My Story

My earliest memory of home is of a pink adobe stucco in Espanola, New Mexico.  We called it "The Pink House" - my memories are fleeting.  Going forward we lived in lots of places including a log cabin in the Jemez Moutains of New Mexico and a shack on the beach in Baja Calfornia.   I had a non-traditional upbringing, and didn't always attend school, but I was exposed to all sorts of cultures, races and languages.  I wouldn't change anything my life now, and yet when I was young of often longed for 'normal life'.  Living in a house, on a block was key in this 'normal life.'  I also wanted to go to school, eat white bread and get bangs.

My grandmother was a realtor in the Western Chicago suburbs in the 1980's.  This was during a time when the real estate market was booming. She sold million dollar homes.  Every summer we would visit and she would sometimes she would take me to see some of the rambling houses she had for sale. I was so interested in them.  I remember third story ball rooms, milk doors and servants quarters.

My grandparents also lived in a very special home. Three hundred Forest Road, Hinsdale, Illinois. Harold Zook was the architect. He built many houses and village buildings in the western suburbs of Chicago. His work was in the Cotswold Cottage style, varying in size and scale. When he was particularly happy with his work he embedded a spider web somewhere in the home. They can be found in glass, wrought iron stair railings or in rocks. A Chicago Tribune article says "admirers of the work of R. Harold Zook feel that he was to Hinsdale what Frank Lloyd Wright was to Oak Park." The homes that he designed and built have been cataloged, photographed and written about. See information about Zook here and here.

300 Forest Road, Hinsdale, Illinois 

My grandparents lived in this home from about 1972 through 2003. My parents were married in the great prow window. As a very young girl I slept over and was showered with presents at Christmas time (as the only grandchild for many years.) I remember being shooed out of the living room when I was a five year old princess and fainting on the window seats in the living room. Summer after summer my grandparents.... and the home, welcomed us. It was a constant comfort- changing very little over the years. The home accommodated our family - my grandparents, their five children, their spouses and twelve grandchildren. In my early 20's, I lived in the home with my grandparents for my first year of graduate school. I slept in the bedroom with the 'haunted' attic cubbies, (my grandfather made up this story to tease my younger cousins) studied at the breakfast nook and cleaned the bathrooms to pitch in. 

 Here's a few pictures:
 

Breakfast nook


Kitchen with breakfast nook in background




Prow window where my parents were married and 'apartment' size grand piano.


Living Room view from prow window looking toward staircase.



Spiderweb in rock above fireplace



Fireplace

There are other houses, real and imaginary, that have captivated me. Some that I have visited, others I've never seen. Here are a few of my favorites...
Vizcaya in Miami, Florida
The Philbrook in Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Brady Mansion in Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Frank Phillips home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Robie House in Chicago
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois
The Bachman-Wilson Usonian home at Crystal Bridges in Bentenville, Arkansas
Mount Vernon
The White House
Thornfield Hall from Jane Eyre
Downton Abbey aka Highclere Castle

And of course,

Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens taught me that a house can be a character, an entity, a living, breathing family member with its own quirks and style. (And something that can waste away, disintegrate and even die.)

* * * 

My life is lived on a much smaller scale than my grandparents' home and these historical houses. I live in a 1930 Tudor bungalow- locally referred to as a 'gingerbread' - in the Renaissance Neighborhood' of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a tiny jewel box of a home with original and elegant glass door knobs and chandeliers (yes, I said chandeliers- plural!) that dangle from lofted trayed ceilings. Since living here I have been captivated with so many questions. What would it have been like to walk into this house when it was brand new? What were the paint colors? What heat source? What was the tile in the kitchen and bath? Who lived here?

There isn't another home in the neighborhood like mine...but my neighbors can say the same. In The Renaissance Neighborhood every home is different and unique. My neighbors eagerly show me their homes, pointing out original features, improvements, restorations and I'm just as excited as they are. These homes evoke a sense of stewardship for the future from their owners and caretakers.

As a result of my captivation, a bit thought and a jolt of espresso... I've decided to embark on a historical preservation project. I'll be interviewing folks that live in The Renaissance Neighborhood about their homes. Setting down any known history in one place for posterity. Follow me here. And please, share your own stories, memories, thoughts and reactions. I'd love to hear from you.