, were not, but new walnut iterations preserved their original character. A warm white coat of Dunn Edwards’s Rice Bowl freshened up the vertical shiplap. The new vanity, meanwhile, is a mirror image of the old one. “It carries that historical charm through in a fresh way,” she says. Grasscloth wallpaper introduces texture without disrupting the cozy vibe. “It’s all about building on a space’s story, not rewriting it,” explains Lewis. “That’s the difference between transformation and refinement.”Sources:Margueritte Grasscloth Wallpaper, Shoppe Amber LewisSimple Storage Container, Shoppe Amber LewisMiro 1620 Widespread Lavatory Faucet, Newport BrassShower tile: 4×4 Terracotta Tile in Creosote, Zia TileFloor tile: 2×6 Zellige Tile in Casablanca and 2×6 Zellige Tile in Glazed Earth, Zia TileSconce: Wallis Wall Sconce, Bunny Williams Home, with custom Munder + Sons shadeVanity mirror: vintageChange It AllAt designer Lisa Perry’s 1962 Onna House in East Hampton, New York, Harper Design Build replaced the vintage bathroom’s original degraded black tile in a similar graphic style. Photo: Elizabeth Hope from Dooley ImagesCeramic vessels now occupy a niche in the bathroom. Photo: Courtesy of Onna HouseStill, sometimes the best way to honor a vintage bathroom is to reimagine it almost entirely. Architect Paul Lester Wiener designed East Hampton, New York’s Onna House in 1962 as a summer house for art collectors Ethel and Robert Scull. Designer Lisa Perry bought and restored it—with Brooklyn-based firm Harper Design Build—almost 60 years later as an exhibition space to serve the art itself. “I knew that every space and every surface needed to be used for art,” says Perry. She loved Wiener’s characteristic use of black, including the original tile with graphic white grout in the bathroom, but time had taken a toll on that surface so she replaced it in the same style. After a full plumbing suite refresh with contemporary fixtures, it inspired a series of new artistic interventions: a custom metal vanity displays sculpture instead of toilet paper; an inset niche hosts ceramic vessels in place of the usual scented candle. “There’s a standard way to do bathrooms, where above the sink goes a mirror,” says Perry. Onna House offers another kind of American standard with a mirror artwork by Nancy Lorenz in which billows of Palladium leaf cloud any reflection. “Bathrooms don’t have to be so cookie-cutter,” says Perry.Sources:Tile: Glazed 1x Barcelona Porcelain Mosaic in Black Gloss, Mosaic FactorySink: Vision ceramic, WS Bath CollectionsFaucets: Parallel, KohlerTub: BadeloftGet AD-ApprovedJoin the AD PRO Directory, AD’s professional network that gives you access to exclusive events and exposure to the future clients. Learn moreArrowFor more vintage bathroom remodeling ideas see AD's feature on the restoration of a 1952 Los Angeles home designed by Paul R. Williams and our roundup of 17 chic midcentury modern bathrooms