There's no place like it

We're still in the States, but I couldn't resist making another post.

I'll be talking a lot about our adventures abroad, but I wanted to talk a little bit about what comes after, when our year in the Eternal City is done, and it's time to click our heels together three times, and return, finally, to our home. I should emphasize the our, there - because we are building a house! We've been under contract for a month or so, but finally got the commitment from the bank right before the weekend, so it's official. We are building a house. Our house.

It's exciting, to think about completely customizing a house to our own needs, tastes, desires. We picked out a floorplan:

This is the basic floorplan, although we've made some modifications. The breakfast room will have a wall added, so that we can make it into Josh's study. I think the master bath layout is silly (who wants to go through a bathroom to get to closets?), so I mocked up several different layouts, and our builder is going to actually draw them up for us, to scale, and then we'll pick which one we like. The little room off the garage will actually open off the house instead, so that we can have a mudroom. We're getting two rooms fitted out in the basement for game rooms (one for board gaming and one for Indigo). We're not having a gas fireplace or a whirlpool tub, since we think they're silly. I'm swapping the refrigerator and stove locations on the plans, because I think it makes more sense to do so. Etc.

I spent the entire month of July going to various home stores and getting quotes on cabinetry, counter tops, faucets, siding, roofing, and picking out wall colors. Next up are tiles for the floor, and figuring out a backsplash for behind the oven. Then appliances, I guess? I'm trying to get as much done as possible while we're still in the States, because it makes more sense to pick out these things in person, than by looking at pictures on the internet.


The house itself will be in Leeds, MA, which is about 10 minutes from downtown Northampton. The development abuts conservation land, so there will be a finite number of houses up there, and no residential sprawl. The location is also quite close to Look Park, a place that we visit nearly every weekend anyway. Once we're living in our new house, we'll be able to walk there.

So, phew! It's been a ton of work, and I'm sure the work will continue, because the house is being built while we're abroad. Yes, we have an agent here who will check on the construction regularly, not to worry. The plan is to close and move in immediately upon our return, ruby slippers and all.

All roads lead to...

So why Rome, anyway?

This upcoming academic year is Josh's sabbatical year, and he'll spend it turning his dissertation into a book for publication, a necessary step to acquire tenure at Smith College. He applied for, and (drum roll please!) won the Rome Prize, a prestigious award made annually by the American Academy in Rome. It was a national competition (I'm told there were more than 800 applicants), and fellowships were awarded to 30 artists and scholars, Josh included. I'm very proud, can't you tell?

Here's the official prize information:
Millicent Mercer Johnsen Post-Doctoral Rome Prize
JOSHUA COLIN BIRK
Assistant Professor, Department of History, Smith College
Baptized Sultans: The Norman Kings of Sicily & the Birth of the Anti-Islamic Critique

Snazzy book name, too, don't you think? He's proud of it.

So, off we go to Rome for the 2012-13 academic year. We depart the U.S. on September 6th, and return next June. We'll be staying on the Academy grounds, which are located on the Janiculum Hill, one of the tallest hills in Rome.

Aerial View of the Janiculum, Photo by Alex MacLean

Here is the The McKim, Mead & White Building, the main building of the Academy where we will eat and congregate. We'll be living in an apartment in another building.

Photo by Jonathan Wallen

I could post a hundred pictures of the buildings and grounds that I've found online, but I think I'll wait and post my own photos.  I can't wait!