PROLOUGE

By Andrew Braman-Wanek

As an architect, I find that people love learning that their home’s architecture has a name; Queen Anne, Craftsman, Mid-Century modern, etc. But it’s more than just the vernacular style that is significant to them, naming the style provides an opportunity for people to identify their home with a design idea, a period in time, and thus, a story. But with or without knowing what to call their house, it seems that people naturally cling to stories about their homes. And if there not a story neatly packaged with our home’s history, people, including myself, look for clues to form our own.

When we bought our first house, we were only the second owner of our 1920’s Cape Cod. It was an estate sale, so we didn’t have a chance to meet the long time owners - the Hoover’s. All we knew about them was their names. But as we lived in this house that the Hoover’s occupied for so long, we found ourselves creating a story about them. We took cues from the mail that we’d get still in their name, stories from neighbors, and sprinkled it with our own conclusion from how they had kept their house. And with this, we made our story. True, it was historical fiction at best. But the story was no less important to us. We loved our little Cape Cod, hungered for all there was to know about it, and filled in the blanks with our own conjecture when needed.

New houses have stories too. It might be a story about the builder, the arduous process of designing and building it, or an unforgettable story about moving day. But, whether they are our experiences or from our home’s previous life, stories about our homes add our emotional experience of them.

The way I see it, house stories most often (but not necessarily) fall into the following categories:

MEMORIES and NASTOLGIA: Perhaps recalling something special about a childhood home, Grandma's house, or first time ownership.

MYSTERY: An attempt to answer a question that a house presents, such as why there is a certain design element exists.

FOLKLORE: A story passed down from others, perhaps neighbors or a previous inhabitant.
RESEARCHED: …or pseudo researched. I know of a few homeowners that have taken it upon themselves to contact people who grew up in their homes. I also had a client with early 20th century articles written about their home in the local paper.

MORTAR AND MUD: These stories often reveal themselves during updating and remodeling. For instance, uncovering evidence of a previous fireplace, or even a hidden object in the walls.

I’d be very glad to add your house story to this blog. Please email it to me and try to keep the story under 1000 words.