House and Home

My brother and I grew up in a home that was constantly under construction. I know it bothered both of us as we never really felt at ease - there was always something to get done. Astonishingly, he and I both went on to purchase older homes but more surprisingly, older homes that required a lot of work. I'm not sure if we're repeating something familiar or resolving a desire to see something complete. Either way, he and I both are 'house' people. Because although we didn't enjoy the process of having the house always torn up, I think we did enjoy the opportunity, however small, to make the home truly ours. For my husband and I, we hope that doing the most grueling projects before we move in will relieve our children of most of that burden. I know that the projects (maintenance alone) will be endless no matter, but at least we'll have a good start.

I've posted the photo above before. I think it is one of my favorite photos of the house as we found it. It says, to me, that despite the peeling paint, sticky latches, and old wiring and plumbing it has what I've always dreamed of having in a home. Room to wander, lots of sunlight, and endless amounts of chapters to write within its walls.

I came across a tiny little book of quotations in the bookstore the other day. It's called House and Home. These are some of my favorite quotes from the book.

Our house had a heart, and a soul...
we were in its confidence, and lived in its
grace...

Mark Twain 


A man builds a house in England with the
expectation of living in it and leaving it to
his children; while we shed our houses in
America as easily as a snail does his shell.

Harriet Beecher Stowe 


Old houses, I thought, do not belong to
people, ever, not really, people belong
them.

Gladys Taber 


If I were asked to say what is at once the
most important production of Art and the
thing most longed for, I should answer a
beautiful house.

William Morris 


The fellow that owns his own home is always
just coming out of a hardware store.

Frank McKenney Hubbard 


He who loves an old house
Never loves in vain,
How can an old house
Used to sun and rain,
To lilac and larkspure,
And an elm above,
Ever fail to answer
The heart that gives it love?

Isabel Fiske Conant 


Eden is that old-fashioned House
We dwell in every day
Without suspecting our abode
Until we drive away.

Emily Dickinson 


A house can have integrity, just like a person.

Ayn Rand 


Everyone has, I think, in some quiet corner
of his mind, and ideal home waiting to become reality.

Paige Rense 


A house that does not have one worn, comfy
chair in it is soulless.

Mary Sarton 


A house is infinitely communicative, and tells
many things besides the figure of its master's
income. There are houses that confess intellectual
penury, and houses that reek of
enlightenment.

Robert William Chapman 


To be rooted is perhaps the most important
and least recognized need of the human
soul.

Simone Weil 


If I were asked to name the chief benefit of
the house I should say: the house shelters
daydreaming.

Gaston Bachelard 


Fare you well, old house!
you're naught that can feel or see,
But you seem like a human being -
a dear old friend to me;
And we never will have a better home,
if my opinion stands,
Until we commence a-keepin' house
in the house not made with hands.

Will Carleton 


A comfortable house is a great source of
happiness. It ranks immediately after health
and a good conscience.

Sydney Smith 


The home should be a treasure chest of living.

Le Corbusier 


The ideal of happiness has always taken
material form in the house, whether cottage
or castle; it stands for permanence and separation
from the world.

Simone de Beauvoir 


The sober comfort, all of the peace which springs
From the large aggregate of little things;
On these small cares of daughter, wife, or
friend,
The almost sacred joy of home depend.

Hannah More 


We shape our buildings; thereafter they
shape us.

Winston Churchill 


Mid pleasures and palaces
though we may roam
Be it ever so humble,
there's no place like home.

John Howard Payne, 1823