Article & Photography by Megan Williams

It’s complicated. That would be the best way to describe how the home that is now lovingly called the Mid Mod Casa came to fruition from its brainchild Chris Cope. Cope and his husband Michael Moats have had a journey with their house. Somehow an addiction struggle, a cross country antique collecting mission, a pivoted balloon artistry career, a Vaseline glass collection, and a few nuanced adventures along the way led to what is now their Mid Modern Casa.

Originally inspired by their dear friend Emily Rodriguez’s mid century ranch home, decorated to the nines with rarest atomic treasures; Cope took motivation from what she did. He figured he could probably do one themed room. Well, one room very quickly turned into two, which turned into nearly all the upstairs rooms and bathrooms. Which led to almost their entire main level, and eventually to their entirely renovated backyard. The Mid Mod Casa is expertly decorated from top to bottom with an obsessive-like precision to vintage and antique detail.

Michael Moats (left) and Chris Cope

The rooms are all themed, with examples like the upstairs guestroom called “The Matador Suite”, which took nearly two years to create. With bold colors like “Tantalizing Teal” and “Afternoon Tea” mixed with a crimson accent of warm walnut Broyhill Sculptra bed set, the room is filled with brightness. Matadors and bulls give it the 50’s and 60’s vibe Cope was going for in a room unlike any other.

Just across the hall is “The Pussy Powder Room”. And yes, you read that correctly. With its opulent Hollywood regency aesthetic, the room is painted in a perfect deep orange that gives a vintage look upgraded by all the fallacies and breast busts that line the bathroom. It’s old Hollywood with a twist of naughtiness, and we love to see it.

To say Cope and Moats are collectors would not only be an understatement it would be an insult. For the last five years, they have been running two businesses, Mid Mod Crisis and Party Fowl, which can be found in five different booths throughout the Antique Alley Mall on Main Street, Las Vegas. Previously, Cope collected antiques as a side hustle that very quickly became a passion. Moats was responsible for the curation of the biggest renovation of all, their backyard. Once you go through their back door you are quickly transported back in time to the glory days of Palm Springs. Centered around a large pool and spa, with a ridiculously cute She-Shed. The shed now acts as a spraying and refinishing workshop area for Michael but really brings the entire yard together. Mix that, with their ever-present vintage motif it’s undeniable how much work they’ve put into the finer details outside.

Just inside, the family room acts as the hub of the home with its 1950’s atomic flair. Jewel tone accent chairs, a custom teal upholstered sectional, and the classic orange egg chair sits perfectly in the middle of the action. The nuances like the quirky gifts and objects their friends have gifted them along the way litter the room in perfect symmetry.

As someone who had the pleasure of doing a vintage style photoshoot with my good friend and burlesque goddess, Banbury Cross in Mid Mod Casa I can definitively say every room is impeccable. With Cross’s bombshell quality, her own attention to vintage detail, and the way Cope’s garment choices, (which, of course, he picked out himself) from a few vendors at Antique Alley, draped over her petite frame; it was easy to see why magic was so easily made that night.

I could go on for paragraphs about Mid Mod Casa. But you can experience Mid Mod Casa for yourself as they have listed it on the site Peerspace: a peer-to-peer marketplace for booking spaces for meetings, events, and production. Most recently, Mid Mod Casa got booked for a photoshoot for a body positive athletic wear line to showcase their garments. A step Cope and Moats have been excited to take for a while.

If you want to experience a unique, eccentric, vintage, beautiful, and artsy one-of-a-kind home where you can find a four-foot jet-black plaster panther named Mercedes in “The Post-Modern Suite” downstairs.

The pop art bathroom with a lithograph Marilyn Monroe, and polaroid camera as a toilet paper dispenser across the hall. A bright pink flamingo painting, 70’s space aged chrome sofas, an under the sea themed water closet complete with a porthole and leucite fishy toilet, then you must book the Mid Mod Casa.

In the meantime, the beautiful mind of Cope, mixed with the creative brain of Moats have created a masterpiece in the heart of Las Vegas.

You can find Mid Mod Casa in all its glory on Instagram at: @midmodcasa.

You might also want to check out their antique businesses to help furnish your home: @midmodcrisis and @partyfowlantiques.

Lastly, if you love the wardrobe on the stunning Banbury Cross @banburycross, then you must go check out @vivalasvintagelv for all of your vintage clothing needs.

While you’re at it, give our friends at @antiquealleymall a look too, where all the fun eccentric, quirky and vintage gifts you could ever want or need live.

This article was originally published in the 2022 PRIDE Issue of Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine, and can be read in its original format here.