Pink Pony Tile

the disgusting white shower tile from the early 2000s (left) sits in contrast with the pristine pink floor tile from the mid-1950s (right)

My family has lived in our home in San Antonio for the better part of two decades. At a little over 1,600 square feet, it’s size was average for a a house built in 1954. Expectations have changed, however, and it’s now considered “small” by contemporary American standards. 

Even so, the 3-bedroom/2-bathroom single-family residence has served our family perfectly well. It was spacious enough for a dedicated office and guest bedroom when, although those two spaces have since been surrendered to our two children when they were born. We used every square inch of it during the pandemic and now, with two teenage daughters and an incontinent elderly dog, it’s fair to say the house is at full-capacity.

As with any homeowner, we’ve made several improvements to our home to make it our own. We’ve repainted surfaces and swapped out flooring materials. We replaced the roof after a particularly nasty hail storm and we’re on our third water heater. In terms of more major alterations, we added built-in bookcases after we first moved in and added a screened porch a decade-or-so later. In the decade that has passed since, we have talked about renovating the bathroom.

Although it serves as the primary bathroom for the kids bedroom as well as any visiting guests, our hall bathroom is tiny. At just over 4 by 6 feet, there’s barely enough room for a shower, sink, and toilet. In order for all the clearances to work, the door opens out into the hall. The previous owners of the house were responsible for this somewhat awkward arrangement. According to them, the original layout was a “Hollywood” bathroom that featured a bathtub with two sets of sliding glass doors on either side that allowed it to be shared between the home’s two bathrooms. This created obvious privacy issues, and it approach was abandoned for the more popular “Jack and Jill” layout that would come to dominate suburban home design. 

the bathrooms as they existed when our house was purchased in 2007 (left) and how it might have originally existed in 1954 (right)

I understand the previous owners’ desire to create two separate bathrooms, but the space they had to work with was incredibly tight. The solution they arrived at required several compromises, but it was probably the best available option given existing window and plumbing locations. We faced the same limitations, and even though we considered many options over the years, we ultimately kept the same basic layout.

That said, there was still plenty of improvements to be made to the bathroom. The shower never drained properly and mildew was a constant problem. The porous travertine flooring absorbed any liquid it encountered (see previous note about our incontinent dog) and had crumbling in certain areas. Both the shower and sink fixtures leaked, and mold colonies would periodically appear on the walls and ceiling. Although the bathroom was less than a third as old as the rest of the house, it was literally falling apart.

Our schedule and budget finally aligned this summer such that could finally begin the renovation process. We hired a general contractor to coordinate the plumbing and tile work, but I self-performed other tasks to help control costs. This included the removal of the existing plumbing and electrical fixtures as well as the demolition of the travertine flooring.

Although we had thought through and thoroughly documented all aspects of the design, we began the construction process with plenty of “known unknowns.” For example, we wanted to lower the level of the tile flooring to match that of the adjacent hallway, but that desire depended on subfloor conditions we could not see. We made educated guesses based on standard building practices and what had been observed in other areas of the house, but we could not know for sure.

Of all the things I thought I might see under the travertine, I was not expecting to find a layer of shiny pink tile. Original to the house, this tile proved to be virtually indestructible. This is apparently why the previous owners had left it in place and laid their new flooring over it, and it was why we would ultimately choose to do the same.

I would like to think our bathroom renovation will prove more durable than the last one, but at some point a future owner may decided they need to renovate the hall bathroom to meet their specific needs. New designs will be drawn and new materials will be purchased. But when it comes time to remove the white Carrara marble penny tile we installed to make the bathroom our own, I hope they smile when they discover a hidden field of vibrant pink waiting for them underneath.