Martin's Inventions - Coat Closet Light Pull

The former owner lived in this house for 60 years, and lived within a mile of the house his entire life. He and his wife and children loved the house and their love of the house is visible.

I never met Martin. He died before we bought the house. But his care of the house is so present that I often feel that he and his wife Marguerite are just around the corner.

Writing about the porch today -- they had the porch floor replaced with mahogany, one of the reasons it is in such good shape -- made me think about the other lingering presences in the house. I call them Martin's inventions. They're whimsical, smart, inventive, funny. They make me feel as if I knew him, just a bit.

Here is one of the best -- the light pull in the coat closet.

Of course the house is so old that most of the closets have old-fashioned chain pulls, rather than switches. The coat closet is deep, though, and impractical to step into, given the piles of shoes and other stuff that always seems to clog its doorway. But no worries, here is a handy lightpull: