tiny Tudor history...

One of my neighbors passed on some history about our town homes and it lead to me doing a bit of digging myself, and I found out that our home built as a part of the Gold Medallion Electric Home Campaign.  You can read more about the history of that campaign here

Originally, our town house community was supposed to have 290 homes, but instead we are just a small community of 64 homes.  The homes were showcased in a "Galaxy Home Tour" in 1966.  They were built across from the Johnson Space Center as "homes of the future" and completely electric featuring all GE appliances.

I spy The tiny Tudor...

Ronald Reagan, and his wife Nancy did several ads for the Gold Medallion homes and it was a huge ad and print campaign...

Most of the homes that were in the program featured a medallion that was placed outside of the door. Being the house history geek that I am I found one on ebay and ordered it.  Yep- that is going to be mounted outside the door of our tiny Tudor.

I love to know the stories behind buildings and homes.  Knowing the story behind our tiny Tudor just makes it that much more special...

House plants...

A few weeks ago I decided to get rid of a few of my preserved boxwoods and instead plant some REAL plants for the house...

I am not a green thumb by any stretch of the imagination, but I figured if I had made my little sprig of outdoor basil do this...

Then maybe I could handle doing a bit of this...

The real trick is to basically ignore them.  I give a small bit of water to each of the plants on Saturday along with the occasional sprinkle of plant food.  That's it.  Low maintanince, all though not as low as those preserved boxwood, but they are real and I like the more natural look. 

The watchman...

I've always said that our son Hunter was an old soul.  He sees the beauty in the smallest things, is the first to show appreciation, and just blows me away with his keen observations of the world.  One thing he has always been drawn to is clocks and watches.  When he was just six years old he asked us for a pocket watch.  "One with a chain" was his request.  He carried that pocket watch everywhere and loved to pull it out and check the time for anyone who asked.  I guess his appreciation of time pieces must have come from me.  Our entry way sports a vintage watchmakers cabinet and one of Travis' holiday gifts to me was a watchmaker's case that was brought over here from Germany.  There is just something about the passing of time- how we spend it and how fleeting it is that fascinates me.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Jord watch company to try out one of their lovely wood watches, and of course my first thought of who should have one was Hunter.  He poured over the website and carefully selected his watch- the Fieldcrest in black.

We carefully measured his wrist (14 cm) and Jord sized it just perfectly for him.

Every day he asked if his special watch had come in the mail and I was so excited to call him last week to let him know it had arrived.  He was in Dallas visiting cousins, but the minute he walked in the door he wanted to try it on.  These photos were taken less than thirty minutes of him gettting home...

Working with Jord was a wonderful experience.  The quality of the watch is just beautiful and Hunter proudly sporting his new timepiece.
Wood Watch

*this was a sponsered post, however all opinions and reviews are mine :)

One Year Later...

It's been one year since we moved into our tiny Tudor.  I have always been in love with whatever house we've lived in, but I have to admit to this one being my very favorite.  Maybe it's the smaller size, less upkeep, or centralized location, but it really is our best house yet. 

A year ago we were picking out flooring, finishes, paint, appliances, cabinets, countertops and everything else that goes into a remodel.  I'm happy to report that a year later we still love all of our choices.  

wood floors, bathroom floors and interior doors...

 I love our open and light entryway.  Yes, people walk by and look into the windows- some even wave, and that's okay by me.

Our tiny kitchen is the hardest working room in the house.  I love to cook, so this room has seen a lot of meals over the past year.  I get a lot of questions about our honed Cararra marble countertops and how they are holding up.  They are showing signs of scratchign and etching and I adore them. This was precisely why I wanted marble, for the aged patina they will create over time.  

Despite our lovely kitchen, we aquired The Big Green Egg and I am now an offiial Egg Head!  We cook out a lot on our little patio area even though it's 1,000 degrees outside.

It's been really nice to have a proper dining room.  Our kitchen was too tiny for an eat in area, and I really thought I'd miss that, but I don't.  This is the homeschool area, eating area, bill paying area, game night area.  It serves so many functions.  

Our living room is well lived in.  Evenings are spent watching our favorite shows, or just sitting around talking.  I can't think of anything I'd change about this room...

I love that this neighborhood is small enough that the kid's friends can ride their bikes over and then take a short walk over to the local shops or frozen yogurt place...

Our little city was voted one of the most fun places to live.  I couldn't agree more, but then I grew up here so I know I'm a bit biased.   All I know is that there is no place like home.  

Happy One Year Anniversary to our tiny Tudor!

The keeper of memories...

When my parents bought their last house the previous owner had left a lot of personal things behind.  They had passed away, and the children didn't want a lot of what had been left if it didn't have monetary value.  A few of those items were the deceased diplomas.  He was a very accomplished man- graduated from the Virginia Military Academy and a chemical engineering degree from Rice University aka The Harvard of the South.  He went on to become the Vice President of Exxon.

I am now the keeper of these memories.  The diplomas are beautiful with hand written signatures and printed on beautiful vellum and sheepskins...

I'm thinking of framing them.  Sounds silly, I know, but they seem more like art to me than "just diplomas"....