“Old House Dreams”
Small confession: I don’t play any of those Facebook/iPhone games.
You know, the ones everybody gets into and talks about all the time like Candy Crush, Words With Friends and Farmville? Yeah, those. I freely admit I ignore every invitation that comes my way to join in, mainly because I’m just not that big on playing games. Well, with the notable exception of when I’m home for the holidays with my family. Then, despite my weak protests of “I’m just going to watch this one,” I usually get persuaded to sit in, at which point hilarity ensues and I can’t figure out why I hesitated in the first place.
Case in point:
(This game was really, really fun, but the purpose behind all of us holding upside down cups momentarily escapes me.)
But hey, just because I don’t want to plant and harvest virtual crops doesn’t mean I don’t have my own guilty pleasure/time-suck/mindless activity that I like to indulge in online– so of course I have to share it with all of you.
However, please be warned: if this happens to be something that you are obsessively even mildly interested in, what I’m about to expose you to has the potential to be HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!! (Perhaps even more so than my foray into the world of tablescaping –yeah, sorry about that LindaB; maybe we can find a ‘Scaper’s Anonymous group in your area…)
Ya ready? It’s THIS:
It’s technically a blog, but who are we kidding? It’s more like a visually extravagant cornucopia of fabulous, fabulous house porn!
The site is run by a lovely woman named Kelly, who daily scours the intrawebs (so we don’t have to), and finds real estate listings for all kinds of wonderful old homes that are/were for sale– primarily in the U.S., but she does occasionally venture further afield. The houses were built anywhere from the 1600’s to the 1960’s, and everything in between. The prices range from maybe $15,000 for a charming-but-in-need-of-major-work Victorian in Elkton, KY to a staggering $26,000,000 for this Washington, D.C. Beau Arts mansion designed by architect Stanford White which was once the home of President and Mrs, Calvin Coolidge. The houses are listed by location, style, price and age so if you are a fan of say, New England saltbox houses or Louisiana Creole cottages you’ll find a treasure trove full. Then there are also some fun categories like these:
I like to bookmark my personal favorites, which are literally all over the map, so I can go back and pore over details later. Even if they don’t look anything like my house, I still get lots of ideas that I *might* incorporate into my beloved Bell Buckle abode *someday.* Hey, it could happen. Here’s a few examples–
WAS I LYING???
If you are an old house afficionado, I really do hope you get, like, 1 frillionth of the enjoyment that I do out of this site. So it’s all in your hands now, my work here is done.
(Let me know what you think!)
