La Casa Maria's Care and Feeding

One of the things we enjoy most about La Casa Maria is taking care of her. There is just something about this 250 year old house that draws us. We love being in and around the space, and we love caring for the house. As one of our friends who lives on the Mt. Pizzone hillside suggested, the houses are the permanent ones, we are just there to serve the for a short period of time.

In the past year, we have certainly been put into service. We replaced part of the roof which has, fortunately, brought to an end a water problem that had been dogging us for years. We also finished the task that was started when the house was renovated in the 1990s and installed the last of the thermal pane windows to keep out the winter drafts. There was also the replastering job in the dining room on the lower level with special moister-resistant plaster.

La Casa Maria also likes to play dress up.

We've dressed her up in a lot of different ways, including patching and painting every wall through the past few years, only to realize it is not a finite task but a never-ending cycle. She also wears our crowing investment quite proudly -- the restored flat roof topped with the terrace on the back of the house.

She's stately, in her own special way. She stands on the hillside as an old pile of rooms -- lots of 'em stacked on top of each other to shape a four level, rustic, village "townhouse."

An adventure. A retreat. And, a sweet old lady who is allowing us to be in her service -- for awhile.