There is Something About a Balcony

I promised pictures of a few interesting houses we encountered in St. Augustine and as I promised here is the post. Some of the houses do not have one but a defining feature that really interested me was the balcony. As usual, feel free to click each photo for a better view.

What I discovered as I took these shots is that balconies are a throw-back to a time before air conditioning and our retreat into our own little isolated boxes. They offered an escape from the heat of the house, a chance to display your creativity in making the space your own, as well as a chance to interact with your neighbors as they strolled in the streets or enjoyed their balconies as well. I call the picture above "the plain house" because nothing has been done to it and the house has actually been abandoned. I know because we snooped and looked through the windows and it is loaded with furniture that is covered with layers of dust.

A good number of these houses have wrap around balconies which I find really appealing. This one I have titled the "Mark Twain house" because I could imagine Huckleberry Finn running out of the door and off to some new adventure.

This one does not have a balcony but is simply interesting because it is so weathered. As I said in an earlier post: it screams "mystery". Each board and plank looks as if at any moment it will crumble into dust and blow away, but somehow it has stood for a long, long time.

The owners of this house "the pink house" have added flowers and seating and created a small oasis to while away the evenings.

I really liked this shot of another pink house further down a side street because there is the contrast in color of the back of the stairs, the pink of the house, and how they move the eye up to the balcony.

An finally, a full view of the" secret garden house". The unseen elderly lady or young couple have truly made this their own by continuing the garden theme on the balcony. I really like the way they have kept the old world feel of the house and the overgrown garden puts a fine point on that theme.

The point of these pictures is that despite the fact that we and most tourists regard St. Augustine as our play ground, it is actually a place where real people live and go about their daily lives. I say that because just as these balconies were designed to do they helped us interact with a number of people...