Goodbye, Lenore

I lived in a 3-story red brick apartment building built in 1922 by Dr. John Collins. Six nearly identical apartments with cast iron balconies on the front and wooden porches on the back, two apartments to each floor, mirrored floor plans, each with an entry door to the living room from the main foyer/stairwell and a door to the bedroom on the adjacent wall. That second door always seemed odd - but maybe it was so that room could be rented out in desperate times. A large double door, cast iron in an acorn motif backed by plexi-glass is the main entrance to the foyer, and above the doors a transom onto which the building name is scribed: LENORE. I often wondered, Who was Lenore?

I acquired the apartment while on a trip to London and Ireland. I was thinking about it while on my trans-Atlantic flight and sketched my dreams for the space in a dark airplane.

Inside, I made my habitat. A look back in time... I never really "decorated." It was a place to work, sleep and eat. I did collect some antique furniture and I hung things that inspired me like the 1891 birds eye view print of Savannah, postcards from friends, and the artwork of my favorite kids, Ella and Joey. When I first came to Savannah, all I owned was in the back of my small pickup truck. Now I have half-filled a 16' moving truck. Perhaps I should have left my Savannah things in Savannah, but each piece has a unique story of how it was acquired and I've grown fond of them.

Some said this place was just what they imagined it to be, knowing me before meeting my apartment. It evolved as an apartment in Savannah should. Now that I've indulged in this look back through time of my years in the Lenore, I wonder what my next dwelling will be...