Danielle found this cool article over at the New York Times. It’s the story of a family who renovated a seriously broken down house over the course of twelve years.
Isn’t there just something quintessentially American about someone who will pay $65,000 for a 1913 Tudor and then do almost all the renovation work (minus the new roof, electrical, and plumbing repairs) himself? It’s the pioneering attitude.
Plus, the guy used to write for Beavis and Butthead.
2 responses so far ↓
1 jriske // Apr 19, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Is this really a positive? Or just a display or an inability to figure out when it’s time to level the pathetic excuse for a building, and build a new house on top of it? You probably spend less money in the end, you have a shiny new house, you get 12 years of your life back, and you get to live in the shiny new house for 12 more years…
I give pioneering points to anyone nuts enough to live in the UP, Montana, the Dakotas, etc. And to folks who venture from here to try to build up 3rd world countries, that used to be their homes, whether Iraq, Afghanistan, or (a small movement of late) Liberia.
But, as Beth Hamilton used to say of tornados, natural selection is for buildings too.
2 tlitchfo // Apr 19, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I’m not sure a newly constructed house would be the way to go, here. Old houses were constructed with a higher quality of workmanship than houses are today.
I also give them points for taking on almost no debt to get it done.
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