Page 55 - 06_September-2024

and chairs, yellow retro placemats and old-school dinnerware — are all 21st-century finds, just like the rotary phone (yellow, of course). So how did 26-year-old Raimondi, who’s way too young to have seen these hues and home furnishings when they were mainstream,
end up turning his first home into a living time capsule? “Growing up, my family went down to Palm Springs a lot, and
they have so many old homes from the ‘50s and ‘60s that are so well preserved and celebrated,” he says. “You can do self-guided tours
in neighbourhoods that are completely preserved, and it just stuck with me forever.”
This home’s bones were preserved well enough that Raimondi, a landscape architectural technologist with Classic Landscapes, could turn it into something worth celebrating (with the help of his family). But some things stuck (almost) forever, like the rose wallpaper, which they took off “in dime-sized pieces.”
Sitting on the living room couch (it’s actually from IKEA, but Raimondi added legs), Raimondi’s relieved to have most of the work behind him, though he’ll never stop hunting for the next perfect piece, and he has his neighbours’ old turquoise-blue wall oven in his garage, waiting to be installed.
Not many 26-year-olds can buy and renovate their own homes. And not many people of any age can do what Raimondi’s done with his: Turn a childhood dream into a reality that could last a lifetime. “This is my first home, and hopefully my forever home,” he says. "I plan to be here for a very long time.” HT
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