Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage

 

Just 7 miles off Interstate 5 and south of Salem, Oregon, is the quaint little town of Aurora, with a giant barn full of treasures!

Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage is a Picker's Paradise! 

I happened upon this jewel about 12 years ago by accident. A friend and I were on a road trip and were looking for fresh marion berries, when we spotted a roadside sign and pulled off the road to find the berry stand. The road twisted around, we bought our berries and then we had to try to figure out how to get back to the Interstate and ran right into the town of Aurora and a neat barn that looked intriguing.

I thought it was wonderful back then, with its piles of salvaged windows and doors, and I've been dying to make a return trip!

Owner Mike Byrnes, has in the ten years since my first visit, taken the barn from picker's piles to a beautiful, well organized showroom, without losing the original character and intrigue of searching among the barn's contents for incredible finds. 

I was in search of vintage knobs and the multiple cases lined with the knobs looked like precious gems under the glass.

Inside this vast structure, some rooms look like a Hollywood prop shop!

Anyone trying to restore an old house can find everything they need here! 

Gates and Fencing

 
Corbels

Stained glass windows

 

Pressed tin ceiling panels and accent pieces

Porcelain tubs, sinks, and other bathroom fixtures,                                                                           

including towel bars in green glass, crystal, porcelain, you name it!

 Mantels, spandrels, bannisters and more, oh my!

There are found numbers and letters galore!

Mike carries all sorts of vintage lighting fixtures and has the vintage bulbs as well.

  Interior designers specializing in the urban farm feel would have a hey day here!

Or how about Industrial Chic?!

There is one huge industrial shelving unit filled with vintage locker baskets of  hardware; hinges, latches, knobs, etc.  I found some wonderful knobs here that I needed - more about that on another post!

 Set your GPS to 14971 1st Street NE, Aurora, Oregon now, and plan to stop by Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage if you find yourself on Interstate 5 in Oregon.  

 The town of Aurora also boasts a large concentration of little antique stores, which are homes to cafes, and one even has a gelato counter, so there is plenty of grub to sustain your pickin'!  I could easily spend a whole day in the "Mill" and another searching for antiques so this would be a great weekend destination depending on where you live. 

When you get to the Woodburn Factory Stores just off I-5, travel the short 7 miles east to the real treasures in Aurora!  If travel is not in your plans, then visit the "Mills" website here and start dreaming as you surf through the images of stock on hand. 
 I wish Mike continued success and look forward to my next visit to Aurora Mills - 
a place to cherish!

Before & After: Vintage 'Fashion Flow' Set

Walking through the aisles at the last Sacramento Antique Fair, I saw a stack of furniture that I had to go check out further.  There was a twin headboard, foot board and rails set up with a desk set up in the middle, and all the pieces of another twin bed sitting alongside. I fell in love with the vintage vibe of this set immediately!

These pieces all had metal cutwork accents: The head board and foot board had strips about 4" wide metal cut work accenting them.  The wood was a blond burl wood but had lost its finish and had lots of nicks and scratches on them.   

 I wasn't quite sure if this piece was a desk or a vanity until I found the beautiful beveled glass round mirror that went with the set.  There was also the little apron piece that held the mirror in place sitting in the pile! So I determined it to be a vanity but it could also be a desk if someone didn't want to use the heavy beveled mirror. The vanity had the same metal design under the drawers on each side.  This cut work metal design was also used for the cup handle hardware on the desk. 

This closeup really shows the condition of the wood - this desk/vanity was definitely well used.  Inside one of the top drawers I found a tag that read "Fashion Flow Furniture".  I looked it up on the internet and couldn't find much but did find an ad from 1937 - which I think fits about the era of this desk/vanity, and the dealer said she bought it at an estate sale in Reno.  So if any of you know anything about it let me know!  I debated whether I should restore the original finish to let the burl wood show through, but after closely scrutinizing it, I found the burl wood pieces were actually veneer so I started sanding it down and getting it ready for some paint magic!

Oops! this picture is upside down - still learning!! First step was to remove the hardware.  These had multiple layers of paint on them and the paint was chipped off in places.  I set them aside and sanded and primed the wood parts of the beds and the desk/vanity. 

While the primer was drying, I took some fine grit sandpaper to the hardware.  

These cleaned up well and looked like brand spanking new metal once I got done with them.  The multiple layers of paint must have protected them from rusting over the years. 

But the shiny metal wasn't going to look good with my shabby paint job, 

so I primed them and painted them white.

This close-up shows the desk/vanity all finished.  The cup pulls look great and repeat the pattern of the metal mesh at the bottom of the desk.  You can really see the mirror apron here and it also has that great metal mesh detailing. 

Here's a full front view of the refinished desk/vanity - I hadn't cleaned the mirror up yet!  A friend gave me the little vanity stool - I need to recover it since it is a little dirty but I am not sure if I want this one to stay with this vanity.  I have two more vanities I am working on and I like this stool better with another one!  Plus, this piece could actually be used as a desk so it may need a different type of chair.  What do you think?

The pair of beds will be great for two kids that share a room once I get done with them!

Multiple sandings to get the yellowed and cracked varnish off and then again after each coat of paint and I was able to get a smooth finish on these beds.

Then of course, another sanding to distress them when the painting was all done!

Here is one of the beds all finished!  The yellowed finished is now gone and the beds look fresh and ready for a new home!  I can just picture this set of twin beds in a pair of sisters' room with some of Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic comforters on them!  Oh - and some cute pillows!  I love pillows!!

And last, but not least, the desk/vanity WITH the mirror!!  I couldn't get a picture with the mirror outside because the mirror needs to have a wall behind it to support it.  It is now in my space at the store - you can see some of the little girl stuff in my space reflected in the mirror - but this vanity/desk would be perfect for any big girl as well - I hope it will be cherished by whomever takes it home because it has been one of my favorite pieces to refinish!  Who knows - I may just bring it back home and put it in my Hollywood room - after all - the 1930's were part of Hollywood's Golden Age!

I'm linking up to these parties!

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/2011/07/furniture-feature-friday-favorites-link_28.html

Mildred and the Beach House

The beach house pictured above, under my blog title, is a cherished home.  My Grandma and Grandpa Rindge lived there and raised their three sons, Fred, John and Ronald.  And as luck would have it, Ronald brought his family back to the beach house to experience a little of what he did while growing up.  And, as luck would have it, I was Ronald's second born of six, so I was fortunate enough to experience growing up on the beach.

The beach house was one of the five first homes built in Malibu, a small town in Southern California, in 1923.   It was built on a small little road called Latigo Shore Drive.  Over the years, many more homes were built along Malibu's 26 mile coastline including the famous "Movie Colony".  The movie colony was a small cluster of homes built on the beach leased or bought by the movie stars in Hollywood, thus the moniker.  Movies and Malibu seemed to go together and still do to this day. 

Joan Crawford as Mildred

When my father was about ten years old, Hollywood came to Latigo and my father couldn't have been more excited.  The huge movie trucks rolled into the beach house driveway and giant movie lights rolled out.  It was 1945 and a movie called "Mildred Pierce" was being made, starring Joan Crawford, and a beach house was featured prominently in the story plot.

Mildred arrives at beach house

Our house was chosen as the perfect setting, but it still needed one more thing - a big deck.  So the movie crew set about quickly building the "big deck" you can see on the first photo above!  From that point on, our family called it "The Big Deck" and it was the setting for many a birthday party - but that will be another story!

Mildred's Restaurant in 1945 Movie

Joan Crawford won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as "Mildred" in the movie.  The movie is iconic Hollywood at it's finest.  Watching it now, you will love to see vintage fashions, cars, architecture as well as historic footage of Los Angeles, Malibu and surrounding areas.  

HBO is currently running a mini-series entitled "Mildred Pierce" starring Kate Winslet as Mildred - the third installment is playing this Sunday, April 3rd.  If you like period films, this one is for you!  I am a fan of classic black and white Hollywood movies so I love the original version of Mildred Pierce, but I am truly enjoying this version as well!
        As for the beach house - so many people knew and loved that beach house- from the surfers who would stroll by in search of the perfect break off Latigo Point, to the charter fisherman who viewed the "light mint castle" from the deep sea waters, to all of us, the cousins, the PV Rindges, the Malibu Rindges, and extended families.

Our cherished home is lost to the sea!

Sadly, our cherished home was lost to the sea, in a wild storm in 1983, when her feet were knocked out from under her.  But our cherished beach house, once a movie star, will remain forever ours, in our memories which are just too good to forget.
                                                                                                                                                             

Enchanting Elizabeth

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor
February 27, 1932 - March 23, 2011

I couldn't let the day pass by without mention of this cherished actress!
Just one look at this photo and it is clear why she was a Hollywood icon.
Her mesmerizing eyes reflect classic Hollywood at it's finest.
There is nothing better than settling in on these cold March days
with a warm cup of coffee and an old black and white movie
to transport you back to the golden days of Hollywood
where the women were real and the special effects were no where to be seen.
Elizabeth Taylor was enchanting - not only for her beauty,
but for her life stories that lit up grocery tabloids,
and in her later years her charitable work.
This cherished actress will be greatly missed.