We looked at two more houses last night. They were very retro.

Both of them are in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans, sandwiched in between City Park and Metairie, if that means anything to you. The first one was on Pontchartrain Boulevard. It was way groovy.

Green tile bathroom! A kidney-shaped table attached to the wall! A blender build in to the kitchen counter.

"This was a very state-of-the-art house in 1962," Sonya said.

I tried to convince her it was the house for us. I'd smoke a pipe and trim the hedges. She could fix me drinks and wear a string of pearls, and maybe I'd let her get a job as long as the house stayed clean! Ho ho! We could have lots of cocktail parties.

But Sonya said no.

The next house was older, with a pink and black tiled bathroom and a garage turned in to a rumpus room. Old rotary phones were in every room, and one closet was full of sun-faded clothes from the early twentieth century.