Carl's house

Wash your eyes with this

In my line of work, I must regularly deal with architects. On the whole I have little good to say about the work they produce. I am sure they are good people, with good intentions, but there are some drawings that I review that I would be ashamed to put my name on.

We do a lot of work with a local firm. My father is a very close friend with several of the principals of the firm. Architects have field representatives that spend a lot of time on large jobs in supervisory roles. On a recent project we met Carl. In my opinion, Carl is one of the nicest people I have ever met. He works very hard at his job, and is just a hell of a person.

This summer, Carl informed the firm that he was going to take a leave of absence to go home and do some work on his mother’s house. Carl is close to sixty, so his mother must be near 80.

So Carl sold his house here in Ohio, including all of the furnishings, and went home. To Mississippi. Gulfport Mississippi.

His house, and his mother’s and his sister’s, were all within three blocks of the beach.

Then came Hurricane Katrina. Now, Carl’s house is beachfront property. The hurricane and storm surge lifted the entire house off the foundation, and set it on a skew, almost 5-1/2 feet out of square on the foundation. It is a total loss. All of the contents are ruined. The sister’s house was a bit farther from the shore. For some reason it was spared a lot of the damage, but nonetheless.

Less than one week after the hurricane passed, the firm had borrowed a motor home, stocked it with food and clothing, and sent it south for Car.

Earlier this year, my father and mother had the opportunity to buy the house next to them and they did. They were in the process of renovating it when the hurricane hit. They have offered to let Carl stay there and he has accepted. The firm learned of this and swung into action again. People have been at the house every night for almost three weeks, painting and renovation. The interior design team has been there selecting curtains, flooring and fixtures.

Somehow, the firm got in touch with the people that bought Carl’s house. When the new owners learned what happened to Carl, they agreed to give back all of the furniture and hand made wall hangings that Carl’s wife had made and left with the house.

The local appliance store has even pitched in to help furnish the kitchen. Essentially, when Carl and his wife arrive tomorrow, they will be able to put their suitcases in the closet, and be in the home that they left.

Carl does not know anything about this.

He will know tomorrow.


I can’t wait.

There are good people in this world

And these Architects, at least for now, are among them


Troubador