Real Estate

"Usually, home is associated with a physical space, whether that is a building, neighborhood, town, city, or country; sometimes all that comes to mind are the four walls of a room. Home is where, when you walk in the door, you recognize the smell of clean clothes, stir-fry, or the scent of a field of wheat. It's the light that shines through the window each night, casting familiar shadows. It's waking up in the morning and walking around without needing to turn on the light. For me, however, all of these feelings are scattered since my home is a collection of specific spaces that make me feel good when I'm in them. I walk around La Cerdanya and suddenly feel at home, but the illusion disappears in the blink of an eye. I go back to Chamonix and the smell of fall welcomes me — I feel at home, but the spell is soon broken. In Nepal, too, the relaxed feeling of home sometimes takes hold of me for a moment. I can often feel more like I'm in my own place in some unknown country than when I'm in the house I've paid for and made my own, where some days I feel like a total stranger."

"Appeles us'd to paint a good housewife upon a snayl; which intimated that she should be as slow from gadding abroad, and when she went she should carry her house upon her back; that is, she should make all sure at home."

"My house, my house, though thou art small, Thou art to me the Escurial."

"Now, with a rush of old memories, how clearly it stood up before him, in the darkness! Shabby indeed, and small and poorly furnished, and yet his, the home he had made for himself, the home he had been so happy to get back to after his day's work. And the home had been happy with him, too, evidently, and was missing him, and wanted him back, and was telling him so, through his nose, sorrowfully, reproachfully, but with no bitterness or anger; only with plaintive reminder that it was there, and wanted him."

"The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor, The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door; The chest contriv'd a double debt to pay, A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day."

"How small of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure! Still to ourselves in every place consigned, Our own felicity we make or find. With secret course, which no loud storms annoy, Glides the smooth current of domestic joy."

"At night returning, every labour sped, He sits him down, the monarch of a shed; Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys His children's looks, that brighten at the blaze; While his lov'd partner, boastful of her hoard, Displays her cleanly platter on the board."

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in."

"How does it feel, how does it feel? To be without a home Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone."

"Home and heaven are not so far separated as we sometimes think. Nay, they are not separated at all, for they are both in the same great building. Home is the lower story, and is located down here on the ground floor; heaven is above stairs, in the second and "third" stories; and as one after another the family is called to come up higher, that which seemed to be such a strange place begins to wear a familiar aspect; and when at last not one is left below, the home is transferred to heaven, and heaven is home."

"How could I go back to my home? I have people online bragging about putting dead animals through my mailbox. I’ve got some asshole in California who I’ve never talked to hiring a private investigator to stalk me. What am I going to do – go home and just wait until someone makes good on their threats? I’m scared that what it’s going to take to stop this is the death of one of the women who’s been targeted."

"My lodging is in Leather-Lane, A parlor that's next to the sky; 'Tis exposed to the wind and the rain, But the wind and the rain I defy."

"Just the wee cot—the cricket's chirr— Love and the smiling face of her."

"To fireside happiness, to hours of ease Blest with that charm, the certainty to please."

"Gallus in sterquilinio suo plurimum potest."

"That is my home of love."

"Ma meason est a moy come mon castel, hors de quel le ley ne moy arta a fuer."

"Though home be but homely, yet huswife is taught That home hath no fellow to such as have aught."

"I read within a poet's book A word that starred the page, "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage." Yes, that is true, and something more: You'll find, where'er you roam, That marble floors and gilded walls Can never make a home. But every house where Love abides And Friendship is a guest, Is surely home, and home, sweet home; For there the heart can rest."

"when you know the plants, you just feel more at home wherever you go"

"What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line."

"Crowned not only with no history, but with no credible possibility of time for history, and consecrated by no uses save the commercial at any cost, they are simply the most piercing notes in that concert of the expensively provisional into which your supreme sense of New York resolves itself"

"Thirty thousand feet above the earth / its a beautiful thing. everybody's a beautiful thing / mmm skyscraper, i love you."

"In the twentieth century, as in the twelfth, men's aspirations and longings may be correctly interpreted by the monuments they erect. For now as always the seen reveals the unseen; the material bodies forth the spiritual; thoughts are hidden until they find expression in tangible form. As the Gothic cathedral during the Dark Ages voiced the deep yearnings of devout souls, so the modern skyscraper as unmistakably reveals the secret springs of the world’s ceaseless activity, showing clearly what are the most important factors in the life of this age. The deity of to-day is the supposedly almighty dollar, and the towering structures of modern cities often serve as temples dedicated to mammon worship. They point a moral and teach a lesson as truly as the churches and castles that dotted mediaeval Europe."

"One of the first uses of stainless steel over a large exposed building surface. The decorative treatment of the masonry walls below changes with every set-back and includes story-high basket-weave designs, radiator-cap gargoyles, and a band of abstract automobiles. The lobby is a modernistic composition of African marble and chrome steel."

"The design, originally drawn up for building contractor William H. Reynolds, was finally sold to Walter P. Chrysler, who wanted a provocative building which would not merely scrape the sky but positively pierce it. Its 77 floors briefly making it the highest building in the world—at least until the Empire State Building was completed—it became the star of the New York skyline, thanks above all to its crowning peak. In a deliberate strategy of myth generation, Van Alen planned a dramatic moment of revelation: the entire seven-storey pinnacle, complete with special-steel facing, was first assembled inside the building, and then hoisted into position through the roof opening and anchored on top in just one and a half hours. All of a sudden it was there — a sensational fait accompli."

"Art Deco Holmes in France found its American equivalent in the design of the New York skyscrapers of the 1920s. The Chrysler Building... was one of the most accomplished essays in the style."

"Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

"Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart."

"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."

"They will build houses and live in them, And they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build for someone else to inhabit, Nor will they plant for others to eat. For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, And the work of their hands my chosen ones will enjoy to the full."

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including . . . housing."

"A loving heart builds houses. A hating heart destroys houses."

"Hand added to hand, and a man's house is built up."

"He who destroys houses destroys silver. He who destroys a house destroys gold."

"Shelter is a human need ranking in priority with food and water and a home is an essential condition of civilized life. Once these truths are seen, homelessness will be recognized for what it is: an affront to human dignity and the denial of a basic human right."

"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built."

"What is the purpose of houses? It is to protect us from the wind and cold of winter, the heat and rain of summer, and to keep out robbers and thieves. Once these ends have been secured, that is all. Whatever does not contribute to these ends should be eliminated."

"This land is the house we have always lived in"

"Unfortunately, throughout the housing crisis we’ve seen innocent homeowners who have been victims of shady mortgage lenders and unscrupulous individuals who have used a down market to line their own pockets at the expense of others. This bill is designed to send a message by revising our laws to ensure criminals are brought to justice and that law enforcement has the tools to uncover these fraudulent schemes and go after the bad actors. Criminals should be put on notice that ripping off homeowners and taxpayers won’t be tolerated."

"If no serious action is taken, [said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2003] the number of slum dwellers worldwide is projected to rise over the next 30 years to about 2 billion."

"There is a house built out of stone Wooden floors, walls and window sills Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust This is a place where I don't feel alone This is a place where I feel at home"

"Sed non solum locum Ecclesiae zelare debemus, sed hanc quoque interiorem in nobis domum Dei; ne sit domus negotiationis, aut spelunca latronum."

"As is well-known, the U.S. went off the rails in its home-ownership and mortgage-lending policies, and for these mistakes our economy is now paying a huge price. All of us participated in the destructive behavior – government, lenders, borrowers, the media, rating agencies, you name it. At the core of the folly was the almost universal belief that the value of houses was certain to increase over time and that any dips would be inconsequential. The acceptance of this premise justified almost any price and practice in housing transactions. Homeowners everywhere felt richer and rushed to “monetize” the increased value of their homes by refinancings. These massive cash infusions fueled a consumption binge throughout our economy. It all seemed great fun while it lasted. (A largely unnoted fact: Large numbers of people who have “lost” their house through foreclosure have actually realized a profit because they carried out refinancings earlier that gave them cash in excess of their cost. In these cases, the evicted homeowner was the winner, and the victim was the lender.) In 2007, the bubble burst, just as all bubbles must. We are now in the fourth year of a cure that, though long and painful, is sure to succeed. Today, household formations are consistently exceeding housing starts."