"Everyone In Our Neighborhood Had One": These 28 Home Gadgets And Features Were Once The HEIGHT Of Luxury

We recently shared the 35 home design features that were once the epitome of class. That blast from the past jogged the memories of readers who commented on the home design elements and kitchen gadgets they remembered being uber-desirable in decades past. So, without further ado, here are 28 more home design features from back in the day that were once the envy of the neighborhood:

1."My friend is an architect who built several very 'groovy' houses back in the '80s. Most had a central vacuum, an ironing board, a built-in counter motor for a blender, and even toasters built into the wall. Everything stopped working years ago, and it is now a liability trying to sell those places."

2."Wall-to-wall carpet should be illegal, a huge health hazard. And, yes, many of the cosmetic choices were silly, just as many are today."

3."My grandparents had a built-in blender motor, and they also had a built-in electric can opener. They put it in when they built the house in the early '60s, and by the '80s, it was hardly ever used, if/when it actually worked."

4."Shag carpet. I miss it."

5."I grew up in a 100-year-old Victorian house with original details like the mother-of-pearl hot and cold labeled faucets, a pull chain toilet, and bent oak stairs and banisters. So cool."

6."When I was in high school, we moved to a new house completely upgraded from top to bottom. One of the popular things then was warming ovens, not just for bread, but we warmed pizza and kept whole plates of dinner warm in there until we were ready."

7."Rain lamps."

8."Rustic hickory. It's prettier and more durable than pine but a pain in the butt to work with."

9."Our house was from 1900 with a bell box that rang in the kitchen! A card flipped up to say what room was ringing! It was the same ring as the front doorbell. We started hitting it from our bedrooms to drive our father nuts. He was having a party! He got so mad, he ripped it off the wall!"

10."Basement theaters. It was always a task to get the big rear projection TV down there, and the quality of the picture was crap. But it was neat."

11."Dumbwaiters!!"

12."Shiny gold hardware in '90s homes."

13."A parlor room! For entertaining guests!"

14."In-ground pools have become much less popular. People now opt for smaller above-ground pools they can buy at big-box stores."

15."Heat lamps installed in the bathroom ceiling for when you exit the shower."

16."We had underfloor heating when I was growing up, and right behind the sofa was a metal grill in the floor where hot air would blow up from when the heating was turned on. Many afternoons when, I would sneak around there after a big Sunday lunch, curl up over the grille, and fall asleep. My mum would be looking for me to help with washing up, and I managed to keep it my secret place for several years, then my brother spoilt it and moved the sofa away from the wall, and my little cubby hole was gone..."

17."Gas lights in the front yard. Everyone in our neighborhood had one."

18."My grandmother's home, built in 1959, had a control panel at the end of the hallway so that you could shut off all of the lights in the house on the way to bed. Get up in the middle of the night? You could turn on the lights you needed to get to the bathroom or wherever."

19."I still love the wrap-around porch. It is so nice to have covered space to sit and cleaning the windows is easy while not standing in the grass or mud."

20."Ceder-lined closets should be in every home."

21."I grew up with a house that had an attic fan before we got AC. I had one installed in my newly built home. They are great in the spring and fall. Open a couple of windows on each side of the house, and you will have a fantastic breeze through the home."

22."When my dad built our house in the early '60s, he installed built-in electric heaters in the bathrooms. They are wonderful in the winter, although I nearly caught my nightgown on fire when I decided it would be nice to have a warm gown after my bath. I never told my parents that or that I used the heater once to heat the thermometer just enough so I had a temperature and not have to go to school one day."

23."The main feature of my childhood home was that the walls were double brick in a criss-cross pattern. The interior walls were plastered. Our house was always cool in the hot summers and warm in the winters. Of course, we never had to paint the exterior because of the beautiful red brick... I had many friends who lived in larger and supposedly 'expensive' homes, but their parents always complained about the summer cooling bills. I never remember my Dad complaining. We had two wall heaters for winter. The one in the living room was seldom on. The one in the hallway made all three bedrooms warm and cozy. Wish I still lived in a red brick home!"

24."Cornices over the windows to hide the tops of draperies. Sometimes they started from the ceiling, but usually were just attached to the wood around the window."

25."My grandmother's house has skylight windows. They have no purpose other than bringing in natural light. They can also leak."

26."Harvest gold, avocado green & copper kitchens."

27."Transom windows in the kitchen."

28."The 'California cooler' is a term we learned from a contractor friend. We've been in our circa 1927 house for 25 years and love the tall, narrow kitchen cabinet with slatted shelves and two good-sized vents in the back. Totally suits our cool Mediterranean climate (San Francisco) because it's like having a root cellar in the kitchen — keeps veggies like onions and potatoes, wine, vinegar, oils, and sauces that don't need refrigeration cool. Seems like everyone who renovates their kitchen has them taken out, which is a miss. We renovated last year and worked with our contractor to rehab ours. In the right climates, they're really fantastic."

What other "fancy" design trends do you remember from decades past? Let us know in the comments or anonymously via this form.

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity