The House, Kept
A watercolor of the family home, in sympathy
The ask
A close friend lost her father in June. She and her brothers are selling the house they grew up in, and it goes on the market next month. I'd like her to have something of the house to keep. Nothing showy. About $2k.
The gift
An original watercolor of the house, about 14 by 18 inches on cotton watercolor paper, by a painter of buildings who visits once before the house changes hands to draw and photograph it, and works from the family's old photographs for the garden as it was. It is framed behind glass, and arrives in the linen box with a card closed by a blind-embossed seal.
Why it's extraordinary
The house is painted as it stood while her father lived in it, before the realtor's sign and the moving van, from a visit made while it was still theirs.
The moment
It hangs in her own hallway, and the house is still there each time she passes it.
A curator replies within one business day.
