This space used to have two houses on the front. Then a developer, James Mathias, purchased it and was going to build 48 apartment units. But he was patient enough to allow us to acquire the funds to buy the land.

It seems so many big houses are going up and so little green space, there's going to be too much impervious ground cover.

I think looking at restoration from a purely (environmental) standpoint may mean tearing people's houses and businesses down. We have to look at a financial impact; when we look at environment only, where we've been for the last 20 years, it doesn't necessarily work.

The only limiting factor is water but with more town houses and flats, there won't be space for lawns to be watered and if the water becomes scarce, the price will go higher and everyone will only use that quantity that is needed. The answer is technology.

Our philosophy was to maximize the water views, to keep the open space that's typical of carriage houses and to keep the feeling of a Tuscan farmhouse, which is obviously what the architect in 1910 tried to do.

My Museum creates an exciting new space that encourages children to celebrate their differences. This exhibit will build on the goals of a previous exhibit, Face to Face, that occupied the Lehman Gallery. It will be a place where respect for diversity is experienced firsthand, modeled and taught in order to combat prejudice through critical thinking, empathy development and positive self-esteem.