Come-ona My House!

In the late 1980s, we were beginning to feel that our house was a little too small again. With one child in junior high, one in elementary school, and another in nursery school, and both of us working, it seemed a good time to look around. We went to quite a few open houses before visiting a 2 1/2 story house with ugly siding near SonShineIn’s school.

With some help from a couple of agents, we were able to sell our house and, on one of the hottest days of the year, move into our new one. It was actually the oldest house we’ve ever owned, having been built in 1905 (the first three were all built between 1910 and 1920). Although we still had only one bathroom, each of the children now had a private room and there were a couple of extra spaces on the third floor for excess books, etc. The nearby school was a K-8 magnet with an open school philosophy, and after a very brief sojourn at another open school, Cordeliaknits was reassigned there for third grade. When Sisterfilms started school it was a foregone conclusion that she would also be going there, so she is the only member of our family to have spent the first 9 years of school in the same building.

Here’s a picture of the three in the backyard. The older two delighted in dressing Sisterfilms up in outlandish outfits.

When we sold the house to move to Maine, it was to a contractor who had already spent several years fixing up the duplex next door. Five years later and finally on the market (just sold a couple of weeks ago), the house is unrecognizable from the outside, and only a few vintage features on the first floor remain to remind us of the house we lived in. (here’s a photo I snaffled in case the link is no longer active)

We did a fair amount of entertaining in that house, beginning with hosting the annual post-Showboat party for our church, continuing with my 40th birthday party, Thanksgivings and Christmases, confirmations, graduations, and children’s birthday parties. So here’s the song: Come-ona My House, sung by its composer, Ross Bagdasarian (later famous as David Seville of Chipmunks fame) and his cousin William Saroyan, the novelist, short-story writer and playwright of My Name is Aram, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, The Human Comedy, and The Time of Your Life. Of course, the song was made famous by Rosemary Clooney.