Stone walls, tiled floors, artwork on the walls. The furniture chosen with care over the centuries to fill the house built in the 1500s. A family moved from Rhodes to Malta with the Knights of St John. The pieces were currated, not chosen haphazardly and maintained.  As time went on, more artwork was obtained. Dishes chosen as well.  Documents kept and organized.  Books stocked the two libraries from ancient texts to modern novels.  Each item told a story of the owners.  This house has been in the family since it was built and we had the opportunity to glance into their world.  The dining table set with care and used daily. Family photos adorn end tables in the salon that depict special moments in their lives.  A small desk against a window, the balcony with tea service.  The family pet a parrot greeting visitors in the garden.  A peak into the cellars which were actually a bomb shelter built for WWII. The shelter allowed more than just family members to seek refuge there. I wanted to ask so many questions. Instead, I tucked little ideas away that I found interesting or commonalities between their things and my tastes.  I loved how the rooms had their own character and that it fused the antique with the modern. I became inspired by their choices and their commitment to their past while in the present.  I thought about how much family and roots are protected there and we tend to blow away like dandelion seeds not really rooting close to home but spreading out instead.