the story of a house

I grew up on the east coast where "old" wasn't always destroyed. "Old" is rather revered. I haven't always appreciated "old". I grew up living in a home full of antiques. I did not like antiques. They were dark, they smelled musty, they looked ancient (a step older then old). I slept on a "rope" bed... the frame had pegs that ropes were attached to in a criss/cross pattern.
I never slept on a bed with a box spring till I moved out on my own. The mattress always dipped in the middle too which wasn't real fun for girlfriend sleepovers! I even had a nasty chamber pot that sat by my bed which I super hated. (Why didn't I just ask my mother if it could be moved??) 

(We have a local tv celebrity- Nicole Curtis of Rehab Addict on HGTV/DIY working here in the Twin Cities. Here is a link to one of the homes recently destroyed in Minneapolis and her efforts to stop it. The home looked like a modern craftsman/farmhouse style. Very sad.)

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/210715801.html

I'm starting to appreciate "old".. maybe because I'm getting "older". I see the old unloved homes being destroyed in Minneapolis and I think of the memories and life that house has seen. And I wonder about the story of the house. How did it end up under a bull dozer. What happened? 

Now I have to confess... a few years ago we took down an old cottage to build a large home. The cottage was in very bad shape.. sagging floors, no insulation in the walls, extension cords for wiring. You had to walk through a bathroom to get to a bedroom. It had been an old summer cottage in it's day. In light of my budding appreciation of "old"... I think about if there was potential in that little cottage to save it. I think there was. One thing.. it had a small craftsman style roof over the front door. That has haunted me. That roof. I wanted to keep that roof and put on the new house but it didn't work out.

I learned a good lesson from that little cottage... I learned to search for the smallest potential, to think of the story, to really look for what can be saved, renewed. So the story could continue.. with a happy ending.

~ the Artist