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It's easy to look at the homes of yesteryear and sigh, "They just don't build them the way they used to." Right, and often there's reason to give thanks for that. The homes of yesteryear lacked insulation, efficient windows and, often, central heat, not to mention air conditioning. Appliances were energy-guzzlers. Lead paint and asbestos siding posed health hazards. Homes relied on lumber as a primary building material, which made huge demands on forests for raw materials. Story
[Times art: Teresanne Cossetta]
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Home Front
Briefs and news of note
Sun City also rises in Fort Myers
The first Sun City retirement development in Florida in more than 40 years is coming out of the ground in Fort Myers.
Bylaws must allow for smaller quorum
Question: The president of our condo association believes that three members of our seven-member board constitute a quorum, since the other four board members are up North for the summer. Is he correct?
Game is ticket to flight on cloud nine
Aha! Suspicious minds might suspect a reader challenge. Last week we trotted out a series of unusual, perhaps even difficult, requests, only to come this week to a letter from Harriet Mettge, which begins, "You have done so much with unusual requests, so I'll add another tough one."
New books are home to several topics
Small House, Big Style (Better Homes & Gardens Books, $34.95): With hundreds of photographs, many of them "before" and "after" shots of the same room, this book offers dozens of ways to make the most out of small spaces. They include a 650-square-foot house built on a sliver of land overlooking the waterfront in San Diego, Calif., and a 520-square-foot cigar maker's cottage in Key West. Other homes are as large as 2,750 square feet, but most hover under 2,000. The book's strengths are its tips on building in storage space, using color to unify a small space, arranging furniture effectively, and creating the maximum "light, height and sight." Some of these houses were done on a budget, some were remodeled in stages over several years. A worthy and repeated note: Don't be afraid to get rid of furniture when your tastes change or when it no longer meets your needs.
Coincidence makes new kin
When Tampa reader Lynn Nelson spotted the surname Ritenour buried deep in one of my columns, she sprang into action, setting the stage for one of the more unusual encounters I've experienced since this column made its debut a year ago.
Protect your dog from the heat
Question: Before we moved to Florida we did not worry so much about the heat for our dog except during the three or four months of summer. We live in air conditioning but worry about what would happen if the air conditioner went out for a long period of time.
