Emblazoned above the front door, is not the address, it is the year the house was built. MAny people really enjoy ownership of historic houses...the older the better. Of course some changes have been made over the years to make them habitable. Indoor plumbing, electricity, and heat that is more modern than a pot-bellied stove. Homes such as this one can be found all over Nantucket. Most of them are covered with cedar shakes from floor level to the ridge of the roof. The Kitty and I are living in a much more modern place where it barely smells like mold and mildew except a little from the laundry room sometimes. Some of these older houses make me cough and wheeze when I walk by them.
It goes back to that old and eternal question... Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows ooutrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?
Hmmmm. Not sure I would want to deal with the coughing and lung issues-at this point - I would rather buy something which is at least as nice as my main home.
ReplyDeleteAnd with windows that allow enough natural light to infiltrate every corner of the home. But then again, when in Rome, I get it.
ReplyDeleteOur affinity for Old Spanish homes in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami is a very particular one - the style is quintessentially Miami from the 20s/30s when my great grandparents lived here and were among the founders of the University of Miami and it's "the" neighborhood for families. The homes from that era have withstood hurricanes, Miami downpours, countless generations of families, and still managed to be the hottest commodities on the market. Some are certainly the pits - overrun with vegetation, damp, cramped, victims of bad renovations/patchwork add-ons over the years - but then there are some which stand as regal and magnificent as they were in the age that gave life to them. Good thing that most of these homes are painted light colors and the Florida sunshine always finds a way to illuminate its facade and interiors. Stay tuned...