Believe it or not, our “new” stove for the beach house is older than we are — it’s a 1959 model and it happens to be pink. I’m pretty thrilled. John’s reaction is best described as cautiously optimistic, but more on that in a moment.
We paid just $195 for it at a secondhand shop called Class & Trash, about 30 minutes away. When the store posted the stove to their Facebook page, it caught my eye immediately — I felt like the universe had highlighter marks all over it. I called and messaged that night, but the only way to guarantee it was mine was to show up the next morning when they opened, cash in hand. The owner was relieved: apparently several people had been asking about it, and she was happy to be able to tell them it was sold.
It feels fancy just to say the name: Custom Imperial Stove by Frigidaire. Someone had even listed a similar model on eBay for $750, which made us feel like we’d scored. The original enamel finish is in great shape overall, though the handles and hardware need a good scrub and some TLC.
Getting it home involved renting a U-Haul truck with a ramp — the stove is extremely heavy and couldn’t be lifted into a standard pickup or van. We spent about $75 on the truck rental and needed four people to carefully unload it into our garage. In the photos you can’t see John because he’s behind the stove, bracing it with his whole body to make sure it didn’t tumble down the ramp.
The stove is 40 inches wide with two ovens and a warming drawer. It also has a built-in clock and a cluster of dials that I can’t wait to learn. John, ever the practical one, reminded me that we can’t risk the 100-year-old beach house by installing vintage wiring. Even though the seller said it was working, we’ll have the entire electrical system rewired and safety-checked so the unit is essentially a beautifully preserved vintage shell with modern, safe wiring inside.
The wiring in the back needed attention — it arrived with spliced hot wires — so we’ll be adding a proper grounded line and a modern outlet connection. That will bring the appliance up to code and give us peace of mind when using it in the kitchen.
Aside from a thorough cleaning, the stove is in excellent condition for its age. The appliance technician who inspected it said it’s the best-preserved example he’s seen from that era. He joked that the original owner must have bought it for looks and rarely cooked, perhaps dining out more often — and even imagined she drove a matching pink Cadillac. I like picturing her: a glamorous, retro housewife from decades past.
We estimate the rewiring and restoration will cost roughly $200, so our total investment — purchase, transport, and electrical work — should be around $500. Even if it edges up to $600, that still feels like a bargain compared with modern retro-style appliances, which can run into the thousands.
Most of the kitchen cabinetry and fixtures have already arrived at the beach house, and we’re waiting for the final plumbing, electrical, and HVAC sign-offs before closing up the walls. Once that’s done we’ll spend a lot of weekends installing tile and assembling the kitchen, and I’m excited to share progress photos as we go. The exterior of the house is nearly finished, so it’s easy to imagine this place with a pink stove at its heart—perfect for a beach house full of personality.
This find also helped pull me off a vintage-fridge kick. I’d been coveting colorful old refrigerators, but John pointed out that retro fridges often have tiny freezers — barely big enough for a pint of ice cream — which doesn’t work for a beach house that needs plenty of frozen storage. A roomy, charming stove turned out to be a much better fit for this project.
P.S. We often get questions about paint colors and where we source furniture and accessories, so we’ve compiled a master list of our house details and sources for anyone who’s curious.