“Are you in real estate?” the builder asked me after I asked to look around inside the burnt out old row house he was renovating. “No, I’m just a curious person,” I said.

That was enough to get me inside this big, beautiful house on my street.

It had been destroyed by fire two years ago and has been boarded up until recently, when there has been some construction activity.

The builder was sitting outside on the step when I walked by—lucky for me, as I didn’t have any other New Place lined up today. I got a nice little tour of the ground floor, enjoyed hearing about the plans, and was very relieved to have an easy New Place on this hot hot day.