This is the area
I grew up in.
A family suburb on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour
the cars parked in the driveways
were Holdens,
Fords, and the occasional Bentley.
My parents paid 14,000 pounds
for our house
it was three stories high
(if you count the attic with it's two bedrooms
and the playroom built into the slope of the block!!!!)
and it had a view straight through
the heads of the Harbour
it sold recently for over
2 million dollars
I do wish they had kept it!!!
The homes were all a bit tired,
the gardens often had a bike
on it's side in the drive or
a cricket bat lying on the lawn
and the grass was often just slightly too long
and the gardens were a bit free flowing,
hydrangeas and camellias were the plants of choice.
It was not an untidy suburb, it was just a family
place.
recently I went back to visit
and it was not the same
There is not a bit of peeling paint
to be spied anywhere
the gardens are manicured to
within an inch of their lives
the cars in the drives are
BMW s, Mercedes Benz, and Suburus,
mostly large 4 wheel drive machines
It is beautiful, there is no doubt about that
but somehow it
has lost that fabulous familiar feeling
that said
you are home!
all images were found here
Goodnight
Sad for you...my childhood neighbourhood has changed too - for the worse - so that's a bit yuk. At least the homes are well loved and valued by the new owners, and you still have memories.
ReplyDeleteOh my! This happened where I grew up too. I couldn't afford to live there if I wanted to. But I don't. Some of the soul goes out of a neighborhood that's kept so excruciatingly tidy.
ReplyDeleteAs an Army brat the only "home" I had was my maternal Grandparents house. It was a pretty Cape Cod in a middle class neighborhood of Irish Catholics. Sadly it suffered the other fate. It went through the "changing neighborhood" phase. It is now no longer safe to walk there after dark.
ReplyDeleteOh well, you can't go back again.
It is so interesting, for example as a child I felt my home was quite large and now when I go back ....welll it seems to have shrunk!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
So sad when family neighbourhoods are no longer within reach of young families. This looks like a wonderful place to have spent childhood - but a bit sterile now, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteThen you'll be very comfortable when you come to visit me! Or maybe not...
ReplyDeleteWhere are the pics of your paint job?
xo jane
How interesting... it would make me nervous living in a suburb like this - I think I know which one it is too! Some of the people I met who were old time Paddington residents really hated what had happened to their patch of Sydney - one told me there used to be five butchers in walking distance and now all are gone - replaced by a stack of shoe shops and one overpriced deli. A x
ReplyDeleteIt is sad when you go back somewhere and it is not as you imagined... especially your childhood home... x
ReplyDeleteThe memories are wonderful Lisa. James I am glad it became yuppie and trendy rather than going the other way but absolutely nowhere in Sydney is affordable to young families anymore which is dreadful. I must admit I don't ever want to live in a large city again I really like the country life!
ReplyDeleteAt least our home was still there, the other home I spent a lot of my youth in was burnt to the ground for an insurance scam! Thankfully they did not get paid out and I look the other way every time we drive past (which is frequently as it is not too far away from where we are now.) so the memories will not be tarnished by the remains of a once beautiful home. Thank you all for dropping by I do love to see you xx J.
I found your blog today thru Karina. I adore the lovely pictures of homes. How fortunate that your home place is still so pretty. The house I grew up in is now part of ghetto in an awful part of the city, where you dare not drive. I can't bear to even try to drive there. Have a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteOh what a change, looks very familiar. I'm a St Ives girl & my parents family home is where they remain. It's very leafy & gorgeous but what, like 1000 dense living apartments have sprung up on Memorial Avenue near the shopping village, makes me feel a bit ill.
ReplyDeleteAs an Army wife, we move our 4 children every 2 years but are almost at the stage where we buy land (outside of Canberra) & build a home, start a farm & enjoy country lifestyle, city private schools. Love Posie
I go back home and absolutely nothing is changed at all, it's nice, still just a neighborhood, big trees, same houses, no renovations..but I can imagine the feeling seeing this gorgeous place where you grew up so changed..
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your award, Julienne!
Kit
Ah! Growing up as a military dependent, if possible, my family would go to visit my grandma (my dad's mom) in the summer every 2 years. But shortly after getting married, she moved into an apartment, since it was too much to upkeep her home and property. I do miss visiting my grandma's home and neighborhood! And we just came back from my hubby's family in Hawaii, and it was great to see his old home, that his younger sister now lives in with her family.
ReplyDeleteLovely images that you shared on this post.
Blessings & Aloha!