Sweet Home Ottawa

I've got to admit, I'm in love with Ottawa. It got a little harsh over the winter but now that green is in abundance, and the honey smell of (a certain tree that I have no idea what its called) is in the air, and the tulips are poppin' up like daisys... well I'm in love all over again. Especially with where I live. The appartment is okaaay and the street is kinda grubby, and there's aLOT of chain-smoking teen moms and creepy street guys, but I love it all the same. Especially if you walk down the side streets and see the more established old neighbourhoods, the houses have so much character. That kind of brings me to the point I'm getting at:
I've a huge passion for houses, I love all the different shapes and colours, nicknacks and pattywacks, even when they're falling apart they hold so much asthetic appeal to me! What I really wanted to do was spend time sketching the ones I like most, but I can't really capture what I see on paper too well yet, and a snap shot is much faster than if I sit on the side walk and doodle (where the home owner is BOUND to spot me). So I'm collecting photo reference (I also want to base a comic I'm writing here) but I'm hitting a kind of questionable area here where I'm wondering if taking pictures of people's homes is a kind of violation of privacy. Though it's not like I'm looking in the windows or hassling their pets. I keep the photos for my own record, (but if I were to show them I'd blot out the number and street sign). It doesn't seem any worse to me than sketching people on the bus, but even then I get nervous (if the person spots me I get all worried I'm going to be confronted... but most of my artistic friends do it all the time).
Ah well, I'll cross that bridge if and when I get jumped by a home owner, til' then I'll just keep appreciating the best source material out there: real life.