What Makes a House a Home?
9:04 PM
A Thoreau-like a critic of the hurried and cluttered life, Mansfield observes, "We have 'housing' without dwellings. We have Home Depot, but not home. This lost quality of dwelling--the soul of buildings--haunts most of our houses and our landscape."
Mansfield opens his book with a thought-provoking description of what it's like to house hunt. "I liked house hunting," he writes. "I am fascinated by how houses succeed or fail to shelter us, body and soul."
Amber and I are thinking of moving soon, and so we resonate with this book on many levels. As we begin looking for a different house or apartment in Springfield, the book asks an important question: What makes a house a home?
Mansfield answers this question with a meditation on dwelling. "Dwelling is an old-fashioned word that we've misplaced. When we live heart and soul, we dwell."
He notes that we don't hear much talk of dwelling in today's Flip This House/Flip That House era. We don't spend much time thinking about what our McBuildings mean. Yet Manfield argues that there is meaning and satisfaction to be found in learning how to dwell in a place.
Dwelling is a skill (almost a spiritual discipline) that I want to learn how to cultivate as I consider where next to pitch my tent.
As Amber and I begin to look around for new buildings and neighborhoods, what advice do you have for us? In your opinion, what makes a house a home?
Amber and I are thinking of moving soon, and so we resonate with this book on many levels. As we begin looking for a different house or apartment in Springfield, the book asks an important question: What makes a house a home?
Mansfield answers this question with a meditation on dwelling. "Dwelling is an old-fashioned word that we've misplaced. When we live heart and soul, we dwell."
He notes that we don't hear much talk of dwelling in today's Flip This House/Flip That House era. We don't spend much time thinking about what our McBuildings mean. Yet Manfield argues that there is meaning and satisfaction to be found in learning how to dwell in a place.
Dwelling is a skill (almost a spiritual discipline) that I want to learn how to cultivate as I consider where next to pitch my tent.
As Amber and I begin to look around for new buildings and neighborhoods, what advice do you have for us? In your opinion, what makes a house a home?
1 comments
Jay, this post warms my heart, and that is what I think makes a house a home. A place where you feel cozy, loved and safe to be yourself.
ReplyDelete