This, dear friends, is our old house as it appears today. As you can see, the current owners are really hard core into adding balconies everywhere. They also have a passion for brown paneling - and for superflous tower/lookout station type deals on top. I suppose it isn't superflous to them. Those who remember the house will also note that the two magnolia trees which stood in the foreground on the driveway side are gone - I believe the mimosa tree over on the left is gone too, although that part of the yard is out of view. They've added a lamppost to the porch, and allowed the hedge in front to almost completely cover the large window.
If I didn't know better, I'd say that the Weasleys must have moved in there because the house is turning into The Burrow.
This is a house about 1/2 mile away across Gaston Ave. It was built on the same plans as ours, only reversed. Their porch is open, not glassed in as we did with ours. I took this picture and include it here just as a means of showing and remembering the house as it used to be.
This is our old neighborhood cinema - the Lakewood Theatre. It has just one screen! Life was hard in olden times. But we coped. We had come here to see the movie 'California Suite' when the manager stopped the film and announced to the house that John Wayne had died.
This is a house which fascinated me as a child. It is on Gaston Ave about halfway between our house and Hamilton House (I believe the complex is now known as Shangri-La) where Granny and Gramps had their apartment. There is a high wall along Gaston, so this was the best angle I was able to get. It looks like I am focusing more on the trees than the house. I loved the castle-like towers and battlements. I seem to remember this as being a pretty well-known house in Dallas and being commonly referred to as "The Castle."
This is Aunt Mary and Uncle Jesse's little farmhouse out near McKinney. Sloan's house lies over the hill to the rear. They have a barnyard with numerous chickens. Other residents include three horses, two cows, a goat, and a little donkey named Wild Bill. It is quite a peaceful and idyllic place. As I was giving Uncle Jesse a goodbye hug I told him "this place will be for your grandchildren what Love Road was for us." Those little kids will have a place to come and explore, play, learn, interact with the animals, ride the horses, have pretend and real experiences, and above all create memories.
