“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!)
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Yeah, you got me started on this blog. I usually check out all the houses until there’s a string of them that are in such disrepair that I can’t stand it. Then I have to stop. Seeing beautiful old homes that are full of a family’s history and possibly full of the history of the region just fall in on themselves kills me. And I can’t just LOOK at these houses, I need details: Who lived here? What did they do for a living? Did anybody die in this house? Were there children? Did the family entertain a lot…or were they mysterious and reclusive? Any ghosts? Any scandals?
See? I need to know! I guess it’s the old social worker in me. That sounds better than “I’m just naturally nosey.”
Well! I wondered why you didn’t ask me to play “Words with Friends” with you!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE to play games! And now they say that activity will prevent me from getting Alzheimer’s! I’m gonna be tarp as a sack someday while you’re roaming around in an old house looking for your cats. (Just rattling your Victorian cage, Girl.) I’m just thankful that your sister Liz is a good game player!
Some old houses are cool, but they need so much WORK! And most older homes don’t have as much closet and storage space as newer ones. And they seem to have lots of small rooms, where I like the bigger open look of newer ones. But as MommaLloyd would say, “If it makes you happy, Sweet Pea, go for it!”
Now, back to Tablescape Thursday!
Please find out what the paper cup game is—–I want to play it!
I do like to play games! On computer my favourite is Rummikub. As a family (including grandchildren) the favourite at the moment is Mexican Train.
The houses are amazing. Having just moved house we really enjoyed actually visiting other peoples houses and seeing what they had done with them. As retirement is only 4 years away for my husband he loves to look at houses on line to see what we might be able to afford and where it should be.
auburn60: I know what you mean, so sometimes I just blow past the ‘falling down’ ones and just click on the bright, happy-looking ones! And sometimes they realtor is smart enough to include links or copies of historical papers that relate to the house– and I can lose a whole ‘nother day reading those!
LindaB: Yeah, the beauty of looking at pictures online while not actually looking to buy a house is that I can look at all the work that needs to be done on some diamond in the rough and think, “Yeah, good luck with that…” and then just click on to the next one! (I’ll ask Madi what the dang cups were for– she’s young, she’ll remember.)
bettyrwoodward: I love to look at other people’s decor too, online or in person! And we used to play the board game version of Rummikub as well as Mexican Train when we were at my Mom’s house.