I have been dreaming of a clothesline for the back yard.  I really love the process of hanging washed clothes outside and bringing in fresh-smelling dry clothes.  (Not to mention the benefits of not running a dryer in the the summer).  I was a bit afraid that Brooklyn laundry would not smell as clean as New Hampshire laundry, but I am happy to report that the sun and wind do a great job here as well.  We found a vintage retractable line on Ebay.  There are some more Ebay examples here.  Technically our line is for indoors, and will likely need some chrome retouching each season and we plan to take it inside for the winters.  I replaced the old cotton rope with nylon to fit across the span of the back fence.  We unwind the rope to dry and attach it a hook on the opposite end of our fence. Every evening we wind the rope back into its shiny metal case.  It is so lovely to sleep on sheets that have spent the day in the sun.