However, on Friday mornings I to listen to Diane Rehm's Friday News Roundup on my phone (especially since I got my comfy new earbuds—thanks, Sally!—and it's so easy with the Texas Public Radio app). And this means I get to look up and out the windows during these rides.
What strikes me right away are the amazing old houses one can see along Woodlawn Avenue, where the good old #90 plies its trade.
They're not all as spectacular as this beauty, as most are not in very good repair. Although some are some are trying:
But, boy, do they have good bones! The street, at least some parts of it, must have been, at some point in the city's history, a really grand avenue. And, with a little imagination, you can still see it.
Looking at these homes realistically, though, I don't see many of them getting the full refurbishment treatment, at least not before I retire and stop riding this bus.
If you had the amount of money that would be needed to bring this "disheveled dryad loveliness"* back to its glory days, would you want a house on such a busy street? Probably not, and for that reason I don't see a good future for most of these beautiful structures. But I hope I'm wrong.
And I'm encouraged by the fixer-uppers that have been fixed up....
...as well as those that are in the process...
Please excuse the tilt in this picture of one of my favorite houses. Remember these shots were taken through a moving bus window!
An advantage, landscape-wise, that many of these houses have, are a variety of attractive palms that adorn the corridor. (The small median running along the street sets the tone.)
I'm sorry window reflections interfere with the view of this beauty, but I thought it was still worth including. And it doesn't detract from the look of these structures that they've been made into apartments, if they're well-maintained like this one:
There are reflections in this one, too, but I love the second floor patio-porch—wouldn't it be a nice place to sit, sip tea, and read (on the 3 or 4 temperate days per year that we have, that is). And, of course, watch the buses go by.
I've got some more pictures from my bus ride that I'll show you in a future post, highlighting different types of sights along the way.
*Tolkien trivia question: to what countryside is this poetic phrase referring?
3 comments:
much as I love stately old manors, the longer I live in a nearly century old structure, the more empathy I have for those who opt to start from scratch
I've always felt it would be easier to build from scratch than too refurbish, and our house is only about 80 years old!
I love this post! This is exactly what I love seeing, what neighbourhoods and houses look like on the other side of the world. I'd had the absolutely fortune to live in one listed building and to work in two others. I absolutely respect the money and effort that goes into keeping these old beauties in shape.
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