someone used to live here

I was riding my bike in the Hunt’s Point section by the elevated Bruckner the other day and I came upon this little house near Longwood and Barry.

1127 Longwood Avenue. I’ll bet once-fancy woodwork looked swell under fresh paint when it was new in 1899.

 

Now it’s falling apart.

It’s a very bad idea to nail asphalt shingles to the exterior walls of a wooden house.

The same water-shedding qualities that make asphalt shingles ideal on the roof become water trapping qualities when installed vertically on the siding. The result?

Water vapor condenses and gets trapped inside the walls so the house stays damp and rots from the inside out. I called the For Sale phone number: $350,000 firm, taxes $1200 (!) a year and zoned M, now industrial use only.

Someone used to live here. This old house has probably seen babies and grandmothers, young folks in love, homecooking and parties and over one hundred New Years, candle lit birthday cakes, maybe even the occasional Christmas tree and the laughter of little kids running through its halls.

Now it will likely be purchased for the land underneath and they’ll tear it down.

goodbye.