My Own Four Walls

<p> Don Rose came to the U.S. from England in 1908 when he was 18 entering through Ellis Island like countless other immigrants. By 1941 he was one of Philadelphia's best-known newspaper columnists. That year he published his gentle funny memoir <I>My Own Four Walls</I> the story of the ramshackle farmhouse he and Marjorie his wife bought in 1918 for themselves and their 12 children.</p><p> One of his grandsons Neil Genzlinger himself a journalist at the <I>New York Times</I> here brings that book back to life with the original illustrations a century after his grandfather had signed the deed. Part diary part DIY manual Rose's unsung classic is a tale of smoky fireplaces leaky ceilings and unruly gardens at a time when refrigerators were newfangled and suburban homes were furnished at country auctions. Most of all it is a story of how one man with persistence slowly put down roots in his adopted country.</p>