NEED TO KNOW
- When Mariah Houghton moved into her New York brownstone, she decided to install a landline — but only her loved ones got the number
- What started as a simple boundary soon became a viral TikTok, with viewers resonating with her decision to unplug and “heal her inner child”
- Now, her story is inspiring others to rethink how they stay connected — and find peace in slowing down
Mariah Houghton’s phone rarely rings — but when it does, she knows it’s someone she loves. Inside her New York brownstone, a cream-colored landline sits quietly on a wooden side table, its stillness a small act of peace in a world that never stops buzzing.
“I work on my cell phone, so I do social media management for my clients and influencing and stuff like that,” Houghton tells PEOPLE.
Mariah Houghton.
Mariah Houghton
“When I moved to New York about a year ago, I moved into an old brownstone, and I knew when I saw the apartment, I wanted to get a home phone, because I work on my phone, so I’m constantly on my phone, and to me conversations, especially with the people that do have my home phone number, are sacred and important,” she continues.
The viral TikTok Houghton (@mariah.houghton) shared of the moment, captioned “why are landlines so healing #nostalgia,” struck a chord online, reminding viewers of a time when connection came one ring at a time.
For Houghton, the landline isn’t a prop or a nostalgic experiment — it’s a boundary that protects her peace.
“I believe, like I just believe, covenant requires conversation, so it’s very important to me to take time for that, and I found myself constantly multitasking,” she explains. “So I’d be on the phone with my mom, but I’d get an email, or I’d be on Pinterest at the same time, or doing other things. With the landline, it’s sitting right here — I literally can’t move. It’s not even wireless, so I have to sit in one place. I have to make the conscious decision to carve out time.”
Only her “favorite people” have her home phone number. “I picked kind of my top five people that I talk to every single day — someone that would need to reach me,” Houghton tells PEOPLE. Those people are her parents, her sister and her three best friends.
“It’s just, I wanted to know that when the phone rang, I would be excited about who’s on the other side. I don’t have caller ID, obviously, so I would drop anything for them. So that’s how I picked — and hopefully the people that don’t have the numbers don’t feel bad about that,” she adds.
Growing up, Houghton says the sound of a ringing phone was always something special. “I remember growing up — I was born in ’96, but I have older cousins — so a lot of the things I had, I grew up a lot in my grandparents’ house,” she recalls. “We kind of went back and forth, but a lot of things I had were late 80s, early 90s technology.”
Mariah Houghton’s landline.
Mariah Houghton
“I just remember the excitement when the phone rang. I remember knowing it was either my dad calling from out of town, or my mom or whoever,” she continues. “I would literally call dibs. My cousins and I would call dibs on who could answer the phone that day.”
Those memories left an imprint she’s been quietly chasing as an adult. “I got a little older, we had a home phone in my parents’ house that was a little different. It had caller ID, it was wireless, but I remember having everyone’s numbers memorized — my mom and I still do,” she tells PEOPLE. “There’s just something, again, like an excitement of when the phone rang, and being like, who’s calling, right? As a kid and as a teenager, that was exciting. And now in cell phone culture, it’s just a part of your life.”
For Houghton, slowing down has become a form of self-care. “I tend to multitask a lot, but when it comes to a landline and a phone call, you have to just kind of stop, and it really reminds me to pay attention and do something one at a time,” she says. “I think that’s what heals my inner child. I get so excited when my phone rings, and I love it.”
The viral video resonated for its simplicity. “Sometimes convenience kills connection,” Houghton tells PEOPLE. “I want to be very intentional about the things I hold dear and the things that are sentimental to me.”
Her home reflects that same intentionality. “I keep a paper planner, photo albums — things that remind me of who I am,” she says. “I even hope my kids one day collect DVDs. There’s something grounding about holding memories in your hand, not just scrolling through them.”
Her loved ones immediately understood why she made the decision to install a landline. “They weren’t surprised at all. They were like, this is such a you thing — of course, you’re getting a landline,” Houghton says with a laugh.
But despite being an out-of-the-box approach, she says her loved ones “got it.” “They call my home phone during certain hours and not my cell phone and vice versa. My sister knows probably when I just don’t want to be on my phone, so she’ll call my house phone and tell me something.”
That understanding, she says, gives her comfort. “I can be anxious, girly, so it’s a peace-of-mind thing that I can be reached at any time if need be,” she says.
When her TikTok started gaining traction, Houghton didn’t think much of it at first. “I was honestly surprised. Working in social media, you just throw whatever at the wall and see what sticks,” she tells PEOPLE.
She left her phone for a bit, came back, and saw the notifications flooding in. “I was so confused — I’m like, What did I post? What did I say? Oh, it’s the landline. People really felt that,” she says. “It’s one avenue again that leads to a place of connection and analog and tactile things, things you can hold in your hand, that’s just not a screen. I’m not anti-screen — I work on my phone and I’m so thankful for it — but I need these other things that kind of separate these worlds for me. We’re all on our phones, and that’s okay. I think when you see something like that, though, and it tugs at your heart, you need to pay attention to that.”
Mariah Houghton’s landline.
Mariah Houghton
For Houghton, healing often comes in tangible form. “Why, when I see kids opening up a DVD or VHS, does that make me want to cry?” she muses. “There’s a part of you that’s asking yourself for that without the words. Sometimes kids don’t have the words. I really believe in all of us is kind of that inner child that’s like, I don’t know how to ask for this, but I want that. I want a second. I want something other than this thing we all are trained to rely on.”
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That longing for simplicity is what she hopes others take from her video. “I hope I can inspire other people to just have the convenience of your phone but not rely on it so much that you can’t survive without it,” Houghton tells PEOPLE. “It’s not about rejecting technology — it’s about remembering there’s beauty outside of it too.”
“I want to have a landline, honestly, forever, as long as I can. I want my kids to grow up with the landline. I want to always have that touch point. And I really would suggest it,” she says.
“It may not be the landline that’s your landline — it may not be that that’s the thing,” she shares. “You may not like talking on the phone. Write a letter. Sit down and write a letter. It’s so healing. It’s so grounding. You feel just in your body. You feel so real. I feel so connected. It’s so important to have entertainment outside your phone, connection and value and interest.”
