Ever wonder why I have a seeming fascination with bathrooms? I write blogs about nearly every aspect of bathrooms. My thoughts today were triggered by a forum post that I read where the question centered around how to effectively conceal a person in a glassed in shower. This question caused me to think of all of the bathrooms or lack thereof that I have owned and experienced in my life and I will close with the one that I believe is the best answer for the forum question. First lets talk about why I’ve had so many and a little about some of the ones that stick in my mind. I have lived in many homes in my lifetime, mostly due to a career which took me all over the country.
Probably my first was the one in the old family home, in the Atlanta area, in which the front 2 rooms were built in 1842. Although there were no out houses in my generation you would have to know that there had been at one time. In my time there the old house had 3 bathrooms that were still in probably the second or third phase of their existence. Not totally currently up to date, i.e. this was the fifties and we had no pink and gray or aqua tile, tubs, sink or toilet but we didn’t have a claw foot tub either. My grandparent’s home did have the only one of those in my life experience. Although the old family home did not provide me with the “outhouse” experience it did not keep me from having it any way although mine would not have been of the Sears catalog or corn cob variety. Growing up my family had a small cabin in the North Georgia mountains where we spent wonderful weekends and vacations. The cabin’s answer to running water and refrigeration was a very cold mountain stream outside the back door and an out house on the side of the hill many feet away from the cabin. What made this out house special was my father’s desire to keep my Mom happy. It was fully tiled inside, had a nice toilet seat with a lid, real toilet paper and holder, no corn cobs for us, and a magazine rack for the proper reading materials.
Other bathrooms of my life came by way of building and designing several homes along the way including state of the art, as it was at that time, bathrooms. Yes this means I have owned bathtubs and toilets in most every color possible in the past 40 years. Add to this the many other homes I’ve owned or occupied during my life that I didn’t build but bought and lived with as they were or remodeled to bring them up to the latest trend. One of the more significant homes I have owned was a circa 1928 Spanish styled 10,000 sq. ft mansion that I had the privilege to own in Los Angeles and although the house had been modernized in many ways, state of the art kitchen etc, the bathrooms had been untouched and were still in their original Art Deco style. I have had at least 2 houses with actual separate Jacuzzi styled hot tubs in the bathroom not just a whirlpool tub. I have had glass shower door, no shower doors, shower curtains and at one brief time lived in an office situation with no shower or bath and had to bathe at friends homes. I have lived in a motor home and had to squeeze my size 54 body into a size 36 bathroom. I have had 2 company planes one with no bathroom but with a tube which allowed you to at least pee in mid air and another that even though it had a “head” I couldn’t get into it.
Now, for the bathroom that caused this whole stream of thought for today. When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1981 the first house I bought was what we referred to as the $50,000 house with the $200.000 view. This was a small house, only 1400 sq. ft. on a 40’ x 60’ lot in the Hollywood hills. This lot afforded beautiful views all the way to downtown L.A. and to the ocean. Because it was build on a steep hillside it was multiple levels down the slope with each level all glass with the view. The most significant view was in the shower in the master bedroom which had a glass wall tub to ceiling end to end. As you stood in the shower you had an unimpeded view and of course anyone that happened to be around the canyon or had a telescope or binoculars had a view of you. One of my first guests to see the house immediately commented on the shower and their concern about people seeing me in the buff. My answer was simple….they would only look once!!
If its time to build yourself a new bathroom or renovate the one you have there is no better place than National Builder Supply to seek help with your planning as well as to purchase the latest in plumbing fixtures of every variety, style and cost.
Probably my first was the one in the old family home, in the Atlanta area, in which the front 2 rooms were built in 1842. Although there were no out houses in my generation you would have to know that there had been at one time. In my time there the old house had 3 bathrooms that were still in probably the second or third phase of their existence. Not totally currently up to date, i.e. this was the fifties and we had no pink and gray or aqua tile, tubs, sink or toilet but we didn’t have a claw foot tub either. My grandparent’s home did have the only one of those in my life experience. Although the old family home did not provide me with the “outhouse” experience it did not keep me from having it any way although mine would not have been of the Sears catalog or corn cob variety. Growing up my family had a small cabin in the North Georgia mountains where we spent wonderful weekends and vacations. The cabin’s answer to running water and refrigeration was a very cold mountain stream outside the back door and an out house on the side of the hill many feet away from the cabin. What made this out house special was my father’s desire to keep my Mom happy. It was fully tiled inside, had a nice toilet seat with a lid, real toilet paper and holder, no corn cobs for us, and a magazine rack for the proper reading materials.
Other bathrooms of my life came by way of building and designing several homes along the way including state of the art, as it was at that time, bathrooms. Yes this means I have owned bathtubs and toilets in most every color possible in the past 40 years. Add to this the many other homes I’ve owned or occupied during my life that I didn’t build but bought and lived with as they were or remodeled to bring them up to the latest trend. One of the more significant homes I have owned was a circa 1928 Spanish styled 10,000 sq. ft mansion that I had the privilege to own in Los Angeles and although the house had been modernized in many ways, state of the art kitchen etc, the bathrooms had been untouched and were still in their original Art Deco style. I have had at least 2 houses with actual separate Jacuzzi styled hot tubs in the bathroom not just a whirlpool tub. I have had glass shower door, no shower doors, shower curtains and at one brief time lived in an office situation with no shower or bath and had to bathe at friends homes. I have lived in a motor home and had to squeeze my size 54 body into a size 36 bathroom. I have had 2 company planes one with no bathroom but with a tube which allowed you to at least pee in mid air and another that even though it had a “head” I couldn’t get into it.
Now, for the bathroom that caused this whole stream of thought for today. When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1981 the first house I bought was what we referred to as the $50,000 house with the $200.000 view. This was a small house, only 1400 sq. ft. on a 40’ x 60’ lot in the Hollywood hills. This lot afforded beautiful views all the way to downtown L.A. and to the ocean. Because it was build on a steep hillside it was multiple levels down the slope with each level all glass with the view. The most significant view was in the shower in the master bedroom which had a glass wall tub to ceiling end to end. As you stood in the shower you had an unimpeded view and of course anyone that happened to be around the canyon or had a telescope or binoculars had a view of you. One of my first guests to see the house immediately commented on the shower and their concern about people seeing me in the buff. My answer was simple….they would only look once!!
If its time to build yourself a new bathroom or renovate the one you have there is no better place than National Builder Supply to seek help with your planning as well as to purchase the latest in plumbing fixtures of every variety, style and cost.
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