“Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heath Tendre croppes…” – The General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, ll. 5-7. [When Zephyrus (as well) with his sweet breath has brought forth life in the young crops of every wooded grove and open tract of land…][1] The breath of life. […]
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring — it was peace.” – Milan Kundera I’m a dog person. Meow, I don’t dislike cats; I […]
‘ Many Historians use the poem now known as Twas the Night Before Christmas to mark the point where American Christmas began. Christmas has been celebrated in North America since Europeans began to arrive, but it was in the 19th century that uniquely American innovations and combinations of older European traditions can be clearly demarcated. […]
“I had not been seated many minutes by the comfortable heath … before I found myself as much at home as if I had been one of the family.” Old Christmas, Washington Irving 1819-20 For me, one the most enduring enticements of the year, stretching all the way back to my childhood, is the enjoyment […]
The Wild World of Flipping The best house I’ve ever inspected was flipped. The worst house I’ve ever inspected was flipped. In both cases, the work was done by a person proclaiming to be a flipper, but this is also where the similarities ended. One house was a 1930s Craftsman in which every single mechanical […]
The mountain – valley juxtaposition as a metaphor is, well, as old as the hills. It’s very accessible and can be readily experienced, and it exploits a meaningful ambivalence. As Winston Churchill put it, “Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them”. In other words, a different challenge and reward can be found in each. Valleys […]
“I mean, that’s why they put in extras.” – An explanation I was once given as to why having multiple broken trusses wasn’t a problem. When I write a home inspection report, most of my recommendations are limited to a sentence or two – maybe three of four if especially egregious damage was found. My […]
“The silence, which again reigned, made her ashamed of her late fears, and she believed, that her imagination had deluded her, or that she had heard one of those unaccountable noises, which sometimes occur in old houses.” – The Mysteries of Udolpho, Anne Radcliffe Historic Homes: When I write a blog, it is often the […]
“Faith, we may put up our pipes, and be gone” – Romeo and Juliet, IV.V.2756[1] It is easy to forget that washing machines weren’t standard appliances until the 1950s. The dryer lagged behind a bit, but could be found in most homes by the 1960s. The days of spending a majority of the morning scrubbing […]
How long should a house last? Fifty years? Ehh. That seems a bit short for something that comes with a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars. One hundred years, maybe? Not bad. This is longer than the average life expectancy. A couple hundred years? This is the goal, right? Shouldn’t a house last as […]