House Lessons

Starred review from January 1, 2020
Almost anyone who's ever let heart rule head will nod, at the very least, at the stories that a 100-year-old house in Port Townsend, Washington, evokes. In her memoir of falling in love with a house, novelist Bauermeister (The Scentkeeper, 2019) details every cranny, cove, and piece of plaster. Recently returned from a two-year stint in Bergamo, Italy, with family, Bauermeister spied a somewhat ramshackle house in the "wilds" of the Olympic Peninsula. When its owner passes away and lawyers agree to a sale with buyers committing to a clean-out, so begins Bauermeister and her husband, Ben's year-plus of dump-trucking all types of hoarded items, and many-years-long process of rebuilding the home from the foundation up. Serendipity leads Bauermeister to architect Roman Greggory, who helps return the home to its original American Foursquare design. Family bonds are strengthened, Bauermeister's two children grow up, and, a total of 17 years later, Bauermeister and Ben can thoroughly inhabit their masterpiece. This will resonate with any readers who love words and old houses.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)