The first time I walked through the little bungalow (I now own), I remember walking into the kitchen and looking out the window to the back yard. There facing the house was the most adorable little garage -- stucco to match the house, exposed eaves and cedar shingles in the gable end. My house has the original 1925 garage on a block where almost every other garage has been replaced with a 2 or 3 car monstrosity. I can't fit my car in it, but I could never tear it down.
I look at the garage the way I look at the other features of my house -- the wooden storm windows I have to change out in the spring and fall, the original kitchen sink that hangs on the wall, the birch kitchen cabinets that you have to latch and unlatch -- all of these features are inconvenient but they also make the house what it is. A lot of people try to get the best of both worlds -- the charm of an older house with all the mod cons. I think they are fooling themselves. Let the house be what it is. When someone chooses an older house they should take on the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of the house and understand not everything will be "convenient". Sonja Dahl Standish-Ericsson member of the Twin Cities Bungalow Club http://www.mtn.org/bungalow/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
