Mystery Doors

This old building in downtown Lexington, Virginia features a small set of doors on a side wall.

I thought the little doors were a local curiosity and my own curiosity prompted a small research project.  Google is quick to respond so it didn’t take long.

The old doors were called a “milk chute”.

Evidently they open to a platform where the milkman (they used to have milkmen in the old days you know) could pick up empty milk bottles and replace them with full ones.

The homeowner would retrieve the delivery (not the man – the milk bottles) from inside the house.

And if something extra was needed  (not the man) or  something different (well, maybe the man) from the usual order, the owner could leave a note in the neck of one of the returning empty bottles (hmm…secret messages?).  Actually, you could order vegetables or bread too.  The chutes were multi purpose.

And if you locked yourself out of your house, a little kid could usually crawl through the chute to get inside and open the door for you.

Clever huh?

Although home deliveries of perishable products came to a halt by the late 1960’s, there are still many old buildings with milk chutes (unfortunately, not milk men).

But, discovering little doors like this made me yearn for the good old days of  home deliveries, milkmen and mystery doors.

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He is Stone Rich

Stone Tower in Regensburg, Germany

This is one of the medieval tower buildings in Regensburg, Germany that once belonged to a rich and powerful patrician family.

The actual living space was on the main level.

The upper stories were only a façade, with small storage rooms behind the upper windows.

Stone was expensive, so prosperity was displayed by the height of the tower you owned – the higher the tower, the more stones required and the wealthier the merchant.

Germans still say of someone they think is wealthy, “He is stone rich.”

Many such buildings remain in Regensburg and some owners have invested in renovating the upper levels and adding electricity.  They can then rent the tiny spaces to students who are able and willing to climb the ladders between floors.

Note the varying window styles on the different levels of this tower.

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Is That Tara?

Walking through the historic town of Lexington, Virginia I see so many beautiful homes.

This is one I glimpsed through foliage.

I thought it looked like a miniature modern day version of Tara.

And I dredged up images of Southern gallantry.

And I was transported to the age of elegance

before the winds of war took their toll.

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• Lovely Lex! (wlusrc.wordpress.com)

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