Unreal Estates A column by Beth Boyle Machlan on American mythologies of home and housing.

In This House We Believe

I don’t believe that signs are enough, because the claims of the house are empty without the actions of the people in them.

Buying a Starter Home at the End of the World

I knew there was nothing natural about my homeownership. I had merely found a lucky loophole in the midst of tremendous misfortune.

To All the Brooklyn Brownstones I’ve Loved Before

The brownstone stood for everything I wanted: solidity and urbanity, possibility and permanence. I could see it, stand inside it, even sleep there. But it wasn’t mine.