House Site
In the Wizard of Oz the house just falls from the sky so there’s no real debate about where it might sited. Of the two principals involved, one, Dorothy, is just happy to be anywhere and the other, the Wicked Witch of the West, is, well, not saying much.
But it turns out that in our case, siting the house is not so easy. To set the scene: there’s an open field with woods on two sides, and neighbors on five acre plots to the south and west. The house to the south is obscured by a line of evergreens. To the west, a six-foot berm has been built, extending about half way back from the dirt lane that leads into our neighborhood, to the woods. The property line, our surveyor says, most likely lies somewhere underneath.
The land itself rises from south to north over the course of about a hundred yards, with a difference in elevation of maybe eight to ten feet.
The southeast corner slopes down towards the creek. The road in runs about a quarter mile and is lined with pines and shaded by oaks. You round a bend, come out of the trees, and our land opens up on the right, at the southwest corner. Viewed from above, the field would be almost square, but the lane lopes around, taking a crescent moon shaped cut out of the first forty yards or so of the western border; as you drive up, the effect is to throw your gaze more towards the property’s center.
There’s general agreement that the house should sit on the higher, northern end of the land facing south (towards the notorious perc site), and there’s a flat area at that end that would require only minimal grading and a short driveway to reach. But that’s where the questions start. Should it face the road or across the field? What will the view be like from the porch? from the road? How far from the woods should it be? If the kitchen is in the back, what will Nora see when she looks out the window (a very important consideration)? What face do we want to show to the neighbors to the west (the only ones directly affected by our purchase of the land and the only ones we can see)?
The differences can seem Jesuitical, defined by a few points on the compass (as opposed to angels on the head of a pin), but you have to get it right. Looming over the decision is the finality of it all. Once it’s there it’s there. Every time you sit on the porch, look out the window, or watch the afternoon shadows steal up while quietly reading on the sofa, you’ll be reminded of the road you took, and all the ones you didn’t.
500 miles 