Rose

We named her Rose, this old house that somehow captured our hearts. When we first saw her she was a vision of neglect although some foundation work had been done she still needed so much work. At some point she had fallen off her pier and beam foundation and posts had broken through the flooring, the porch was missing most of its decking, there were holes in the ceiling and old wall paper hung from the walls like shredded streamers....but as they say, she had good bones.




The pictures pretty much tell the story of Rose's transformation. It took almost a year to totally restore her. We were blessed to have Gino, a carpenter and craftsman who cared enough to worry about the details to bring this house back to life.

What the images don't tell is about the people, besides Gino, who saved Rose from winding up a pile of 100 yr old lumber. You see, Rose had been scheduled to be demolished by the city because they had decided that house was an unsafe structure and most likely she was. But three people with a healthy dose of vision, guts and good business instincts thought that Rose was worth saving. Byron and Betty, who are married to each other and partner Bill had recently bought and restored several homes in the area. Some of these restored homes were former "crack" houses or had been used by the homeless to get out of the weather. They were in pretty bad shape. But get this, they all moved into the neighborhood. They lifted stakes from what most folks in San Antonio would consider some of the most affluent parts of town to a neighborhood that real estate agents would say was "in transition". What's even more amazing is that these folks were all in their 70's when they got into this! Talk about looking forward and taking on some pretty daunting risks at an age when most people are just coasting along waiting for the inevitable to happen. So here I am, 55 yrs old, looking ahead to retirement and these people are out there trying to change the world at 75.....unbelievable! These guys are my heroes!

First Time

First time doing this blogging business so this a new adventure for me. My name is Juan and I live in San Antonio, Texas. I was born in 1952 and have lived all my life in this city of fiesta, pan dulce, raspas and some pretty neat old buildings and neighborhoods. My wife and I recently moved into an old neighborhood called Dignowity Hill Historic District, just east of downtown, which qualifies us as urban, inner city dwellers. The area has a colorful history - I'll write some more about the history on another post- and is set on a hill overlooking downtown SA. Our neigborhood is a wonderful mix of grand old houses with a good dose of homes that are a restoration adventure ready to happen. Up until this past December we lived in a quite suburban neigborhood where most of the houses looked alike and we barely knew our neighbors. Then through a series of chance meetings of some interesting people who live in Dignowity Hill we bought this nearly 100 year old dilapitated Victorian house with a wonderful wrap around porch, high ceilings and pine flooring and decided that this was going to be our new home. Well, our friends and one of our daughters thought we had lost our senses. Why would two fairly successful and established people want to uproot themselves from a fairly comfortable lifestyle and move into old house, into an inner city neighborhood not exactly known as the most desirable place to live in SA? Well, good question! To be perfectly honest, we questioned ourselves so many times as to whether we were making the right decision. In the end we have no regrets. This whole adventure has been one of the most liberating experiences of our lives. We let go of our old connections and have begun making new ones, which to our surprise are enriching our lives in ways we never imagined. And the neighborhood....well, it's an adventure living here. We hear the sounds of the city: sirens, buses, trains, fast moving cars and the sounds of people. It a neighborhood full of life.... beautiful and at times ugly. But it is a neighborhood on the verge of resurrection. Perhaps the point of this little ramble is that by shedding our old skins and taking a chance you just never know how your small contribution can inspire or even create hope.....Esperanza! Oh and our old house, well....the restoration turned out pretty good. I'll post a picture later....as soon as I figure out how! Hasta Luego!
Juan