Another time and place

So, this is not clay-related, but I feel there is something you need to know about me, especially if you're going to follow this blog, because I'm sure it's going to come up over and over again.

I am totally in love with old houses.

I have an complete and total fascination with almost any building built before 1950. (Even though my jewelry line has a bit of a modern flair to it, I just don't like mid-century modern buildings. I think they pale in comparison to what came before them. But that's just me.)

I swoon over traditional architectural details like rafter tails, crown moulding, and dormer windows. I pine away for my very own wraparound front porch, beadboard walls, and subway-tiled shower. I love the elegant stained glass windows found in stately Victorians, and the humble grace of Craftsman-style built-ins.

That being said, I have only lived in an old house for two years of my life. The house I grew up in was built in the late 1970s, and my current house was built in 1983. My husband and I tried in vain to buy a vintage home, but we couldn't find one in our budget that wasn't totally falling apart. Because we were under the gun, we settled on a very nice and well-laid out, if slightly vanilla, suburban tri-level. It's been a lovely home for us, in a safe and friendly neighborhood, and I feel so lucky to even have a home in this time of foreclosures following risky mortgages. That being said, part of me is still looking for The House, the one with the wood floors, wide baseboards, and divided-light windows.

Because of this longing, I spend quite a bit of time on the realtor.com website, looking at lovely houses all around the country. I routinely hit the "Saved Properties" limit of 100 houses and have to delete some that are not as great as others.

Because Hurricane Ike is headed towards the Texas coastline, today's photos are from one of the fabulous houses for sale on the island of Galveston, Texas. Galveston has a tremendous concentration of late 19th- and early 20th-century architecture, and I've always wanted to visit there to see these buildings for myself. I do hope the hurricane weakens and that the people (and the houses) of the Gulf Coast will be safe.