the Luxury Yucatan, Estates & Houses in Hacienda and Around the World blog

In the Garden of Eden, as Biblical history tells it, Adam and Eve did not have to work. They had everything that they ever required. ( Just thinking aloud : did they already have TV, computers, microwave, malls and movies then? )

It was when they sinned that they were banished and punished that made them work for everything that they’re going to need in order that they can live on this planet Earth. ( I am wondering what happened to all their appliances and the malls and movies. )

We are the ultimate victims of Adam’s and Eve’s folly. We need to work our butts off so we might be able to purchase our basic wants and enjoy some comfort and a little of luxuries, if we can afford it . It seems like our lives here on earth are nothing apart from a sacrifice at the altar of the almighty JOB.

We will basically live our lives with no need to work conscientiously. That is, if we agree a life like those of the friars in Eastern priories. They work and live their lives one day at a time. They do not need to speed. Their wants are easy.

Now, back to reality. Roles are tools for us to get what we’d like. Roles are routinely the reason why we are schooled and trained. The pro-entrepreneurship may contest this, but hey, even owning and operating an enterprise is a job, if you really give it some thought.

Work is the commonest job type. It is the kind of job that you picture somebody to have, staying in a cosy office with a desk of his very own doing whatever it is that he’s being paid to do.  This is true no matter where you have jobs in Sydney, New York or Bali.

In a corporate environment, there are several types of jobs in different levels under different departments. There are all sorts of selling and selling jobs in the Promoting and Sales Department. The Finance Department is totally full of accountants and fiscal analysts as there are technical and production professionals in the Technical Dept. Janitors, messengers, “paper pushers”, overseers or supervisors and managers inhabit the Administrative and Human Resource Office.

The various job types in different departments are occupied by folk who have been particularly knowledgeable and skilled for that work spots that in shape their own requirements. It’s the foundation for people to prepare themselves for, make an application for and get the job to build a career on.

It’s also worth noting that a few individuals land on jobs they haven’t prepared for but took the job because there is “no other option”. These are the most unfortunate sorts of job holders. These are the kinds who live for work. They mostly look miserable.

But nobody is a natural loser. It’s often possible to break through. Remember : if you’re at the bottom, there’s no other way but up. Know what I mean?

In the beginning, man just had basic necessities met, with food as the most basic of all.  Growing familiar with his environment, the need for body covering led to the invention of clothing.  Those primitive days required him to move from place to place according to food availability and climate suitability for his comfort and safety.  As his relationship with nature stabilised, he began to weary of his nomadic existence and settled down in favourable locations.  This opened the door to the invention of shelters later evolving into more formal homes for him, his family and clan.

Man’s wanderings over land and across oceans led to the birth of different customs and traditions that influenced architecture, clothing, commerce, laws and practices.  The shelter was no exception as it evolved in size and style according to changes in fashion and trends.  Cross-culture influences also occurred as a result of colonisation, invasions and/or just plain migration motivated by economic and political agenda.  It ushered in architectural evolution of contrasts and similarities of dwellings in different cultures as single-family residences or rented commercial buildings.

At present, the following types of residential buildings embody the main architectural design manifestations of the evolution:

• The cottage is a small house of American architecture typically described as having four main rooms, two to each side of a main corridor.  The kitchen, laundry and bathroom are usually housed at a back annex.  Most Australian versions have front verandas.  Older versions in the UK and Ireland range from one to three storeys.
• Commonly found in the US and other American-influenced cultures but very rare in the UK, bungalows are medium- to large-size free-standing homes usually in generous blocks, with some rooms having interconnecting doors for convenience.
• The villa, still common among the affluent in Italy and other European countries, has originated from Roman times.  These are large country houses used as retreats by wealthy owners, usually high-ranking officials.  Its present-day form is a free-standing comfortable-sized house on a large block usually with a modest garden.  Also found in the US, Australia and parts of the Asian Continent where the affluent can afford it.
• Mansions are very large houses, more than one story high with a generous garden on a very large parcel of land or estate.  Ten or more employees, sometimes a whole village of them, tend to the mansion and its grounds.

In our age of commercialisation, many of these residential structures are rented out to transients or long-term clients as semi-permanent residence in busy cities or vacation resorts common in countries like Australia and the USA.  Mansion rental, if accordingly priced, will be tantamount to buying a decent flat.

Isn’t it a wonder that from just a simple roof over his head, man was able to conceive very large dwelling places such as mansions and palaces?  Along the developmental path of housing and construction, architects, contractors, designers, engineers, manufacturers and real estate agents and brokers enriched themselves and built decent estates of their own.