An Abundance of Riches

Sitting on the floor in the house of a recently dead woman, surrounded by spools of thread and linens, silk nightgowns, cd's, greeting cards, cleaning supplies, knickknacks and personal papers, I begin to think about the journey of living and what we leave behind.

It is an endless house with mostly windows for walls and most of them look out onto a woodsy landscape of trees and flowers, ivy and plants overflowing in their pots, landscaped garden areas and walkways. It is very peaceful, very lovely, very quiet and despite the possessions and furniture and clutter, very empty. There is bedroom after bedroom, each with a bath and dressing area. There is a sauna downstairs, a hot tub outside, wallpaper with the appearance of blue-black stone encrusted with glitter, mosaic walls. An abandoned greenhouse, it's windows decaying and filthy, sits on a slight rise behind the house. There are wild roses growing here and there, low bricked walls around a patio collecting dead leaves and debris from the land. There are birds and squirrels and the sounds of nature everywhere outside and on the inside there is the scent of old money, power, privilege and exceptionally gracious living. There was art and music in this house with its expensive furnishings and window walls, there were children and dogs, fine wine served in elegant crystal glassware to a collection of family and friends, there were holidays and parties, celebrations and sadness. There is character and substance here still.

The house was built in the 50's during a time when workmanship and craft truly mattered, when the building trades didn't take shortcuts for clients, wealthy or otherwise. And while it is undeniably a grand house, it is comfortable, designed to be friendly, practical, and well lived in, not a house where you'd be afraid to put your feet up, not a house where you'd be afraid to touch things or hang a towel crookedly. There is a feeling here, a sense of the gypsy in the woman who lived here for so long, a sense of a comfortable, productive if idle life. Among the paintings and porcelain vases, the classic books with spines unbroken, the John Gary records and the lacy hand towels and silk sheets with their delicate monograms, there lived a woman who loved music, children, dogs, flowers and life. She wore her wealth well.