In praise of older...

...houses! I have always loved old things...old furniture, old music, rusty old signs, musty old books, faded vintage textiles, and - best of all! - old houses. Having spent time living in places that are not particularly old or historic - Miami (not much built before the roaring 20's) and the Bay Area in California (not much built pre-Gold Rush and then a lot of it lost in the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906) - has only deepened my appreciation of structures that have stood the test of time, structures that have the ability to actually transport us BACK in time.

Just look around places like Newport, Jamestown, Bristol, Wickford, the old plantation sites of South County, mill towns like Peace Dale & Wakefield, the Hill & Harbor area of East Greenwich, the East Side of Providence, and the turn-of-the-century summer playgrounds like Narragansett & Watch Hill... there are old houses EVERYWHERE here! They're just part of the everyday landscape of Rhode Island...no biggie.
But I say, they are the heart & soul of this state...part of what makes people visit, return, buy summer places here, stay if they were born here...re-locate here if they weren't. Mansard roof lines...graceful columns...wide covered porches...stained glass...cobblestone streets...picturesque harbors…whitewashed church steeples...rambling old stone walls...wrought iron gates...elaborate stone mansions...humble clapboard farmhouses...a 12 over 12 window in a 1750 colonial with a candle shining brightly on a winter night. You don't have to live in an old house yourself if you don't want to - but be damned glad lots of other people do so you can bask in the history, the charm, the unique New England quaintness they maintain - and you enjoy - all around you.
(Coming up next...are you an old or new house person??)