That was then:

This is now:

That's my mobile home back in 1973, when the original owners towed it into place and planted the original landscaping. Over the years someone built an addition on the side, someone else added ugly aluminum siding (which we painted a nice, peaceful green), the height of those cool slanted railings became too low for the new building code, and the fab old VW was replaced by a Prius.

Though the railings on the house are new, and we've changed the front steps so they face the street, the floor of the deck is the original clear-heart redwood, reclaimed and re-sanded and still strong and beautiful.

Oh -- and check out the succulents and the tree in the first photo. They're still here, huge now, and a sweet connection to the beginnings of this seaside house.