Monday, March 10, 2014

OH LA LE

As a teenager, there was a Le Car always parked on the street outside my bedroom window. The mystery of who that car belonged to, and why such a pedestrian car would have such an "exotic" name always perplexed me. Also, is there a connection between the Le Car and the Le Bag? Did they come with the car as some sort of promotional gift? Or was there simply a fad of naming random things Le____ back in the day? Did the "Le" give it more sophistication somehow? I will probably never know those answers, but I will most assuredly continue to use my rad Le Bag tote, and maybe feel a bit of that implied je ne sais quoi for myself.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

THAT 70s HOUSE

Confession time: I have an addiction. For a long time, I was hesitant to admit it even to myself, but now I feel that I must embrace and announce my secret: I love 70s architecture. Specifically very austere, angular shed style houses and office buildings. Probably a side effect of being a child of the 80s, but the style feels familiar to me, visually like home. Unfortunately, the town I live in now has a dearth of really exceptional examples of this architectural style, so when I spy one, I get pretty jazzed. Like, periodical-drive-by-and-peeking-in-windows jazzed. So, I decided to make a little semi-regular feature of this strange addiction. When I see a rad 70s building (or maybe even an early 80s one, since there is stylistic overlap there), I will post a photo and gush about it. No big deal. Probably nobody will love these buildings as much as I do, but it's my blog, so I get my way! Alright, first up is a little circa 1977 gem I found hidden within a sorta shabby neighborhood.
She has that geometric, vaguely office-y look that appeals to me. The horizontal siding accentuates her low, long shape, and check out that curved driveway. I loathe a house that is all garage in front, so the way this one is perpendicular to the street really satisfies me. She was for sale but recently taken off the market (what is wrong with people?!). If she had a fourth bedroom I would really be pushing her on my husband, but her size and location sort of take her out of the running. I really hope she finds an owner who will appreciate her. She has lots of great qualities, including a covered back patio, cork floors, a cool detached shed/studio and her lot backs up to a huge swathe of city-owned land that will soon have a nature trail running through it. Like I said, a real gem that needs some TLC and a really hip owner. Maybe I could parlay this specific obsession into a niche realty operation?