There are four photos on this page.

This house we bought at 10081 Fair Beauty in Columbia, Maryland, was built eight years earlier in late 1977. It has floor space that is at least 60% larger than the homes we grew up in. We wanted the extra size with the idea that we could provide Rose Paton a place to live if she wanted to join us. She didn’t.

Our domain is 1/4 acre. and much of that is occupied by the house itself. Columbia itself is a new town, developed in the 1960s by Jim Rouse. From the beginning, Rouse said, “Columbia will be economically diverse, polycultural, multi-faith and inter-racial.” It struggles to keep alive this vision, but we continue to work at it.

In the photo north is to the right and south to the left.

During the years we've lived here, we've made routine updates and maintenance to the house, replacing the windows the doors, the floors, the carpet, the roofing and the driveway, remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms, and installing a rain garden and solar panels. The deck needs to be replaced, but, as of 2022, that is a future project. We also had some unexpected, and unwelcome, projects. In 1995, our aluminum siding, and that of everyone in the neighborhood, was damaged by hail. The insurance company handled it and replaced the siding with vinyl siding. In 2004, the northern wall of the house was struck by lightning. Luckily, there was no fire, but several appliances were toasted and had to be replaced as well as the siding. In 2013, we discovered that the back wall and adjoining floor in the family room was rotting away due to a leak. In the spring of 2016, a large pine tree in our backyard toppled onto our house in the middle of the night. We were incredibly lucky. The trunk of the tree landed squarely atop our chimney and stayed there. Branches poked two holes in the roof, but it could have been much worse. In 2017, we discovered that the repairs made for rot in 2013 had not used wood treated to prevent termite infestations. Termites made our home their home. The back wall and floor joists of the family room had to be replaced for termite damage. In addition, we've had neighbor’s trees fall that grazed the south wall and that grazed the north wall but did not require any repairs, just debris removal.

Dust and/or other blemishes have not been removed from this version of the image.

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