Day 123 of Self Quarantine             Covid 19 Deaths in U.S.:  138,000

When I first read Timeless Way of Building, I fell in love with the pattern of Alcove.  I loved the many photos and designs of Alcove that Alexander spread throughout the book.  I had to buy A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction to get more details of Alcove and to see the different contexts of patterns that Alcove fits into.

An Alcove pattern from Timeless Way of Building

“The pattern ALCOVE feels good to us, because we feel the wholeness of the system there.

“There is an intellectual formulation of the forces which alcoves resolve. For instance, they allow us to be private at the edge of a communal gathering, and, at the same time, remain in touch with whatever is communal there. But what clinches it, what makes us certain that this formulation has some substance to it, is the fact that alcoves make us feel good. The conflict is real, because the alcove makes us feel alive; and we know the pattern is complete, because we can feel no residual tension there.”

From Timeless Way of Building, p. 244

I vowed that one day I would have a house with an Alcove.

I had to laugh after writing a previous post about the Timeless Way of Building, that I had my glorious Alcove, I just never realized it.  I had a too narrow view of what the Alcove pattern was.

Our Alcove view of the Puget Sound

My chair sits in a wide Alcove that has a view of Puget Sound and Seattle and Mt. Rainier to the south.  Yet, I can still see family and friends when they can gather on our deck (pre-pandemic).

This Alcove is my retreat from the world while still being able to observe the world around me.

My Alcove makes me feel good.