The Everywhere House

Description

Sherry Lincoln’s childhood home had sat next to the Brentwood Library for forty-two years. Each time she visited the library, she always took a moment to reminisce and also to inspect it for changes as the house embraced new owners. In 2013, she noticed something peculiar: her house was gone. Puzzled and saddened, she inquired at the library, hoping someone would have information about why her house was “missing.” Not only had the librarian heard, but she had been a part of the deconstruction effort, which was to provide land for the expansion of the library. Still saddened, but now wanting to hear more of the story, she contacted Habitat for Humanity of Springfield, MO, the organization that recycled every piece of the house, and learned that her house was not gone—it was everywhere, piece by piece becoming the homes of others. As she toured Habitat for Humanity Restore, the plethora of items displayed there triggered memories of life in her home. From Venetian blinds to screen doors, school redistricting to biking down Suicide Hill, and pets (common and not-so-common), she begins to realize the fate of her house may be reconciled by its new “life” everywhere. Part memoir and part historic account, The Everywhere House captures life in the American 1950’s as Lincoln retells the birth and eventual rebirth of her childhood home.