I can't tell you how amazed I am by this space. It's the Free People headquarters in Philadelphia, and it completely blows my mind. Ok, it's not technically a "home", but this space is just oozing with home inspiration. Can you imagine coming to work here everyday? Inspiration overload! My goodness, it's no wonder their collections are gigantic each season. I'd be pumping out the goods in a workplace like this too!
This photo made me think of an experience I had many years ago...
In an art class, in intermediate school, we were asked to sketch our "dream home". I drew this building:
I guess it doesn't look like much, but it's a GIGANTIC former sugar processing facility which overlooks Nawiliwili Harbor and Kalapaki Beach. In the next photo you can really get a sense of the scale of this building, as it sits perched on a hill above a full-sized cruise ship. Like I said, gigantic.
I'd been enamored with this building since I was a very little girl. It has sat empty and unused since long before I ever set eyes upon it- fuel and fodder for a little girls' imagination to run wild with ideas. I imagined a great big wall around my great big home on the hill, an indoor arena for my horses, skylights, and an indoor park... The possibilities (and the square footage, it seemed) were endless. My teacher, however, thought it very strange and asked that I choose between a second attempt at the assignment, or failing it entirely. I attempted a weak argument; something about the clarification of a dream home vs. a dream house... in the end, I reluctantly sketched a quick little square with a triangle roof because that's what she wanted. But the truth is, this bulk sugar mill- far past its glory, was the dream. I still feel its influence in my design preferences, and its spirit in the spaces that inspire me.
James is obsessed with the big, green Victorian on Pacific St. that overlooks Emerson Park.
What was your dream home as a kid? What it is now?
What was your dream home as a kid? What it is now?
