This old house...A school of thought

On occasion I drive through my old neighborhood that I lived in as a child. I'm not quite sure why I do it, and I like to think that I am not the only person who does. It's funny to see the changes over the years, as old homes get flattened to be replaced with lake front mansions increasingly larger and larger. Overall though the character of the neighborhood has stayed the same, and many of the homes still look identical to what I remember.

Now my parents sold the house about 8 years ago right before the housing bubble crash and were very lucky to get full market value out of it. They were very particular as to who they sold it to, as many people would show up with interest only loans, and a big Hummer pretending to be something special. I remember my parents turning down all sorts of silly offers telling them to come back when they had money. Eventually they choose a family with a couple of young daughters, who seemed to fit the bill and came with cash. I never met them, but my parents were happy with the deal, and that is all that mattered.

At one point in time the house really stood out in the neighborhood as it was not a typical "Florida" style home as it lay on a hill, had 3 floors, two of them visible from the street, and a basement (and yes it flooded all the time). With real brick walls, columns and chimneys, with solid wood floors throughout the house, and a huge 12 ft deep pool (as it used to have a diving board that we removed later on when it was resurfaced). I remember coming home one day to a big wooden sign in the front yard awarding our house for being the most stylishly decorated house in Maitland for Christmas. It was quite an amusement as my father had done it for the first time by himself, and my mother and I had laughed that he didn't do it right, only to have it thrown back in our face when we saw this award in our front yard. He gloated about this for several years following. I was able to find a picture of the house online.

Now about a week ago, I happened to be next to my old neighborhood entrance while running errands, and figured I would stop by and take a look at my old dwelling. When I drove up to it this time I saw something rather disheartening. It would appear that the family who lives there is either fallen on hard times, or the husband has left. I say this because the home was in great disrepair. There were shutters that were crooked, tree branches all over the roof, that looked like it needed to be overhauled, poor lawn grooming, and it seriously needed to be repainted. It was very sad to see a once grand home looking like something out of The Burbs.

I can only hope that the family who owns it now either gets their stability back, and puts more money into renovating the home, or someone buys it out from them, and fixes it up. It's funny how I make assumptions as I don't know them at all and for all I know they are just really lazy, and don't bother to maintain the house. Either way it is interesting to see as the houses close by that used to be low slung common homes, are now rebuilt or completely replaced with huge 5 and 6 bedroom homes comparable in size, and now make this house look all the more shabby. 

In other news about the neighborhood, the Elementary School Dommerich who's claim to fame was once being featured in the movie Matinée (With John Goodman) for it's distinctive 50's architecture was demolished. Along with it was the awfully scrubby Maitland Middle School across the street that one can only describe as being designed by the same person who designed Discount Tire. Maitland Middle has the most unusual open air design, where instead of halls, it was laid out in courtyard fashion with pods of rooms in a square shape around it. There were several courtyards, and you had to walk outside to go from one room to the next. Of course in Florida that meant going outside in the heat, or rain with your school books getting soaked, and then having to sit in a classroom sweaty or wet for a hour, and then do it again. The open air design also made the unusual steel an aluminum construction of the building look very worn and corroded. and much older than it most likely was. 

Dommerich Elementary although fully enclosed and a lot ore stylish having being built in the 50's was limited in size and the neighborhood had  grown considerably since it was built and quickly became to small of a building by the early 2000's. I remember driving by and seeing the playground replaced with portable rooms, maybe as much as 30 of them. It was clear that a new school would need to be built. I miss the unique character of Dommerich, however Maitland Middle I have no such feeling for as it was a real shit hole, in an otherwise nice neighborhood that deserved much better. 

Both have been replaced with national architectural award winning buildings on a combined campus space. Each building matching the other in design, and pushing the boundaries on technology, and concept with movable interior walls, and frosted glass stolen directly from an Apple Store. 

Although I have said for years that I really though they should be replaced a long time ago. A strange part of me misses the old decrepit Maitland Middle School. For all it's design flaws, an unsightly appearance, it was still a huge part of my childhood and I somehow miss it not being there. Yes the new buildings are quite impressive but sometimes it's the derelict buildings and rundown exteriors that create the charm. Kids will no loner get rust cuts from the buildings strange and oddly placed gates in the middle of the hallways, or have hail hit them on the head on the way to math. No longer will they have to sweat on their way to a portable classroom that once was the location of the basketball court, however this is what created my best memories. I guess it's true what they say...you can never go home.