Small Home Gazette, Winter 2022
Letter From the Editor: home ownership means responsibility
There are people who should not own a bungalow. In fact, there are people who should not own a house at all. This may seem odd coming from a group that encourages home ownership, but the thought occurred to me recently as I walked by a bungalow near mine that is in terrible condition: peeling paint, sagging eaves and crumbling front steps. I’ve seen the owner, a young man who appears to be perfectly able-bodied and capable of taking care of his house. He just doesn’t.
There is a peculiarly American assumption about houses; that is, that everyone should own one, or at least be striving to do so. We get plenty of support for this assumption. We are flooded with online offers of impossibly low mortgage rates; newspapers give us a special section devoted to houses; and home improvement shows perpetually feed our domestic fantasies.
Of course, there’s no doubt that a house offers advantages over apartments and condos and that bungalows offer advantages over all other house types. (What, is my bias showing?) In addition to more space and more distance from neighbors, you also have creative control over the whole enchilada.
Ah, but with freedom comes responsibility, and many of us have no idea what we’re getting into when we buy our first house. The first summer in my bungalow, I could hardly wait for the grass to grow so I could strut around behind my mower, then stand back, hands on hips, to admire the sheer tidiness of it all. That autumn, I was anxious for the last leaf to fall so I would finally get to clean the gutters—just like a real homeowner. Then, slowly, the enormity of the daily, monthly and yearly maintenance set in.
We are gung-ho about attaining the American dream of a house and just as gung-ho about decorating it. Taking care of it is another thing. Funny how mortgage lenders don’t urge you to buy a cheaper house so you’ll have money left over for upkeep. Funny how you never see commercials encouraging people to scrape, prime and repaint the window trim. Funny how I don’t get mailers offering tips on exterior caulking.
What we do get is lenders who’ll approve a home loan for an alarmingly high percentage of our income. We also get lots of pitches for “maintenance-free” products, which, of course, aren’t maintenance-free. Everything eventually needs maintenance. Heck, my bungalow’s exterior was also maintenance-free when it was new. No wonder we think we’re entitled to a shiny new home and then have the right to move on in a few years when it starts to fray at the edges.
A once commonly-held understanding about the necessity of maintenance has been replaced by a “use it once, throw it away” attitude. And yet, like most bungalow owners who appreciate what they have, I repair and maintain my home. I admit that these tasks are sometimes belated and sometimes done grudgingly. But I do them, or hire someone. And for the time being, it’s more than worth it. One day when I no longer have the will to keep my bungalow in good shape, I’ll do my best to pass it on to someone who does.
