Hopefully it's the kind that you're living in right now. Or maybe you have pleasant thoughts about the style of the house you grew up in.
My parents built two new homes – both ranches – on the west side of Lorain, one in the late 1950s, one in the mid-1960s. Consequently, that was the style I was used to. Our last ranch with three bedrooms on E. Skyline Drive was a little cramped, but it was perfect for my parents when they eventually became empty nesters.
Most of my friends in the 1960s and 70s lived in ranches as well. A couple of them lived in colonials, and I remember thinking that they must be sort of rich. They even had their own bedrooms – a foreign concept to someone like me who shared his bedroom with two brothers. (Ironically, I now look back and get sentimental about those days.)
During my adulthood, I've lived in two colonials – one on the east side of Lorain and one in Sheffield Lake. During those years, I was no longer awestruck about colonials. And I certainly knew I wasn't rich.
Anyway, what I'm taking my time getting around to is the observation that everyone has their own concept of what is the perfect house.
Sixty years ago, the ad for Robert Masley, Builder above from the August 29, 1964 Journal made the case that the home mentioned in the ad was 'the most outstanding and most accepted home in Lorain.'
It's hyperbole to be sure, but it was a different time. Constructing a house in Lorain meant either building in a new subdivision, or buying a vacant lot in an established neighborhood and working with a builder on your own. The concept of gated communities was still years off. Rock Creek Run was probably the closest thing.)
And what did the house profiled in the ad look like? Here it is, sixty years later, still looking great.
