Riley's House

For years and years this was one of my dream homes. Quite the modest mansion. It's the house from The Life of Riley. This somewhat ancient television show would run on a Christian channel that would come in really snowy sometimes, before cable. The house looked a lot like the homes in one of the post-war neighborhoods in my hometown.

I loved how these houses were usually painted white with black trim. The simplicity of this color scheme allowed the landscape to stand out more. They sat on perfectly green lawns with a tree situated in just the right spot. Rose bushes really stood out, flowers would pop and bushes were shaped into perfect rectangles under windows. The garages or carports were located behind the home and American flags would wave as you drove by.

These post war homes usually housed WWII veterans who had made it through the Great Depression and a war and now had a place of their own. These were modest homes, some better built than others. Not many of them stood the test of time.  Many became rentals and fell into disrepair or were razed years ago.  I am always happy to see one retro-renovated. As much as I try to like the new aesthetic, I have yet to see a contemporary home design that I can say I truly love. While there are many designs that adopt a vintage look, when they stand next to older homes they are still huge. I think I am one of those rare people who likes a small home, it's instant cozy. I love the idea of owning only what you need and use daily, keeping and storing only the most cherished of relics and personal artifacts.

While I love a small home I love a large lot. I crave space for fruit trees and gardens, comfy places under shade trees, spaces for meandering  beds of flowers.  Nothing makes me feel better than to look outside and see a large  yard.  Last I heard the trend was for smaller homes less than 2500 sqft. but  yards are  getting smaller and smaller. 

 I was a huge Lightening Seeds fan back in 1989. Thank you Ian for allowing fans to post!