Real Grown-Up Furniture!

When the kid were very small, we used the second floor library as a family room, because the sunroom downstairs was freezing cold most of the year.  Over time, however, the library became the catch-all space: piles and piles of books and papers, and no where to sit.

Transformation!  We still need to purge the bookshelves, and that "Large Box" is sort of like a kitchen junk drawer at the moment.  But the new chairs and ottomans are wonderful!

More Walking

Now here's a place we've actually thought about and visited.  These Frank Lloyd Wright style condos were built on what was once a large estate; hence, the stone and wrought iron gate.  Their interiors are quite small, each with only a few compact rooms.  They would definitely force the discipline of downsizing!  The great appeal lies in the second-floor corner bedrooms, with windows on two sides and wraparound decks, and in the beautiful grounds.

The image below gives you a sense of the grounds and includes the gateway in the back, leading to the original mansion and carriage house.

The final photo shows two of the side-by-side condos head-on.

Neighborhood Walk

After I posted the article about our city, someone asked for some photos, so I took a few the other day when I walked to the Little lakes.  Just remember ~ I love the architecture; I don't live in it!  I've never been inside any of these homes, but I do get to walk past them.

The kids have always liked this one as a potential fantasy house.

I prefer this one, across the street from the first.  It's on a small lot, but the windows give the sense of the house being one with the outdoors.

And I'm very fond of this third floor.

My Place

My hometown for the last 36 years! (Click!)

A few nights ago, a group of our friends celebrate a 65th birthday at a restaurant in Little Italy, a short walk down the hill.  One of the things we talked about was how lucky we are to have lived here and known one another for twenty-five years.  

When we left our apartment two blocks away for the first of the two homes we've lived in here, we were just out of school and didn't realize that by choosing historic and diverse architecture and proximity to the city we were also choosing a whole lifestyle.  Our real estate agent insisted upon showing us houses in a neighboring suburb.  "All your neighbors will be lawyers!" she enthused. "And the city imposes architectural and color restrictions!" I was appalled.  I spent sixty hours a week with other lawyers; I didn't want to live with them, too, and in a house that looked just like all of theirs.  And yet, we also didn't realize that by choosing this city, we were choosing diversity and funkiness across the board, along with neighbors and friends who valued the same things.

Our street is about eight blocks long.  A lot of the homes, like ours, were built in the 19-teens, but some in the 1960s.  Every one is distinct from all of the others.  (Although it seems that they are identical in their challenges!  Basements, roofs, plumbing, electricity, ductwork and gutters --I now know something about them all. Squirrels and racoons who view attics and chimneys as their private condos.  Garages that crumble and ceilings that fall down.  Whatever. )

  We live in walking distance from most of the institutions mentioned in the article; this afternoon I walked a few blocks to a bakery for a chocolate crepe for lunch.  Downtown is a 20 minute drive.  When we moved into this house 28 years ago, we marveled at the elderly couple a few doors down who had been here for 35 years.  Hmmmm .   . . .  Well, there are at least two families who have been here longer than we have.  And many of our friends and neighbors, like us, have made career changes in which we have stepped off the job transfer track so that we could stay right here.

I love this city.