Here in the Hills

Thursday, November 06, 2008

florida - 2008-1938

This first picture that The Very Wonderful Scarlet took, shows the front of the house as it looks right now....... Who is The Very Wonderful Scarlet and how did I get these pictures? Well, The Very Wonderful Scarlet from "As Good As It Gets", did the most fantastic and amazing thing for me. She lives right there in the Miami area, and she generously offered to take her trusty camera and go over to North Bay Road and see if our house was still there. So, after her Drawing Class one evening she took all the color pictures you are going to see! What is so amazing about this is that the house on North Bay Road, is actually still there! I don't have any truly 'matching' pictures to the wonderful pictures that Scarlet took, but I will try to show you some of my old pics where you can see a bit of the changes that have taken place in the more than 70 years, (Yes, SEVENTY Years) since my black and whites were taken. You can see the front door changes in a closer look above, that some owner changed, I honestly don't know which one, and for all I know, it could have been the present owner's. And when you look to the right in the picture of 'Jen The Hen' and me, what once was just a "window" is now (in Scarlet's pictures) these double doors leading out to the front garden enclosure.....
Going back to the front door, as you can see from the above
photo, the "change" it is not a HUGE change....I mean, they didn't move the front door or anything like that, but they did change the "Art Deco" look of the front door, completely.....And if you look up to the right on Scarlet's first picture, you can see a large 'bay-window' type window. Here below is a closer look at that Bedroom Bay Window.There were changes in "trim" there, too, and in the actual windows themselves......And as you can see in the pictures above, there is that double door that used to be a window only..... The black and white picture above, shows a partial look of that Bedroom Bay Window and the windows to the right of that....The person in the picture was the daughter of a family friend, Jake Newmark....Bobbie Newmark..... Above is another of Scarlet's pictures and you can see that door and another door which was a window, too.....Some owner also built on to the house, as you can see, over there to the far right.....I don't remember if that was the original garage, or what...... In another closer look taken from Scarlet pictures, the trim around those second floor windows...(The Master Bedroom)...is completely different, and those doors below...(The Living Room), used to be windows.....! This is something that did not exist when we lived in the house back in the late 30's...till 1941. I love that Scarlet got this picture, too.....Then she got in closer...... This is the door that is part of the Wall, that is all around the front of the house, with an inner Garden/Courtyard.....The closest picture to this that I have is this one below...... Mt Grandmother and a man that I do not recognize....And see, this walkway they are standing on went all the way to the street, and that is where the driveway is now that you can see in Scarlet's picture......And you can see, the door trim is completely different as is the Wall, too..... I love this picture above that Scarlet got, too, because it shows the "inner Garden/Courtyard and a bit of the real front door....I do recall that our outer doors going into the Garden Courtyard were solid. You couldn't see through them the way you can now......!

Dear Scarlet, I cannot thank you enough for going over to the house and taking these pictures. It really means so very much to me......I was talking to my brother and he cannot wait to visit my blog and see all these pictures of a home we loved a great deal.....now, over 70 years later! Bravo Scarlet!

More To Come........

24 Comments:

Shammickite had this to say:: How lovely to see the old house, still standing and still looking wonderful. Happy memories for you, I hope!; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 1:15:00 PM PST
Anonymous had this to say:: Very cool. You should go back and visit yourself!

Cheers.; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 1:35:00 PM PST
Rachel had this to say:: Hoorah for Scarlet! She got some great pictures and that is a lovely home. I would expect that in 70 years it would have changed a lot. I'm sure this brings back so many memories for you seeing a childhood home again.; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 1:38:00 PM PST
kenju had this to say:: WOW. What are the odds of that happening? Scarlet, it was so nice of you to do that for Naomi. The house looks very nice now - and it did in your pix, too, Naomi. I can imagine how interesting it is to see it after all these years.

My parents moved a lot - but all within a 20 mile radius. Many of the houses we lived in are no longer standing. I wish we had better photos of some of them.; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 1:43:00 PM PST
Anonymous had this to say:: Wow...this was SO neat and how nice of Scarlett to do it for you. It's a wonder she didn't get arrested for trespassing........lol
Gorgeous house....both then and now and I bet it brought back so many memories for you.
Terri
http://www.islandwriter.net; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 2:08:00 PM PST
Gigi Ann had this to say:: What a lovely place to grow up. Fun and sun in Florida.

Homes change with each new owner and that is only to be expected, as each one puts a little bit of their personality touches to the home.

It looked lovely when you lived in it, and it still looks like it has been well maintained.

What a lovely stroll down memories
lane.; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 2:24:00 PM PST
Anonymous had this to say:: What a beautiful sunny home and how nice of your friend to take those pictures for you!; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 7:01:00 PM PST
WendyWings had this to say:: How amazing to get to see it now after 70 years. What a great thing for Scarlet to have done for you :D; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 10:09:00 PM PST
MaR had this to say:: Isn't blogging just fantastic?? Scarlet is wonderful, I am happy I get to see the pictures too since I remember the ones you have posted.
And most of all, I am very happy to hear that you are happy!!; Thursday, November 6, 2008 at 11:21:00 PM PST
Girl About Town had this to say:: This is such a great thing!!!! To be able to see your old house like that, just fantastic. I think our old homes are part of us the way old friends are, and I have actually done what your friend did, when I was back in Sydney a few years ago. How wonderful is your friend!! :); Friday, November 7, 2008 at 1:29:00 AM PST
Pat had this to say:: Gosh ! That's absolutely fascinating.
Well done Scarlet! I wonder if the present owners were there. It can be quite a risky thing taking photos of houses as people are so security conscious.
I once visited our old house and asked if I could see the magnolia I had planted in the garden twenty years earlier. No was the reply!
The house which was Victorian had been tarted up to its detriment I felt but it's better than seeing it derelict.; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 2:21:00 AM PST
debra had this to say:: what great photos! What was it like for you to see the changes?; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 4:58:00 AM PST
Scarlet had this to say:: Naomi, it was my pleasure to do this for you. Apart from being a little nervous for trespassing (I did attempt to ring two buzzers and knock on the front door before snapping away), it was exciting to be there. As I told you, I was a bit sentimental looking at the home through your eyes...knowing you spent a part of your childhood there many years ago. The pictures don't do it justice; it's much more beautiful up close and so well kept.

I'm hoping your brother enjoyed looking at the before and after pics as much as we have! Thanks again for sharing...and for your kind words.; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 8:54:00 AM PST
Jamie Dawn had this to say:: That is so WONDERFUL!!
Scarlet is such a dear!!!
It is amazing how fantastic the home looks now.
It has been well taken care of over the years which I'm sure makes you very happy.
What a gorgeous home!; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 9:55:00 AM PST
Anonymous had this to say:: I love old pictures. I have often wanted to visit some of the homes of my youth to see how they may have changed. Perhaps some day!; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 10:12:00 AM PST
Anonymous had this to say:: What great photos Scarlet took of your childhood home! It is wonderful to see the Then pics against the Now pics.

Another wonderful post, Naomi.

Anne; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 10:57:00 AM PST
Fizzy had this to say:: What a fantastic thing Scarlett did for you. It must have been fantastic to see it again after such a long time. I drove past my Nana's house the other day and remembered lovely long summer afternoons in a perfectly kept garden. It is good to remember such things; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 1:48:00 PM PST
Bobkat had this to say:: It was so nice of Scarlett to do this for you! How wonderful to know that a house you loved so much is still there. I love the contrast between 'bow' and 'then' that these pictures show.

I am sorry I haven't been around much. I have a very good reason, a little of which I have shared on my blog.; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 1:52:00 PM PST
Rain Trueax had this to say:: That was very interesting and what a sweet thing for her to do for you. It looks amazingly the same to me given how much the world has changed in 70 years but that says something about the quality of its construction; Friday, November 7, 2008 at 7:37:00 PM PST
DesLily had this to say:: how absolutely fabulous! And of course you used the new and old photo's wonderfully!!
You never cease to amaze me Naomi!!; Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 5:35:00 AM PST
Rick Rockhill had this to say:: Wow those are fantabulous photos, how lucky you are to have them. What a wonderful place, Naomi.; Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 4:29:00 PM PST
Lucy Stern had this to say:: Wow Naomi, such a beautiful house, then and now....It looks like it has been well taken care of. I am sure it brings back a flood of memories. Scarlet must have had a great time taking the pictures.....what fun!; Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 8:21:00 AM PST
Chickie had this to say:: Oh, wow. That must have been neat to see again!; Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 5:19:00 PM PST
Kanani had this to say:: I'm glad it's still there. I wonder what they did with the inside, and if they know you've seen the house.

I think the way it looks now is fairly humdrum. It's all very off-white and kind of plain. Looks like they got rid of the siding on the bay window --which added some character to the house.; Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 10:39:00 PM PST