My one year commitment to CIWT is rapidly approaching an end. During that time I've looked back at my grandparents' Lake House and Town House, and photographically, my school and the club. Now (if it sticks), though it makes me uneasy, I feel I need to include our last house as a family - Mom, Dad, me and my three brothers - some time in this CIWT year. So, here it is: Several Bedrooms and Baths, Dock, Boathouse, Tennis Court. Beautiful, Light, Airy in and out. Built by a lumber 'tycoon' in 1917 with some extraordinary wood paneling. It was naturally weathered shingle when we owned it which I prefer to this too grand white. But it doesn't matter much what I prefer because this lovely house on gracious grounds was a casualty of the New Tycoon wealth. Two or three years ago it was bought at full price, demolished. Maybe it saddened the new owners to do this. And I'm sure remodeling would have been extensive and expensive. But, I doubt they appreciated the quality of the house and its site on the rolling grounds because they 'replaced' it with a huge brown hulk that looms over virtually the entire property almost to the boathouse - which I'm sure is gone.
(Re: T. Wolfe Redux...) You Can't go home again, but writing and looking brings me closer than I've been for a Long time to the fact of this house and the things it touches in me. Also to the unreal and complex fact that, for better or worse, it really doesn't exist any more. One of the first things that comes to mind is that there was always something unreal to me about us living here. Also this is not the house I lived in with Zipper*, and, therefore, not the one that really feels like home to me. So, I realize while I'm truly sorry the property wasn't more carefully respected architecturally in the rebuilding, I am not as sad as I've supposed myself to be that the house is gone.
Hmmmm....a little less tar baby ('in joke' for cool ciwt readers)
*See Day 1 for Zipper
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