My Husband Didn't Want a House--So I Bought One Without Him

Our apartment sits on one of the busiest thoroughfares in New England. Working from home, we hear traffic, sirens, neighbors, the train, people shouting outside, our maintenance crew or the city's department of public works taking on some project. I hate noise--and communal washing machines, sharing a bathroom, summer heat without central air conditioning, washing dishes by hand, living in three rooms with inadequate storage, and parking three floors down.