Old Haunts…
There was a period in the 2017-2018 timeframe when I was taking weekly trips to projects located on Cape Cod. Meetings were regular and I had a good routine going; drop off the kids at school (it was pre-school back then) and then head straight to the jobsite rather than going into the office. Depending on traffic I’d get down there before 10 and have a good 1-2 hour meeting with the builder and client at one project and then head across the Cape to see the other project that was underway at the same time. Depending on how my tight my schedule was I’d stop for coffee and a sandwich on my way out of town and be back in the office by mid-afternoon to download my construction photos, write up any notes that I had and work on sketches that may have come up that day. Sometimes the interior designer that was working on the project would have to be on site as well and we’d meet at a Home Depot near her house and carpool the rest of the way. It was a good routine and the projects, clients and builders were really good to work with so it really made my week easier.
But projects come to an end and the traveling routine ends with it, and so I haven’t been to see those projects in more than 5 years now. A lot has changed since then, I left the company that I was with at the time, did a good stint with another firm, there was a pandemic and I started my own firm and now I don’t even go into an office anymore, just into my guest room/office. But, I’ve kept a good relationship with the builder and the client for one of those projects and today I was back down in Barnstable again. It’s amazing at how much of that time comes back to you - something about heading down the roads and walking into the places that were a part of that routine brings back many memories with it. Any architect will tell you that it’s amazing to see one of their projects lived in and with the landscape grown in and fuller than it was when it was first planted, and that was certainly true today. The house has been nicely broken in and the client is clearly still in love with it. The builder has the same familiar smile and positive attitude and so you know it’s going to be great to work with them again on the updates the client has in mind. Also, the coffee shop smells just like it should and the coffee is as good as it ever was (which is all that I ask for out of a cup of coffee!)
The other project was unfortunately stopped in the middle of construction due to circumstances beyond the control of the builder or myself and so it still sits empty and half complete. This is my only project that I have like this and my feelings about it are complicated. I would love to see it completed, but that’s not for me to decide. I wonder who else knows a feeling like this, a director or screenwriter who started a film but was shut down when the studio went under? Or those movies that get made and then placed in a vault because it’s better for the studio to have it as a write-off? An author who sells a book but the published sits on it? A painted who sells artwork that sits in the collectors house and isn’t seen by the general public?
As always I focus on the positive and am glad to be back in some of my old haunts. At the moment I don’t think it will be back to the old routine of being there every week, just an occasional trip down memory lane as these little updates get underway. There is the chance of new work in town there, which I’ll work hard to get, and keep my fingers crossed for.
