A Long Time Gone

It has been a long time since I attended to this blog--my own life has undergone a great deal of transition, with moving from place to place. And now, employed only on a contract basis, I have greater freedom and flexibility to return to this topic of residential architecture and the "domestic church," which is, it would seem, still relevant after 5 years.

These are certainly interesting financial times we live in. More than a year ago, in an attempt to take advantage of the "buyer's market," I was intensely engaged in my own search for a house. My reasons for such a purchase at the time included a desire to invest my money rather than lose it in rent every month, as well as my desire to establish some kind of permanent residence, to better weather the transition of losing one roommate after another to marriage or relocation.

By June I learned that my office of 100 employees would be closed; and I found myself agreeing to relocation to Boston for temporary continuation of my position. I thanked God for not letting me feel peace about any of the 40+ homes I had looked at, enough to go through with a purchase. 

This lack of peace was due to a few different things. First, the design of the homes themselves did not "feel" right to me, despite any other sufficiency in terms of rooms, size, price, or neighborhood. Something was missing--I could not see myself thriving there, as much as I would have adapted to the environs. Secondly, I realized that buying a home did not make sense for my life--homes suggest, and in this market require, some level of permanence. I knew that I was seeking a home so that I could BE permanent, not because I WAS permanent and wanted a living space that could support that. I realized that my dream to own a home with another with whom I can spend my life was not so insignificant after all.

Perhaps there are implications here for homes and family life. Certainly, any space can become a home, insofar as you put yourself into it. But not every type of home is suitable for every type of family situation. Families don't tend to last long in apartments, if they can help it, for good reason--reduced privacy, little chance to personalize for changing needs, fewer places to retreat from "togetherness." Plus, an apartment does not communicate what a family is about; namely, permanence. [That is, of course, when we speak of apartments in a Midwestern sense. Apartments in Manhattan, on the other hand, may serve as permanent family homes, partly for lack of anything other than apartments or apartment-style living in the vicinity.]

A single person owning a home is slightly different; what is missing, however, is the NEED for something more permanent. Rather, the need is perceived, not imposed; and so one chooses to own a home to communicate (to themselves, if no one else) an intention to be permanently somewhere--to renounce, on some level, what it means to be single and "unattached." 

More to come on our present economic and housing crises. And, expect installments of my master's thesis posted to this blog--I would gladly welcome your comments and ideas.