The quaint yellow house situated on Bacon and University Streets stands alone and apart, a sentinel guarding the huge water basin that occupies many blocks of the neighborhood. Wild flowers dot its little garden behind a white fence. The landscape is not manicured but has a ruffled appearance, like a miniature English garden. I often wonder if the house is occupied by gnomes of a fairytale.
On a recent walk around the neighborhood Dore and I open the gate and knock on its door. The woman who answers the door wears her hair in two long braids. The man behind her is ruddy and good natured. No, they are not gnomes but city employees who take care of the reservoirs. The house is their office. They give us a quick tour: wood floor, big windows, cathedral ceiling, open kitchen and a community room for neighborhood meetings, all quite worldly. They tell us our reservoir is one of the largest. It supplies 25% of the water in the city.
The mystique of the yellow house is broken, but its charm remains.
