Humble Homes

I’ve been back in the archives from past trips to Costa Rica.

Eleven or twelve years ago I started paying more attention to small houses, mostly in the countryside. Many of them appeal to me because they are minimal, low-budget, structures which nevertheless are perfectly adequate homes.

A family prepares a meal in their outdoor kitchen.

Color and near-symmetry distinguish this new home.

No one is home. Most likely they’re working in the steep surrounding hills, tending coffee.

Blue, white, red, metal roof.

Trees above, carefully tended gardens, a patch of bright orange cosmos….

An old-style, mostly wooden house. You see fewer of these with every passing year.

Under the shade of a mango tree. Who is at the door?

The house is on its way out. The zinnia “plantation” says “We’re still here….”

Home in the country. All concrete, and maybe steel joists and rafters under the roof. Take that, you hungry termites!

Be it ever so humble….

There is no place like home