Mari Collier's Blog - Posts Tagged "dreams"
Vanishing Homes
The home saga continues. There will be one more after this one. It really struck me that so much of what I knew no longer exists.
The houses I lived in when Mama first took me to Phoenix were not ours. They were rentals, and while I loved Phoenix and its people, I had no affection for where we lived. It was in the poorer part of Phoenix. The term then was south of the tracks. The latter meant railroad tracks.
When Lanny and I married, he was eighteen and I was nineteen. We rented from friends for a whole $25.00 per month. It was an old house trailer with a cabana on either side. Unfortunately, the side with a bathroom had no heat and no swamp cooler and certainly no air conditioning. We used an electric heater in the winter and a fan in the summer. The low cost allowed me to save money for a down payment on a house.
Then in January, a friend told Lanny about houses they were building above MacDowell Road for less the ten thousand dollars. We toured the homes as two couples. They only wanted two hundred dollars down. For that we could have a three bedroom home. Of course, it was cooled by a swamp cooler and the heating unit was in the front room. The kitchen and one bathroom were tiled, but as most homes were then, it was asphalt tile. There were no closets per se, just wooden boxes set against the wall with a door. The closet between the kitchen area and front room was constructed in the same manner. It was cinder block and there was no insulation or drywall, but there was a bathtub in the bathroom and a screen door in front of the front door. They wanted a co-signer because Lanny was nineteen and I was twenty. I pointed out that Arizona law said I could legally sign as an adult. They capitulated and we signed papers.
We moved in on our first anniversary. Of course, I was mopping and waxing floors. Instead of celebrating with a grand dinner at a fancy restaurant we went for breakfast and back to work. We lived there for eight years. We installed a chain link fence, and Lanny had made built in cabinets, closets and a desk in the main bedroom. Both our children were brought home to that house. I planted a climbing rose by the front door and Lanny built the trellis for that and for the hibiscus I planted between the living room and kitchen window. Lanny rebuilt part of the kitchen, added a storage unit to the back of the carport, and built a workshop out back.
Then we realized our neighbors who had improved their homes were selling and the new inhabitants cared little for the homes. We began a house hunt. Years later when we returned to visit Phoenix, the rosebush was dead, part of the roof missing and a black tarp was hung over the kitchen area and carport. The chain link fence was gone, and the yard dead. The windows were patched over and the entire place needed painting. We took one look and left.
Our replacement home had one acre, a fenced corral, three bedrooms with real closets, two of which had built-in drawers, a linen closet in the hall, a bath and one-half bath, and a huge closet in the entry way. The kitchen was huge and had two ovens, the kitchen also looked out into the dining room and family room. There was a huge sandstone fireplace open both to the living room and the family room, a three car carport, a separate laundry room, and a garden tool shed. What I did not like was the painted pine board and concrete fake flower bed that was supposed to separate the entry from the living room. Repeated requests to Lanny did no good. I took a sledge hammer to it. Lanny did finish knocking the concrete down and smoothing it even with the floor. We had new carpet installed in all the bedrooms and living room, and new tile in the family room, kitchen, and bathrooms. Lanny built drawers and a desk in our son’s bedroom. The corrals eventually held horses, I had a cactus garden that I had hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of stone to line the walks I created around it. Cacti from Arizona, Mexico, Peru and elsewhere were planted. Lanny built a barn for the horses and for his workshop. We installed antique hardware on the linen closets and in the bathrooms, and bought fancy mahogany doors for the entry closet. Then Phoenix went through the bust part of their boom and bust cycles. Let’s just say we moved to Northwest Washington and sold the house. When I returned and had the large furniture items stored and locked my door for the last time, I felt defeated. This was the house where I had wanted to live my life out. The house, barn, and corrals are gone now and apartment complexes fill the acre lot. I have never gone back to see it. Even when we went by the other house. I could not bear to look at a dream destroyed.
The houses I lived in when Mama first took me to Phoenix were not ours. They were rentals, and while I loved Phoenix and its people, I had no affection for where we lived. It was in the poorer part of Phoenix. The term then was south of the tracks. The latter meant railroad tracks.
When Lanny and I married, he was eighteen and I was nineteen. We rented from friends for a whole $25.00 per month. It was an old house trailer with a cabana on either side. Unfortunately, the side with a bathroom had no heat and no swamp cooler and certainly no air conditioning. We used an electric heater in the winter and a fan in the summer. The low cost allowed me to save money for a down payment on a house.
Then in January, a friend told Lanny about houses they were building above MacDowell Road for less the ten thousand dollars. We toured the homes as two couples. They only wanted two hundred dollars down. For that we could have a three bedroom home. Of course, it was cooled by a swamp cooler and the heating unit was in the front room. The kitchen and one bathroom were tiled, but as most homes were then, it was asphalt tile. There were no closets per se, just wooden boxes set against the wall with a door. The closet between the kitchen area and front room was constructed in the same manner. It was cinder block and there was no insulation or drywall, but there was a bathtub in the bathroom and a screen door in front of the front door. They wanted a co-signer because Lanny was nineteen and I was twenty. I pointed out that Arizona law said I could legally sign as an adult. They capitulated and we signed papers.
We moved in on our first anniversary. Of course, I was mopping and waxing floors. Instead of celebrating with a grand dinner at a fancy restaurant we went for breakfast and back to work. We lived there for eight years. We installed a chain link fence, and Lanny had made built in cabinets, closets and a desk in the main bedroom. Both our children were brought home to that house. I planted a climbing rose by the front door and Lanny built the trellis for that and for the hibiscus I planted between the living room and kitchen window. Lanny rebuilt part of the kitchen, added a storage unit to the back of the carport, and built a workshop out back.
Then we realized our neighbors who had improved their homes were selling and the new inhabitants cared little for the homes. We began a house hunt. Years later when we returned to visit Phoenix, the rosebush was dead, part of the roof missing and a black tarp was hung over the kitchen area and carport. The chain link fence was gone, and the yard dead. The windows were patched over and the entire place needed painting. We took one look and left.
Our replacement home had one acre, a fenced corral, three bedrooms with real closets, two of which had built-in drawers, a linen closet in the hall, a bath and one-half bath, and a huge closet in the entry way. The kitchen was huge and had two ovens, the kitchen also looked out into the dining room and family room. There was a huge sandstone fireplace open both to the living room and the family room, a three car carport, a separate laundry room, and a garden tool shed. What I did not like was the painted pine board and concrete fake flower bed that was supposed to separate the entry from the living room. Repeated requests to Lanny did no good. I took a sledge hammer to it. Lanny did finish knocking the concrete down and smoothing it even with the floor. We had new carpet installed in all the bedrooms and living room, and new tile in the family room, kitchen, and bathrooms. Lanny built drawers and a desk in our son’s bedroom. The corrals eventually held horses, I had a cactus garden that I had hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of stone to line the walks I created around it. Cacti from Arizona, Mexico, Peru and elsewhere were planted. Lanny built a barn for the horses and for his workshop. We installed antique hardware on the linen closets and in the bathrooms, and bought fancy mahogany doors for the entry closet. Then Phoenix went through the bust part of their boom and bust cycles. Let’s just say we moved to Northwest Washington and sold the house. When I returned and had the large furniture items stored and locked my door for the last time, I felt defeated. This was the house where I had wanted to live my life out. The house, barn, and corrals are gone now and apartment complexes fill the acre lot. I have never gone back to see it. Even when we went by the other house. I could not bear to look at a dream destroyed.
