there's no place like home for the holidays
Monday, December 10, 2012 at 4:37PM it may take a few moments for this slideshow of vintage pressler photos to load. many thanks to betsy, rick and skip pressler for sharing precious family memories and giving us a glimpse into how their family lived in our house. so many things are different (colors, patterns, and gasp - curtains!), and so many the same (the 'photo spot' out front). what a gift!
We did not intend to fall in love with our house. As a matter of fact, this house was our ‘consolation prize.’ The house we really wanted was not available, and we needed to move, so when we found this large, plain modern house, we knew we could do something with it. We did not know that it would do so much for us.
The house was in an estate. The elderly man who had lived here since 1973 had passed away, and the executor of his estate told us the house had been designed by and for an architect named Fred Pressler. It was 1997 and I had never heard of him. But a few months later, I saw Mr. Pressler’s obituary in the paper and was compelled to write his widow, Eileen, a letter telling her how much we were enjoying their house, and how livable it was for our family of five. It happened so quickly, but our touches, our stuff, our family had made this plain modern house into our dream home and we didn’t even know it was happening. She replied back with a copy of an article about the house from the Cincinnati Times Star in 1957. The house had been published! Our first bit of house ephemera!
Fast forward to the summer of 2011. We had a wonderful visit from the three grown Pressler ‘children.’ It was their first trip back to see their childhood home since their parents sold the house in 1973. I was more than a little nervous about all of the changes that we made to the house. Would they like it?! When we bought the house, we had no idea what it had been like, but a few years ago we found that the blueprints were on file with Amberley Village and we acquired a copy. The biggest change was the kitchen – partially by us, but most significantly by the previous owner. By the time we found out how it had been, it was too late to change it back. Much to our relief, the Pressler’s loved the house. I think what they loved most was that it was home to another family and it was thriving and clearly loved.
As we celebrate this holiday season, we prepare to head to my family home, where I grew up in Sylvania, Ohio. We will then head up to the island where my Mom grew up in Michigan. Because there really is no place like home for the holidays! Enjoy the season!
~Susan
Reader Comments (2)
What a wonderful gift they have given you- these pictures are amazing! I would love to see vintage pictures of my house. Happy Holidays!
Thanks, Allie. I cannot even tell you how excited I was to pour through their photo albums!! Every homeowner should be so lucky :)