Home and Garden

One benefit of purchasing an existing home is buying into an established neighborhood.

The schools may be better than in newer areas, tree-lined streets are common and yards are usually landscaped. When you buy into a new development that’s under construction, there’s no way to know exactly how the project will look when it’s completed. It usually takes years before landscaping is mature enough to soften the look of a new home’s tract.

Older neighborhoods are often centrally located, offering good access to freeways, places of employment, theaters, entertainment, cultural activities and shopping centers. New home developments often are built on the outskirts of town.

A major appeal of an older home is its architectural uniqueness.

Older homes often are located in neighborhoods that were developed over a period of time and offer a variety of architectural styles. Buyers who are influenced by “curb appeal” - or what a house looks like from the street - often are attracted to older homes.
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Some of the best-looking and most-interesting rooms in the history of interior design have been bedrooms.

It is through these settings that we can gain important insights into the social history of various periods and countries. A lot can be learned about 18th-century England by looking at a painting that shows the opulently draped bed and paneled walls of a country house from that era. Similarly, a drawing of an alcove containing a feather-quilted bed helps us piece together the lifestyle of a 17th-century Dutch burgher.

In the same way, clues are being left today for future historians who will be curious about how the American middle class lived at the end of the 20th century. They will note, for example, that the master bedroom has come to contain much more than just the matrimonial bed. And they will probably deduce as well that this room was often the most heavily used in the entire home, with the possible exception of the kitchen-dining area.

Indeed, for many young families, the master bedroom has become an after-dinner gathering place. Older couples frequently use it as a favorite area for reading or watching television.
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