Wes Willison Realtor

05/14/2024

kenzo derby was a BLAST! big thanks,

brought the corgis this time, and they made some friends

tbh should have set up a real estate table, but instead made some friends on behalf of . i had a grip strength test, low-key scouting for what hidden rock climbing talent might be lying dormant in the streets of Fishtown. a few of yall are mad strong, you know who you are

aaaaaand that last photo is regrettably not my own, but i DID get to spend some time with the Philthy Phanatic. in no way did i have the presence of mind to actually take a selfie tho. but dang, this city never fails to surprise 😮

04/27/2024

so much cool architecture in Providence RI, almost like there’s a design school nearby 🫠 every building has something interesting going on. Love it!

04/17/2024

FIRE YOUR LANDLORD. No more Boardwalk or Marvin Gardens or St James Place. Get off the rent treadmill. Reduce precarity, increase belonging.

I haven’t played Monopoly in years. Totally miserable experience, not touching it again. But the same issues that the board game was designed to illuminate are still the law of the land. And for most people ownership of your own home is still the best solution available.

Some countries have robust public housing options. Not so here in the US. Here, ownership is rewarded and incentivized. Maybe you’re the kind of person organizing and agitating for better public housing. I am too. But in the meantime, take care of your self and your loved ones, friend. Stop paying your landlord’s bills and build your own equity. Sustainability for the long haul means owning your own home.

And it’s likely more accessible than you might assume! If you aren’t asking questions about it, then you’re letting your assumptions and fears win every time. DM me and let’s talk it over.

04/12/2024

hot take: the best cafe in the world is always the one you’re actually at. but sometimes, that cafe also happens to literally be the best cafe in the world

03/28/2024

Richard Serra, my favorite living artist, passed away a few days ago. I’d never heard of him until I bumped into this work (literally) while in grad school. I was stunned. It’s possible to ignore anything if you really set your mind against surprise, but some parts of our world impose themselves upon your attention a bit too forcefully to overlook. Serra’s work is one such example. If you’ve ever spent time with one of his artworks, what was your experience like? I found myself listening and seeing and navigating spaces differently after walking around this one, titled The Hedgehog and the Fox, located in Princeton.

I can get tunnel vision when I’m in the grind. It can be hard to look up, to be patient, to listen or look a little closer. I’ll forever appreciate Serra for intervening and interrupting me, altering how I perceive and navigate space. I’m sure it’s affected why I now work in real estate, and it inspires me towards the kind of shifts possible in how we engage space currently and what the next iterations could look like. Our built environment is contingent, and our capacities to design and form it are still young. We’re learning more and more, trying more and more things. I’d love to be a part of projects that, like Serra, surprise people and last for centuries.

12/08/2023

I'm not shy about my love of It's a Wonderful Life. I think it's one of the great American films of all time, an inverse of Citizen Kane. One of my favorite things about it? It exhibits a kind of love and belonging that might be... entirely unique? And it helps me envision the kind of home-making and place-belonging that I want to see more of in the world! I wrote about it here:

notes on "It's a Wonderful Life" and being embraced by a place

11/16/2023

in Kathmandu! Tihar festival is on right now, so vibes are reverential and joyous. amazed at the potent displays of identity and community in the architecture and how the architecture’s used. favorite element has been the mandalas in front of each home/business: make it unique, invite good fortune in. slide 2 has the massive mandala outside the boudhanath stupa. does Philly have something similar?

10/24/2023

A fave local landmark. I’ll be perfectly honest, I have NO idea what its history is or why it’s covered in slogans like “THERE’S NO CLOCK WHEN IT’S TIME TO FLY.” But I like it. Anyone ever been inside? What are your favorite mysterious local spots?

10/18/2023

Tomorrow! 1 hour on zoom, investigating what it takes to buy your first home. Questions answered: How does the money work? How long does it take? Which of my fears are unfounded, which really do matter? What are the best ways the navigate tricky ethical concerns like gentrification? 🏡 Click the link in my bio to signup!

10/17/2023

🗣️Reject modernity, embrace tradition. Why don’t we build em like this anymore?! Wicker Park, Chicago from a sunny August morning 😎. Right side has a better-kept facade, but left side has the cooler yard.

10/16/2023

Shot this during a recent trip to a different city. Lines, shadow, color all turned out well; sadly it was in pouring rain. Can anyone ID the city or even neighborhood? 👀