1964 Fall Parade of Homes

by Lynne Rostochil.  Catalog from Lynne’s collection.

I have a few vintage catalogs featuring new home tours, such as the Parade of Homes, so I thought I’d pull one out and share it with you.  This one is from the fall 1964 Parade of Homes tour and features some great eye candy.  I’m including “now” shots from the Tax Assessor website so you can see how these designs have held up the last 50 years.  Let’s begin with a few necessary and very fun ads:

Here’s a map of all of the homes on the tour, along with builder information and addresses:

The star of the tour was the magnificent House of Good Taste that we profiled on the Mod Blog in 2014.  Located in what was then the Rolling Hills addition (now known as The Greens), the home backs up to a private park as you can see on this map:

And here’s how the home was promoted:

When the home went on the market four years ago, Squadders Mike and Lindsey purchased it and have lovingly turned it into a true showplace, I’m happy to say.  It was even featured on our first-ever Oklahoma Modernism Tour.  Here’s the house today:

Lookin’ good!

Next up is another great ad for Frigidaire:

The second home on the tour is a five-bedroom colonial in Quail Creek:

It looks like it has received a bit of updating, but it’s still recognizable:

Time for a little digression in the form of that sweet Comfort ad at the bottom of the page featuring the Quail Creek house.  A few years ago, I stumbled across a couple of vintage photos of the air conditioning company.  The first is a ’50s image of the company’s building at 1808 W. Main:

Here’s the same building today — it hasn’t changed a bit:

The second vintage image is a photo of a Comfort billboard featuring the company’s charming polar bear mascot:

The address on the billboard is a block from their original headquarters.  It’s here:

Looking at the Chrysler Airtemp sign in the billboard photo made me realize that the giant Amundsen sign that’s there now was repurposed — even the badge at the top of the Chrysler sign was reused.  Here’s a close-up of a Chrysler Airtemp sign I found in Sulphur:

And a better shot of the Amundsen sign:

Yep, they are the same, don’t you think?

I’m not sure when Comfort left W. Main, but the company is now located in the warehouse district between NE 23rd and NE 50th east of Broadway Extension and the original Comfort sign is still in use on top of the building:

Pretty cool, aye?

Okay, digression over.

The next stop on the Parade of Homes tour is this beauty located on N. Villa:

The real house is quite a bit different from the drawing above, but I like the detail on the brick to the left and on the garage doors:

This Lakehurst cottage looks very much the same today as it did when it was first constructed:

So charming!

From Lakehurst, it’s over to Edgewater, where a more traditional model made the cut:

This one still looks pretty original, too:

Here’s another Edgewater traditional:

And the same house today:

Getting tired of all of the traditional homes?  Yeah, me too.  Luckily, we’ve got a great group of mods coming up, and they are kicked off by a couple of ad pages:

I know!  How cool is that house with all of the concrete brick?  Did you see the fab garage door, too?  Wowza!  That one must have been on a previous tour because it’s not here and I can’t find an address for it, darn it.  Oh well, we’ve got some good ones coming up that will surely impress.  Here’s a mod Edgewater for you:

And the house today:

I don’t know what happened to the planned pitched roof, but I like the built house better, anyway.

Here’s another Edgewater rock cottage:

This one hasn’t changed much, either:

Now, let’s head over to MacArthur Terrace for a cute, L-shaped modest mod:

The home now:

Love that rock!

Next up is a split level, also in MacArthur Terrace:

The promotion states that it has a Spanish influence, but I’m not seeing it.  What I am seeing is that the house is still looking good today:

Ready for another digression?

Why are garage doors so ugly and bland now?  I love seeing old garage doors with fun and funky designs that make them blend with the house better.  I’ve taken tons of photos of cool garage doors because they are a dying breed.  Maybe I’ll do a Mod Blog about them sometime, but in the meantime, I’ll share a few of my favorites with you.  Here’s a three-car delight!

And check out these doors in Belle Isle that mimic the concrete block design on the side of the house:

This diamond pattern is the best!

New garage doors need to be as fun as these, don’t you think?

Digression #2 over.  The next two homes on the tour keep the contemporary vibe going:

Here’s the first one today:

Where did that whole second story on the back go?

Here’s the second one now:

Pretty.  And it still has its original garage door, too.

Next up is one in Bethany:

It looks about the same:

One of my favorite homes in the entire Parade is this beauty in Windsor Hills:

I’m so in love with the angles and the way the wood on the siding to the right offsets them so beautifully.  Unfortunately, someone didn’t like that effect and removed it (if it ever had it)  The bank of clerestory windows on the side weren’t added, either — too bad.  The home is still nice, though:

Here’s a “Leave It to Beaver” house, also in Windsor Hills:

And now:

You’ve got to love any development called Talk of the Town and any street named Zedna Drive, don’t you?  Well, this house claims both:

It’s still pretty cute now:

And one last digression.  How great is that Local Federal ad?  The bank was located across from the beloved Founders Bank at 5701 N. May.  It was designed by Sorey Hill Sorey and was quite a beauty when it opened in 1964.  Here’s a model of the bank showing all of its great lines:

And here are a couple of interior shots of it:

At some point, the building expanded and was glassed in — see this photo from 2003:

It still had a cool factor but wasn’t nearly as nice as the original.  Just three years after this photo was taken, the aging building was demolished by new owners, IBC Bank, and replaced with one that is a real yawner:

Yuck.

Digression #3 over.

Let’s continue the tour with this cutie in SWOKC:

Here it is today:

Here’s another one in southwest OKC:

It looks very similar today:

The next house has a name, the Phoenix and is described “as modern as tomorrow” — love that:

How is it holding up now that tomorrow is here?  Very nicely, I’d say:

Del City makes an appearance with this contemporary entry:

The home looks pretty perfect today:

In Midwest City, we have a stop in the lovely Meadowood addition.  This is such a great neighborhood today and contains many great mods — go to the Mod Blog to see a few, including one of the coolest MCMs I’ve ever toured.  This one is not quite as cool:

But it has been well maintained over the years:

We wrap up the tour with one last ad for kitchen counter tops and drain boards:

Fun stuff!