[Today’s run: 5 miles]
I like big old houses. And there are a lot of them in Columbus, MS. This time of year they do the Pilgrimage which is an open-house for some of the larger places in town.
Columbus was spared most of the destruction of the US Civil War. It did end up burying quite a few bodies. But the buildings survived. In the 1850s the place was really hopping with monied folks coming in from the countryside to build “town” houses, some of which are very large. People who own those houses nowdays can fix them up and show them off. It sounds like an expensive hobby to me.
Early in our marriage my wife and I moved from the Chicago area back to central Iowa where we grew up. And we looked at houses. There was one monstrous house in Dexter, IA (I think) which had more square footage in the attic then the home in which I now reside (it sure seemed that way anyway). And we looked at one near Drake university which was probably about as big. Monsters.
We were back in Iowa last fall for a visit. We drove by a house where my wife lived for awhile as a child. I think it belonged to her maternal grandfather. She says it used to have a big porch on it. It really could use that now. I’d expect a house like this to also have a full basement. So there are almost 4 complete floors of living and storage space.
Big houses have some mystery. They have places for people to be alone if they want to be. But they also have big heating/cooling bills.
