13th HOME - 333 AVENIDA LAZARO CARDENAS, PATZCUARO, MICHOACAN, MEXICO

In 2004 we purchased a house in ruins in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico, and spent 6 months renovating it and landscaping the garden. Then in January of 2005 we moved into what has become our Mexican home. Since one of the nicest trees in the garden is a jacaranda, we named our home "La Jacaranda".


Patzcuaro is located at 7,200 feet elevation on a plateau between the state capitol, Morelia, and Uruapan, a center for agricultural processing, packaging, and shipping. Although in the early years of the Spanish Colonial Period, Patzcuaro was the state capitol, that was nearly 500 years ago, Morelia is now the capital, and Patzcuaro is a small colonial village, with a central plaza,little changed since 1535.

With the sun of 7,200 feet and a climate that seldom brings us freezing temperatures, we have a profusion of both flowers and fruit trees. In our garden we have over 100 different species of trees, bushes, vines, and flowers. Possibly the best avocados in the world come from the state of Michoacan and the 2 avocado trees in our garden give us a steady supply during most of the months of the year.







We have lunch on our back porch nearly every day and enjoy the garden and the many birds and hummingbirds that visit us throughout the year.














Birds of many species pass through or live in our garden, especilly hummingbirds. It is a pleasure to watch them come and go to our flowering plants as we eat lunch.

It is a daily pleasure to spend each day in Patzcuaro, with its rich cultural and religious traditions, good climate, and varied bird life. Patzcuaro, and the Colonial Circle which extends through several adjoining states in central Mexico, is a pleasant and interesting part of the Mexico and the world.





La Jacaranda is a peaceful retreat within the Colonial Circle.

12th HOME - 5324 MAGDELENA DRIVE, AUSTIN, TEXAS

During early 1999 Tracy & I bought a lot from a builder on the Barton Creek Greenbelt in Lost Creek at Gaines Ranch in southwest Austin, Texas. After making some modifications to the house design we had the house built and moved to 5324 Magdelena Drive in May of 1999.

For several years after moving to Magdelena we had our office in Oakhill, a commercial area just 10 minutes from our house, so the location of the house proved very convenient with no traffic. We have enjoyed the quiet streets and nice neighbors of Lost Creek at Gaines Ranch, where we walk each morning.

But one of the most enjoyable elements of living here is the location of the house on the Barton Creek Greenbelt. From our living room and dinning area we look out on a groomed area of greenbelt stretching to the trees in the distance. We enjoy the visual space of that view all day when we are in the house.

With our bird feeder in the back yard and the view to the north to the trees and hills beyond, we are content in our Austin home.

9th HOME - 3371 S. MAGNOLIA STREET, DENVER, COLORADO

South Magnolia Street in Southeast Denver is a very special house for me. It was to this house that Tracy and I moved when we married on March 31, 1984.

The house was located in Welshire East, a housing area of 400 houses on the north side of Hampden and east side of Monaco, near the corner of I-25 and Hampden Avenue in Southeast Denver. Here we lived for 6 years. Tracy had her office just 2 blocks away and I had the offices of Novinger Resources, Inc. in the house, using the family room on the main floor and all of the basement.

Denver is great, the weather is wonderful, the city is exciting, and we had friends and family throughout the city and a long background of living and working in the City.


Only because of our interests in Latin America and Mexico did we leave Denver to live further south in the United States with closer access to Latin America. But the South Magnolia Street house will always be special because it was where we started our life together.

8th HOME - 708 S. YORK STREET, DENVER, COLORADO

After selling the Victorian house in Nevada, Iowa, in the spring of 1980, we bought and renovated this house at 708 S. York Street in Denver, Colorado.

708 S. York Street was a traditional house of the type built in the close-in, central area of Denver in the early part of the 1900's. The house was of average size for older houses in central Denver and it was dated in style and design, but the thing that was special about it was that it was in one of the most desirable locations of downtown Denver with easy access to both downtown and the Cherry Creek Shopping area.

Soon after the renovation was completed the house was sold.

7th HOME - SOUTH 2nd STREET, NEVADA, IOWA

Upon returning to the United States from Nova Scotia in the fall of 1979, I purchased a 5,000 s.f. Victorian Home in a sad state of repair in Nevada, Iowa. Nevada is the county seat of Story County, and is located only 15 miles from Collins, Iowa, where I grew up and graduated from high school.

My Mother and Father still lived on the farm south of Collins, and 1979 was the first time I had lived in the area since graduating from high school in 1957. We closed on the purchase of the house on Halloween Day, October 31, 1979, and renovated the house over the winter and sold it in the spring of 1980.

It is interesting to remember that I bought the paint for the outside of the house from a paint store in Denver, Colorado, and hauled it to Nevada. The paint was a close-out item, on sale for $2.00 per gallon! Even in 1979 good paint cost $18 to $20 per gallon. But the $2.00 paint was still on the house and looking good several years later.

6th HOME - OAKLAND ROAD, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

Oakland Terrace was located in the center of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with eash access to schools, churches, and the center of town. When we moved there in 1977 the house was divided into 9 apartments. We converted the house proper back to a 3 story private home and retained 6 apartments with private exterior entries on the rear of the house. While the house had the appearance and feel of a private home from the front, it generated substantial income to support our costs.

5th HOME: #7 MARTIN LANE, DENVER, COLORADO

We bought #7 Martin Lane in the Cherry Hills area of South Denver in 1971. The lot was 1 acre, located across a small creek, and accessed by a private lane and bridge. It was a great place for Lucy and Curtis, playing in not only our yard but the adjoining yards with no fences separating them. Just one yard away was the Cherry Hills Country Club Golf course which offered the neighborhood kids a large area to roam, when they didn't get caught by the County Club members. We sold the house in 1977 when we moved back to Halifax, Nova Scotia.