The Times tells the story of an architect, David Hecht, and a cheesemaker, Liz Thorpe, who renovated a Clinton Hill house with an intriguing past. The last deed of sale on the house dates from 1903; the cost was something “absurd, like $50 and three sheep,” said Hecht. The house changed hands again in 1920, but the deed of sale was never recorded. The daughter of the owners never married and was still living in the house in the late 1990s. A preservationist couple helped her into a nursing home, but the house could not be sold and remained empty for ten years. Over the years, the rear wall collapsed and the floors rotted. Eventually, the house was auctioned off and Hecht and Thorpe purchased it. They changed the layout, exposed the brick and the beams, and kept the original front door. Click through to the article to see a slide show of photos. You like?
The Lives of an Ex-Wreck [NY Times]
Photo by Christopher Bride, PropertyShark


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