Ode to the NorthEast Johnson County house
We have been working the past few weeks with our two gracious homeowner families to prepare their houses for the Remodeled Homes Tour this weekend.  It feels a lot like the work you do to get ready for a big party (that’s actually what it is for us).  There are long hours, and the pressure of “the big date” looming on the calendar.  There is joy in the process.  For our clients and for us.  It is like our baby is coming of age, and is getting ready for her bat mitzvah or quinceanera where we get to show her off to everyone we know.  I love these two houses. 

We had such a great time (through good times and bad) working with both sets of homeowners. They were patient, engaged, forgiving, earnest, and enthusiastic throughout the long process, and have become some of my favorite clients. Part of this is because they seemed to love the house and the neighborhood even more than me (and you know how much I love houses). It was really a labor of love to create a space that they can enjoy for years to come.

With that in mind, I thought an ode to the house would be appropriate.  It will only make sense to those of you who have endured the idiosyncrasies of the house that is old enough to qualify for AARP.  Those Northeast Johnson County houses that we love to hate and love.  Forgive my poetry.  I am not laureate, but hopefully the sentiment will resonate.

Ode to the house

NEJC House, you are my house, for better or worse.

My SOJC friends couldn’t drag me out by force.

I know you are older than I am, but it’s ok

I’ve come to believe houses are better that way.  

Your rooms and your walls all have stories to tell.

I’d love to hear the one that explains that basement bedroom smell.

Your humpy hardwoods make it easy to find

dropped marbles when to the corner they wind.

Your one-butt kitchen is really easy to use,

as long as I’m entertaining in one’s or in two’s.

Your closets with enough rod space for 6 shirts and some scarves

makes me think your first occupants were a family of dwarves

Your no-car garage makes it easy to hold

One bike, one lawn mower and maybe some mold

You leaked like a sieve until I closed all your gaps,

now in the winter my furnace can actually take naps

You needed new windows and a much better roof

and there went my vacation fund with a poof

But you are surrounded by trees and a shady green lawn

that my kids love using for forts and for digging holes on.

And your neighborhood, oh that’s one of the plusses

great shops I can walk to and neighbors without fusses

And even for all of your quirks and your squeeks

I would not trade you for a younger model that’s sleek

You and I will both change over time as we know;  

Your kitchen might open and your floor plan might show

a reflection of how our family continues to grow.

Thanks for enduring my sophomoric rhyme.  Please don’t show this to any of my former English teachers.  I couldn’t bear another C-.

I look forward to meeting some of you this weekend if you decide to visit some of the houses on the tour.  Whatever you do, enjoy the weather.  I think we can finally throw caution to the wind and put on our shorts!