“They’re going to tear it down?” Melissa was incredulous.
“They want to build new houses that they say will be bigger and better,” George said as he spooned cereal into his mouth. “They think it will bring up the property values of the neighborhood and then we’ll all benefit.”
“We certainly will not benefit from the loss of that beautiful building! You really want to have to look at one of those McMansions every time you look out our window?”
George shrugged. “Not really, but that’s progress for you. The old has to make way for the new.”
“That’s not true. What about our house? Or the other colonial houses all over the country? What if people thought that way about the castles in Europe that remain valuable parts of history?”
“Melissa, there are plenty of ways to preserve history without leaving every drafty old building standing where new houses could go up. I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live in a medieval castle.”
“No, but people lived quite comfortably in them once upon a time. And they lived in houses like these for centuries before central air was invented. There’s no reason we can’t continue to live like this.”
“You seriously want to live in a house that is heated only by fireplaces?”
“Would that really be so bad? Just think how romantic it would be.”
“Just because it’s romantic doesn’t mean it’s reasonable. Firewood costs a lot more now than it did two hundred years ago and neither of us has the time to devote to keeping multiple fires throughout the house burning. I’d give it a week before you stopped calling it romantic.”
“That’s what renovations are for.”
George scoffed. “The truth comes out. You like your modern comforts as much as the next person. You won’t tear down an old building so they can put up a new one, but you have no problem mutilating the building to add modern comforts.”
“It’s not mutilating. Our house looks essentially the same as it did a century ago.”
“Except for all the fireplaces they filled in.”
“It looks the same from the outside.”
“Is this really about preserving history? Or is it just that you don’t want to have an eyesore across the street?”
“It’s about the history! We’re lucky enough to live in a beautiful area with all these old houses. What will happen if we just let them tear them all down?”
“Maybe our property values really will go up.”
“Uh uh. I”m not going to let that happen. We bought this house in this neighborhood for a reason. I’m not going to let them take away everything I love about it. I’m going to get a petition going.” Melissa set down her coffee with a thump, picked up her phone, and started furiously tapping the screen.
George sighed, opened his mouth to argue, but gave up and ate another spoonful of cereal instead.
To be continued…