The Meaning of a House

The readings for Wednesday, both Upton's "An American Icon"  and Vlach's "African American Housing in Virginia's Landscape of Slavery"  address the concept of a house as more than a means of survival.  According to the authors, a home is meant to say something about its owners- even if the house, as in the case of slaves, wasn't actually owned.  Houses are used to "comfort the mind if not the body" (Vlach, 227).  Also according to Vlach, "Certain architectual traditions might have been read by slaves as African practices" (225)  and this comfort of home was increased by the practicing of personal traditions in their makeshift homes- from gardening to having thatched roofs.  "An American Icon"  claims that "houses are...rich in meanings.  They dignify families and help to structure their working lives.  They claim a place for the individual and the family in time (history)  and space (community) and in the timeless cosmos." (17).  This is true for not only the average American, but also for figures marked in our history, such as Thomas Jefferson. 

Reading these two articles made me wonder what my childhood home says about my family and our values.  We live in a somewhat traditional tudor-style home in a suburb.  I think this says that my family values a sense of tradition and closeness to others as our neighbors are very close to us, but we don't have a fence.   Inside, our house is full of a lot of natural materials and wood- hardwood floors and ceilings and stairs.  This is a sign that my family is somewhat concerned with luxury as hardwood floors are somewhat fancier than carpet and we had to put in or refinish some of them, so that shows that that is important to us.  This same value of comfort is reflected in the remodeling we have done in our kitchen and bathrooms to make them "modern."  One example is how we put a hole in the wall of our kitchen to put a counter through it to connect our family room and kitchen with stools on either side.  This connects two areas of our life- eating and relaxing, showing that we like to be able to spend time together even when working on making a meal.   We have also put in a lot of built in bookshelves in the house, showing that my family values reading and an education, but we have also put in two built-in tvs, showing that we also like to relax and are concerned with technology.  These are just a few examples that came to mind following Wednesdays' reading.