REFLECTIONS ON A SECOND HOME

Many people CAN CALL TWO PLACES HOME.MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, THEY SPEND THEIR TIME IN THEIR PRIMARY RESIDENCE, BE IT AN APARTMENT OR HOUSE IN ONE OF THE CITY'S OLD NEIGHBORHOODS OR NEW SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES. THIS IS WHERE THEIR LIVES ARE CENTERED, THE PLACE THEY MAKE THEIR WAY BACK AND FORTH TO AND FROM WORK OR SCHOOL, THE WORLD WHERE THEY RAISE THEIR FAMILIES, THE ARENA OF ALL THE COUNTLESS CHORES AND ENDLESS DUTIES OF DAILY EXISTENCE.
But on long weekends and summer vacations, they migrate to their other home.
Whether it's a rural farmstead, mountain cottage, cabin in the woods or an A-frame on the lake, people tend to be passionate about their "other" home.
Truth be told, however, it can be a love-hate relationship.
There is no question that having a refuge away from weekday pressures is a wonderful amenity. Second homes can be places for indi viduals to restore their spirits, for couples to reconnect, for busy schedule-fractured families to spend some quality hours together on a regular basis.
But owning a second home also brings considerable responsibilities.
Now when I speak of second homes, I'm not referring so much to distant beach houses or time-share condos that are visited for a week or two each year and perhaps even occasionally occupied by strangers. The second homes under discussion are a few hours away by car, places close enough to be reached on a regular basis but far enough away to provide sufficient separation from the regular routines.
Having this sort of weekend residence requires an ongoing and personal commitment of time, attention, love and labor. After all, it takes a heap o' living to make a house a home, not counting the effort and expense of acquiring it and maintaining it at a distance.
I speak from personal experience.
Twenty-five years ago this September, swept along on the mid-' 70s back-to-the-earth movement, I became involved with 30 woodland acres in the wilds of south central New York, just north of the Pennsylvania border. Since there were no structures on the property, we decided to build some form of shelter, ourselves, by hand and with virtually no construction experience.
Over the years, the building that was originally conceived of as a "small cabin in the woods" somehow grew into a four-story house packed with charming idiosyncrasies, at least to me. Suffice it to say that lacking electricity, it is a place of simple pleasures.
Building it took the better part of three years of determined effort (some still refer to it as my "edifice complex"), and though my life long ago recentered itself south to Pittsburgh, this other home has never lost its importance to me.
Through the vicissitudes of raising three children and pursuing careers, years of little league schedules and weekend social commitments, I have managed to make the 200-mile journey between my home in Allegheny County, Pa., to my home in Allegany County, N.Y., every several weeks.
Often, I have been accompanied by family or friends, but sometimes I go alone. My purpose is not to fish or hunt, but to take care of whatever chore or domestic improvement needs to be done, spend time with local friends or just hang out.
While others enjoy being there, walking in the cool, quiet woods, waiting for browsing deer to move on, or watching satellites and shooting stars move across the night sky, this other home has a special resonance for me. It is a place of personal grounding.
Like the stick that helps a hiker keep his balance while wading across a rushing stream, my other house has become a point of contact, a focus of psychic balance and stability that helps me keep a sense of place, direction and continuity. It's a still point in a turning world.
No matter how frantic or disjointed daily demands seem to be on the Friday evening drive north, they have usually diminished dramatically by the time I start home on Sunday afternoon.
And nowhere else do I seem to sleep as deeply as I do there.
Yet there's a price to pay for that peace.
Some may be under the mistaken assumption that second homes make for good investments and inexpensive vacations. That can be true. The property taxes and mortgage interest of second homes are still generally deductible. Other tax benefits may accrue, if the house is rented to others for substantial portions of the year.
But the real costs of owning a second home are considerable, both in terms of cash and commitment, especially if it's maintained at a distance. And never underestimate the psychic expense of worrying whether a burst pipe or angry interloper has done damage while you've been away.
And it's also true that though there is tremendous satisfaction to having a long relationship with one special place, the world has many special places. Though not necessarily an either/or situation, somehow having a second home does make those other places more difficult to see.
Is a second home worth the effort and expense? Absolutely, as long as you find one that serves your special needs, and then, of course, you have to organize your life to occasionally take advantage of what it offers.
But you must excuse me now. I have to go up to the country, cut the grass and see what other chores have cropped up since my last visit. You can be sure it won't be all work. I'll take the time for a walk in my woods or a bike ride down a Sunday-quiet country road.



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