Saturday, September 19, 2020

A red roof forever

 


I love this home. It looks like a direct descendent of the homes I knew as a child. Homes built in the '20s and '30s in Windsor, Ontario. A direct descendent of those homes but an updated one.

Homes didn't have an attached garage in the '20s. No need. Many folk didn't have a car. As car ownership increased the snoot-nosed home made its appearance. This home borrows from, and improved on, that look in home construction. The jutting snoot is gone but the handy-to-access garage at the front of the home is still present.

This place, with its relatively small size, would easily fit into my former century-old neighbourhood. And yet, with its bright-red metal roof, its paving stone drive, perma-colour shingles and other modern exterior materials, it would stand out. Even the exterior brick would distance it from its neighbours. The brick is coloured concrete and not red or yellow clay.

With its AC unit and triple-pane windows, this home is comfortable in summer and with its blanket of insulation hidden in the exterior walls it is cozy in winter. I would imagine it is draft free.

Folks love to complain. For years our local paper ran stories on the hell of living in the suburbs. The suburbs being places just ten minutes by car from the city centre. But today those stories are waning. Many of the reporters live in the suburbs and like where they live.

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