Neighborhood Covenants

I have never lived in a neighborhood with a covenant. Many of them are quite restrictive, i.e. you can't have a mini barn or an above-ground pool. (I own neither.) Others have to approve your paint color, your type of fence, etc. I would be okay because my house is white brick and my fence is hedges.

But, our neighborhood has an unwritten covenant. Everyone is expected to have their lawn tended on a Thursday or Friday in case anyone is entertaining over the weekend. No one has a clothesline, although I still hang unmentionables in my back yard trees. I'm pretty sure my neighbors would frown on a garage sale.

We drive through lots of little towns when we go to our friends' lake cottage and they seem to have a covenant of their own. Lots of overcrowded porches and lawn ornaments are an unwritten rule somewhere.