The Jewell Box

The first time I walked through the threshold and into the foyer, I knew instantly I had to live here. It was visceral. It would have seemed that any number of barricades should have prevented me, so the sheer fact that my wish came true (and in such a timely fashion) is proof in the pudding that this was a  match meant to be. Built in 1927 with character to spare, this Spanish Storybook gem had been a builder's showcase on a block that was the 1928 Milwaukee Parade of Homes, and was now on the National Register of Historic Places. And I now have the privilege of living here. Yes, me!

Fast forward just over a year when my friend Marianne Kohlman recommended me for a weekly feature in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel called "At Home With". I was hardly photography ready, but the idea of publicity for the shop was too hard to resist. So I kicked it into a high gear and with a little help from my friends, I completed a slew of projects in just 4 weeks- burning the midnight oil on several nights. Do you know what I learned? I'm not 30 anymore. I'm still recovering!

Special thanks to Nancy Herrick for writing such a nice piece, and to photographer Gary Porter for taking such awesome pictures. You can read the full article here, and there's a full gallery here.

Finally, I have a little story to share.

Shortly after moving in I decided the house needed a name. It's so that kind of house. Over the last 15 months I've tossed several monikers around, but nothing sounded right. Then just before the photo shoot, I learned that Paul Jewell had passed on. Paul lived here with his wife Sharon for 4 decades, and they raised their family here. I was thinking about how Paul and Sharon had so lovingly cared for this very special house, and suddenly her name became crystal clear; I would call her Jewell Box. And so it is.

Since the house was so clean and there were fresh flowers about, I took a bunch of pictures of my own and put this little video together...in Paul's memory.