Why a House is More then Structure
I've recently encountered a rather toxic person whose views on the built environment could not be more different than my own. Which got me thinking about our house on Summit. When we inherited it, we knew we wanted to use it to do good. And as I sit and think of what this house has been able to host, I'm pretty impressed:
- A friend working in China, home for the summer.
- The mother of a friend, who wanted to spend more time with her family. In fact, that has happened four separate times (with separate people).
- My aunt and her friend, swimming almost daily.
- Two different sets of circus artists moving here from abroad, and several that have just been here for workshops.
- A short film based on Dessa's spoken word art.
- A fashion photoshoot.
- A short film.
- Two weddings.
- Several other families here attending weddings.
- A friend's mother here for the birth of their child.
- People coming for school reunions.
- A missionary here for part of the summer.
- The cast of Spamalot.
- Friends who lived here while totally rebuilding their home into their dream home (and crafting their dream future jobs at the same time.)
- Another set of friends, who stayed here two separate times, while doing the same thing (see a trend?)
- Oh wait, that really happened three times, with another set of friends!
- Friends who used their time here to save up and plan for future careers, including a very successful catering business.
- Friends whose home sold a lot faster than they wanted, who stayed her while looking for their dream home in their perfect Saint Paul neighborhood (they found it!)
- A friend who stayed here twice, once while working on a total renovation of his place, and once between places.
- A family who wanted to stay in the SPPS school district after divorce.
- A family who came up here from Illinois for a life-saving operation for her child (and then who had to stay here for observation for several months afterwards).
- A charming and eclectic businessman here between travels.
- A pair of young dances, living here when their apartment was rebuilt after a fire.
- A group of friends who used some events here to build real-life, lasting friendships from an online community.
- Citizen journalists here to report on the Republican convention when it was here.
- A person who worked for The Uptake for a short while.
- Two art shows.
- The original "heart bombing" for the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.
- Several board meetings and retreats.
- The Summit Garden Stroll (twice) and several annual meetings.
- A fundraising garage sale for No Kitten Left Behind.
- Theatre directors and designer and musicians, in town for short residencies.
- Musicians from Haiti, for a residency and concerts series.
- Fringe artists (many times).
- A DIY episode of "Bathtastic," and a few shorter web-only episodes.
- Clothing exchanges, book exchanges, cross-stitch sessions, and other group activities.
And, of course, the legendary Friday Night Pool Parties.
The house turns 100 this week. There's a lot more doing good in its future.
(This picture was taken in 2010. So many changes since then!)
- A friend working in China, home for the summer.
- The mother of a friend, who wanted to spend more time with her family. In fact, that has happened four separate times (with separate people).
- My aunt and her friend, swimming almost daily.
- Two different sets of circus artists moving here from abroad, and several that have just been here for workshops.
- A short film based on Dessa's spoken word art.
- A fashion photoshoot.
- A short film.
- Two weddings.
- Several other families here attending weddings.
- A friend's mother here for the birth of their child.
- People coming for school reunions.
- A missionary here for part of the summer.
- The cast of Spamalot.
- Friends who lived here while totally rebuilding their home into their dream home (and crafting their dream future jobs at the same time.)
- Another set of friends, who stayed here two separate times, while doing the same thing (see a trend?)
- Oh wait, that really happened three times, with another set of friends!
- Friends who used their time here to save up and plan for future careers, including a very successful catering business.
- Friends whose home sold a lot faster than they wanted, who stayed her while looking for their dream home in their perfect Saint Paul neighborhood (they found it!)
- A friend who stayed here twice, once while working on a total renovation of his place, and once between places.
- A family who wanted to stay in the SPPS school district after divorce.
- A family who came up here from Illinois for a life-saving operation for her child (and then who had to stay here for observation for several months afterwards).
- A charming and eclectic businessman here between travels.
- A pair of young dances, living here when their apartment was rebuilt after a fire.
- A group of friends who used some events here to build real-life, lasting friendships from an online community.
- Citizen journalists here to report on the Republican convention when it was here.
- A person who worked for The Uptake for a short while.
- Two art shows.
- The original "heart bombing" for the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.
- Several board meetings and retreats.
- The Summit Garden Stroll (twice) and several annual meetings.
- A fundraising garage sale for No Kitten Left Behind.
- Theatre directors and designer and musicians, in town for short residencies.
- Musicians from Haiti, for a residency and concerts series.
- Fringe artists (many times).
- A DIY episode of "Bathtastic," and a few shorter web-only episodes.
- Clothing exchanges, book exchanges, cross-stitch sessions, and other group activities.
And, of course, the legendary Friday Night Pool Parties.
The house turns 100 this week. There's a lot more doing good in its future.
(This picture was taken in 2010. So many changes since then!)
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