our house...and the house that i wish was ours.

so this is our place (the building on the right). our flat is the second of six small townhouses squished together perpendicularly to fitzgerald avenue, one of the four major avenues named after early city superintendents that form a square around the central city area. it's all right, but the design is pretty blocky and when you look at the construction up close it seems a bit cheap. there are no locks on any of the interior doors (making the use of the bathroom during peak times a nerve-racking experience), and the front door requires a key to lock it from the inside. we've noticed quite a few of these less-than-attractive townhouses around the city, apparently the result of a rental housing boom in the last 10 or 20 years, and have been hearing about the city council's efforts to crack down on ugly housing construction. good move for them.

this is the house that i wish was ours - isn't it beautiful? i sneak a peek at the interior any time the lights are left on (a carryover habit from my snooping newspaper delivery days), and take great satisfaction in the victorian decorating style used inside. not my personal preference, but it suits the house well. we pass this house daily, as it's just a block from ours and along the river route that we take to church and to work.

-rachel