Original Decorative Tile, '39 tile, '60s(?) tile
As you know if you have been following, there appears to have been three major phases of work:
1927-8: original construction, I'd guess 1200 square feet, 1 bedroom and the downstairs bathroom
1939: music room and breakfast nook added, changing room turned into master bath, probably crappy walk in master closet added (without permits and leaky) around this time (windows are single-light wood windows which would fit with this period). Garage seems to match the style of a Maybeck from this era (Wallen II house) and was probably added around this time as the rock fascia matches one put on the music room.
'50s and '60s: back bedrooms and upstairs bath ('50s I think), and linoleum in the kitchen and the last new roof '60s (last owner told me this). Also, I think the crappy master bedroom walk in closet probably had cabinets added because they cover the windows.
I have overlaid the permit records with the date of plumbing fixtures and rough estimates for stylistic features as well as information from the owner who grew up here whose parents bought it in 1960. He told me they did the roof at that time and added the linoleum in the kitchen. All the other work seems to line up with the three permits.
Using the story I've put together, I can break the bathroom tile into three phases as well.
1927: original downstairs bath tub and floor tile. In the notes it says the tiles are from Tunisia.
LOVE these tiles. One of the features that sold me on the house
I did an image search for Tunisian tiles and found this:
The 1929 Santa Barbara Courthouse has one of the same tiles! It's not the exact same tile, but so similar. I think it's like Mexican crafts sold on the street - everyone makes their own clone of the same hand-painted maracas or more recently NFL themed day of the dead masks.
It appears that these Tunisian tiles were popular during the late '20s.
Tunisian and Moroccan tiles are more the "Arabian" style of hand-painted decorative tiles than the hand-painted decorative Mexican tiles known as Talavera tiles. I was looking at both and though decorative tiles and terracotta tiles are common in both cultures, they have a notably different "feel." My house has North African style and therefore I should use that type when tiling the master bath.
For reference, these are more Mexican looking tiles at Import Tile in Berkeley
1939-40: These tiles may have been added later as they don't totally match the originals:
Here the circa '40 tile is next to a 4&1/4" square Dal-Tile spa tile.
It seems odd the decorative tiles match ONLY above the floor. The clay tiles also seem a bit different color than the floor. This and other reasons make me think this base tile was part of a bathroom overhaul in '39
These tiles, and the 6x6" red clay quarry tiles (terracotta), were added to:
-original bath as base tiles (like a baseboard) and around the tub which may have had a low shower head added at this time
-behind the range as a backsplash
-laundry sink backsplash
It's possible that they are original but it seems odd the same accent tiles wouldn't be used throughout the original lower bath.
I had to repair the range backsplash so I had to take off some tiles. The red clay quarry tiles were labeled "CARLYLE MADE IN U.S.A." and are very similar to the Red Blaze Quarry Tile made by Dal-Tile today. They probably used to be the same color too but they're porous and darken with age.
Lighter tiles are new Dal-Tile quarry tiles
'50s/'60s: some effort was put in to match the original bathroom tiles in the upstairs bathroom. But they are yet a third type of 6x6 clay tiles and accent tiles
Decorative tile is "hmmmm..."
They used Italian thin clay tiles and probably Dal-Tile trim pieces to match original but the accent tiles seem... off.
I know these are a third type of tile because I found extras. The clay tiles are the thinner, more modern kind from Italy.
Modern Italian clay tiles are thinner than the old clay tiles which are very thick
Finally, the mid-century mosaic tiles.
The wall tile looks '40 but the floor tile looks '60 as well as the shower door
This marble linoleum tile was added at some point. It's over 1/4" ply which may be on top of wood or...
Here is the mid-century bath. The tile is made to match the lower bath but the trim is definitely mid-century
The door and shower pan match the master bath and both seem wrong for the house
So there you have it! 3 phases of work, three sets of tiles, and some other crap thrown in too! I'm doing this research to help develop my design for the master bath tile and upper bath shower repair. I am looking for consistency here! I need to unify the design of the house. A big part of my job when working on old houses is to peel back the dated, halfbaked "improvements" and to remodel and restore the house by using the original style as a guide as much as possible. I think Maybeck had a hand in the '39 addition so I will respect those features as well. I have decided to make the master bathroom look '27 even though it was originally a changing room. I'm looking forward to that!
The tub I want to add to the master bath from VintageTub.com