George Marrone is a Gen X guy, with his sensibility bookended by the familiar cultural signifiers of his generation: “The Brady Bunch” and “Mad Men.” Built in 1959, the four-bedroom Wilmington home he shares with his husband touches on both: He loves that it evokes the Los Angeles ranch house from that weirdly iconic family sitcom, and he also notes that it became more challenging to source midcentury pieces once the acclaimed 1960s-era ad-world drama hit the zeitgeist.
“I always had an affinity for midcentury design,” Marrone recalls. “I grew up in the ’70s in a very traditional house, and I always dreamed about that ‘Brady Bunch’ house, so to actually find [one] like that here was really cool. …It’s not that they’re not here, but they’re not that common.” From the front, the property appears to be a ranch house, which is deceptive because the land slopes down in the back, making way for several floors in a split-level configuration. (The Bradys had a split-level, too.)
The couple has owned the 4,300-square-foot home for 15 years, and it’s been a work in progress, one midcentury piece at a time. Recently, the kitchen underwent a major renovation—and the expertise of Waterbury Kitchens came in handy. “When the designer, Katy Wolfington, walked in, she just totally got the vibe,” Marrone says. “I told her I don’t want something trendy—I don’t want something that’s going to earmark the year that this was done. I just wanted to work with the sensibilities of midcentury—but updated.”
The original oven hood and the embedded period clock stayed, but they added a pantry, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, rift-cut white oak custom cabinets, and European oak floors. The ’60s period backsplash tile from Heath—a California company founded in 1948—would have made Carol Brady proud. “It’s about balancing the old and the new,” the owner says.
Light flooded the breakfast nook when Marrone expanded the window—all the better to show off the midcentury furnishings. “There are a lot of midcentury knockoffs out there and I’m just a purist with that,” he says. “I collect midcentury pieces, and that’s a Knoll table and those are Hans Wegner dining chairs. I was trying to balance texture with warmth.” The Louis Poulsen chandelier, a modernist touchstone, is vintage.
“I just wanted to work with the sensibilities of midcentury, but updated.”
The sitting room has a time capsule quality, yet it looks bright and fresh, illuminated by a row of clerestory windows. The space is anchored by a vast and fabulous multi-cubby built-in unit (original to the home) that screams midcentury—but it contains an unexpected drop-leaf desk accented by a Bertoia side chair. An Eero Saarinen Womb chair and a George Nakashima side table (Nakashima was a legendary figure in modern craft woodworking) enjoy pride of place. Adding a note of whimsy is a Frank Gehry Wiggle stool, which was unveiled as part of the architect’s 1972 Easy Edges collection. The diminutive piece is tucked beside an original Danish modern console from Design Within Reach: “It looks period, but it’s actually newer,” Marrone says.
A wooden Nakashima table also graces the home office, which features a Calder-influenced mobile and a cork wall that every kid in the ’70s either had—or coveted. (Marrone was in the latter category.) “That’s original to the house,” the owner says, “so all we did was paint the cabinets.” The gray sofa is from Design Within Reach.
There are so many other midcentury moments to take in (a collection of Blenko glass pieces; a vintage sputnik chandelier over the dining table; a cornered Pennsylvania flagstone fireplace) that it should come as no surprise that Marrone is a member of a local midcentury appreciation group. “We have quarterly events in our houses,” he says. “You connect with people who own these houses who share the same interests, and we all just kind of geek out on it.”
Related: This Frank Lloyd Wright-Style House in Delaware Is a Stunner
