Near the Beach: Venice, CA., originally uploaded by Here in Van Nuys.

There is just something simple and direct about this old house that I find appealing. It probably is close to 100 years old. Just steps away from the beach, it has seen a lot of changes in this neighborhood through the years.

There was a time when Californians built homes that communicated with the pedestrian. A facade was not a garage door, nor was it modernist with all the activity oriented behind gates, gardens and doors. The old houses reached out to the street and beckoned the passerby to come visit.

And these houses were “green” in the sense that they used energy sparingly. No air-conditioning, open windows, sparingly lit with just enough electricity and no excess of exterior lighting.

This is not the most beautiful house on the block, but its proportions are better than almost anything built today in mass quantity. There is balance and self-assurance, modesty and directness.

These are Americans qualities as well.