Have you ever noticed how hypocritical houses have become these days? When I was a kid, you could look at a house and it was the same on the front and the sides. My uncle and aunt lived in a brick house (still do), and you saw brick whether you looked at the front, the sides, or the back. We lived in a brick house covered with plaster, and whether you looked at the front, the sides or the back, it looked the same.
Not so anymore. I find it so intriguing that so many houses in our area have brick or stone fronts, but if you just walk a little further to get a kitty-corner view of the house, it's plain old siding along the sides and the back. No fanciness, no accouterments, no pretty window trimming, just siding--yards and yards of it.The ironic thing is, I noticed it too late to save our house from the fate of a hypocrite; our stone on the front is fake, added with mortar to glue it to the fascia. The glued-on stone barely goes around the front corners and then it's done. So I live in a hypocrite house, too, with yards and yards of plain siding along the sides and the back.
It doesn't matter how pretty the front is; I always feel a bit disappointed when I see a hypocrite house.And why is it that way? Well, because it's cheaper to be a hypocrite.
Now go chew on that one for a while.
::munch, munch::
ReplyDeleteEew! It tastes like broccoli...or calamari, I can't be sure. ; )
Ours is honest -- just siding.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy. I've always hated houses like that but never made the application to life.
ReplyDeleteExcellent analogy. It is cheaper to be a hypocrite. So if you are thrifty, but not hypocritical (say, all siding), then are you prudent?
ReplyDeleteI just bought a house that is vinyl sided with a brick front. I bought it because I loved it -- with its broad expanse of porches, its fireplace, just the right amount of bedrooms. It had been owned by one couple since it was built in 1948. It is full of home-made charm and little conveniences built in over the years. Maybe the family couldn't afford to have it all brick. That doesn't make them (or me) cheap. They were good and honest hard-working, blue collar folk. Their children, who sold the house to me, were kind and generous in every way. There is nothing hypocritical about people whose aesthetic differs from ours.
ReplyDeleteMata, I'm sorry you took my usual "playing with an idea" personally. I was exploring a thought (with some underlying bit of humor) that had crossed my mind about the structures. I didn't say anything, as your last sentence seems to indicate, about the people who live in those houses. I didn't say that they were cheap, nor that they were hypocrites. You may have missed the fact that I'm responsible for building and living in a house like this as well, and I happen to like living there just fine.
ReplyDeletePeace to you.