Midcentury House with Tiki Basement for Sale in Edmonton

A friend alerted me to a mid-century (1965) house with basement Tiki bar for sale in south-east Edmonton. The three photos below are from the realtor's listing. I wish there was a closer view of the bar itself. I'm not in the market, but if there's an open house, I'll be there with my camera.

Listing: http://www.360realtytours.com/websites/hamdee.fythe/featureDetail.aspx?id=21841 (click on the "photos" tab)

I was lucky enough to get into this house for a look, and it is AMAZING!!It isn't retro, it is like going through the Time Tunnel. The owner is an elderly lady who was a stewardess, married to a pilot, I believe. They had no children, and entertained a lot. They were very tidy and had a regular professional cleaner. Because they travelled so much, they had a ton of souvenirs. Sadly, most of them got cleared out. Even the furniture is pristine, and all of it is top quality.
The tragedy is that it will be so underappreciated. Even the realtor says it "has potential", since they don't realize it is already beyond perfect! Someone is just bound to buy it, gut it, wreck all the built-ins and tear out the walls, take everything to the dump, then paint it black and glue square rocks to it, probably to try to sell it for $50 000 more.If anyone is a millionaire, or has always wanted to move to Edmonton just in time for winter, or has enough like-minded friends to live together, this would be a phenomenal buy!

Hot damn but that is lovely! I want to say it's perfect. Too bad I have move away from Edmonton in a few years (aging parents), or I'd seriously consider making this a forever home. I could live there quite happily and not change a thing. The only thing that would make it better is if it came with all the furniture. Hopefully someone will take care of it.

Nice. :) I'm surprised there are as many Edmonton tiki folks as there are! As for this place, sadly yes, it will likely be ripped apart by the next owner. Best we can hope for is to watch Kijiji for some sweet furniture/artifact deals...

On 2018-09-11 08:23, Piddersthecat wrote:
Hot damn but that is lovely! I want to say it's perfect. Too bad I have move away from Edmonton in a few years (aging parents), or I'd seriously consider making this a forever home. I could live there quite happily and not change a thing. The only thing that would make it better is if it came with all the furniture. Hopefully someone will take care of it.

That blue couch is pretty sweet (I could live without the green chair though). Belated welcome to TC. I missed your arrival last year - I kind of stopped paying attention for a while.

On 2018-09-11 14:43, canadrian wrote:
Nice. :) I'm surprised there are as many Edmonton tiki folks as there are! As for this place, sadly yes, it will likely be ripped apart by the next owner. Best we can hope for is to watch Kijiji for some sweet furniture/artifact deals...

Aloha canadrian. There aren't many of us, but we're out there. Brandomoai and I are "old timers" who've stuck around (more or less) - others have come and gone. Lavacakes is a friend who's no longer in Edmonton (but she'll be back).

I've been in two other homes here from the 60s/70s with old Tiki bars in the basement. They really are hidden gems! This one will almost certainly be gutted, but maybe the new owner will at least have the decency to put some of the furniture, fixtures and/or materials up for sale. That mural is huge! Maybe I should get my cousin (a realtor) to book us a showing to get a closer look...

Is that cork board covering the walls? My grandparents' mid-mod has a spare bedroom/office with one wall that is covered in cork, but this is cork to the extreme!

At 1600 square feet it's pretty big for an older home. I wonder if that includes the basement?

On 2018-09-12 13:08, Bam Bam wrote:
Is that cork board covering the walls? My grandparents' mid-mod has a spare bedroom/office with one wall that is covered in cork, but this is cork to the extreme!

It's chipboard.

It is actually a deceptively large house. It is exactly the same as the house across the street, EXCEPT the attached garage has been turned into a huge family room (there is a detached garage, instead), with the entire front wall being covered in stone with a fireplace in it and a seat running its entire length. If someone didn'the mind losing the tiki bar (!!!!!) it could be easily divided in 2. The main body of the house has 3 bedrooms, and the there are at least 2 in the basement (one conveniently located directly behind the bar) with a huge half bath downstairs. It's worth getting in just to see it. You can practically see the Shag painting people lounging around with their cocktails.

[ Edited by: LavaCakes 2018-09-13 07:34 ]

On 2018-09-11 08:23, Piddersthecat wrote:
Hot damn but that is lovely! I want to say it's perfect. Too bad I have move away from Edmonton in a few years (aging parents), or I'd seriously consider making this a forever home. I could live there quite happily and not change a thing. The only thing that would make it better is if it came with all the furniture. Hopefully someone will take care of it.

Why not whisk them back to their halcyon newlywed days by moving them in upstairs? Of course, this means you would be largely consigned to the tiki bar (awww!).

Seriously, though, it is worth calling the realtor just to have a look - don't forget the covered patio with the built in oven and little drink passthrough (it must be;there isn't enough room for the milk, it's in the back yard, and it opens into the room with the liquor cabinet).

I wish but my dad wouldn't move from the coast. My boss (who renovates and flips houses on the side) says to offer them 390 with no conditions and all the furniture included. He said the area is being redeveloped and is close enough to the new LRT to be useful but not so close that it would lower housing prices. Perhaps I'll call the realtor...you never know!

On 2018-09-12 14:37, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:

On 2018-09-12 13:08, Bam Bam wrote:
Is that cork board covering the walls? My grandparents' mid-mod has a spare bedroom/office with one wall that is covered in cork, but this is cork to the extreme!

It's chipboard.

Huh. I'd never considered chipboard as a wall treatment.

On 2018-09-13 19:53, Bam Bam wrote:
Huh. I'd never considered chipboard as a wall treatment.

It isn't usually. I associate it with unfinished or partially finished basements - but I've seen it used in a couple of restaurants as a "funky" wall treatment.

Someone needs to get in there and take some photos.

That place is awesome!! Great to see these hidden gems still out there. Too bad it's future looks pretty bleak.
Thanks for the post Sweet Daddy. Nice one.
Mahalo, TabooDan

The realtor pictures do not do the place justice - it's so much more impressive in person than in photos. I've toured the house twice now and took pictures both times, the first time with my phone camera, the second time with a proper camera. Some of the pictures are with the fluorescent lights on, so you can see details, and some are with just the coloured lights so you can get the atmosphere.

Intercom:

I bought this Tiki pole (?) wearing a lei of (full) Leilani rum bottle miniatures.

Does anyone know anything about this carving? I'll also be posting it on the "What is this?" thread.

---

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2018-11-02 18:50 ]

lock me in this basement and throw away the key!!

Here are a few images of the family room that leads to the Tiki basement:

The couch is in beautiful condition, probably because it's too hard to sit on for long.

Oh wow! Please tell me someone is buying it and keeping all that way!

That Leilani Rum Lei is cool! The carving is Kanak style from New Caledonia. Not used much by mid-century carvers, likely a tourist piece.

On 2018-11-02 14:31, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:

---

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

They had one of these lights at the Kahiki.
My friend Brad bought it and I'm sure it's dead by now.

BUT, It was the coolest light, It was made with super fine ribbons of wood!
So that light is woven WOOD!

How could a person do that?
Just think of how hard it would be to weave wood in those sharp flips and turns.

I bet there are almost none of these left as they are so delicate.
Somebody needs to save these.

Can you buy this stuff?
That rattan light was at the Kahiki too.(the one above TV)

Man I would go back and get those three lights if you can.

Thanx for posting the pics.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2018-11-03 16:44 ]

PS can I add that pic to my light identification thread here on TC?

On 2018-11-03 16:47, tikiskip wrote:
PS can I add that pic to my light identification thread here on TC?

Go ahead.

The relative who's selling the house on behalf of the owner has sold some of the contents, but I don't know if she'd be willing to sell the lamps. The two wooden ones are wired into the ceiling (not swag lamps), so their absence would be noticeable. They sure are nice though, and I wouldn't mind having one.

Thank you, they are one of a kind, there is no real way to categorize them really other than a one off style all their own.

I would try to buy them if I were you, or the one over the TV even.
Can't hurt.

You can put Tapa over that white cylinder in the middle and make it more tiki, this looks great while cutting down the light output as well.

Good luck.

See like this...

Swag lamps are easy to replace/rewire, even if they're wired into the building. Offer to buy them, and supply a replacement at no charge. Those certainly are amazing lamps and worth the effort.