Welcome Home!

Not too long ago, going through a box of papers, I found a drawing one of my children had done when she was small.

It was a crayon image of a house; the typical box with a steep roof, two windows and a front door. A curl of smoke rising out of the chimney and a row of colorful flowers framing the door.

Curious, I turned the picture over to see which of the children had made it. I was surprised to see, at the bottom of the paper, in a big, blocky, childish scrawl, my own name.

I looked at the picture for a long time and reflected on the way most of us, child and adult, portray home. Most paint the same image of home – the cottage, the flowers and the chimney – even when the actual place they live looks nothing like what is on the piece of paper.

But when we grow up, and finally get to make a home of our own, the places we choose seldom fit the design we drew as children.

We start with a fresh sheet.

I’ve lived in a lot of houses over the years. Big houses and tiny cottages. Old and new. Some were happy places and others had shadows in the corners. And each one was different from the other.

I’m still unpacking from my last move but I’ll confess that I’m already sketching a mental picture of my next home. I’m thinking old brick, wide windows and a new view.

But, if you were to hand me a pencil and ask me to draw the place I live, or the place I want to live, I’d be hard pressed to do more than I did when I was 6 years old.

Home, whether it is a loft downtown or a cottage on top of the hill or a room built to make the last years of a life as comfortable as possible, is four good walls, and sturdy roof and a door that opens to let you in when you need shelter and lets you out when you’re ready to face the world.

This week in Home

When Keith and Kerri Mires were working with the builder to create their first home, they found themselves building something that was completely different from the houses they’d lived in as children. And that was part of the fun.

The story of their one-of-a-kind West Hills house is our cover feature.

In this week’s Urban Style, Amy Klamper introduces us to a woman who looked out the window and realized that her view of home had changed. She’s moving out of a classic Craftsman cottage and into a new life in a downtown condominium.

And we meet a craftsman who carves generations of tradition into new spaces around the region.

It takes more than hammer and nails to build a house. It takes a lot of heart, as well.

I like to think that’s exactly how we build each issue of Home.

Enjoy!