Meet The Crew
Oct 8th, 2007 by kitliz
MysteryMan: Work horse, engineering genious, munchkin football coach, the most dependable man I know, and my favorite boy ever. Not only that, but he’s pretty too.
Mom: Otherwise known as my badass hatchet weilding mother. She’s beautiful, my DIY Sidekick, and the only person who believes in my ideas and abilities 100% of the time. The badass pergola couldn’t have been completed without her!
Ricky: (aka PapaRick or Ricardo, depending on what context I’m talking about him in) Father, powertool supplier, and head of the People-who-don’t-believe-I-am-capable-of-using-powertools-without-losing-a-finger Brigade. I love him, but he’s a little OCD and no matter how many times I prove him wrong, he is constantly telling me that I can’t do shit.
LittleFish: Brother (well, half-brother) 16 years my junior, and the funniest 10 year old I know. Or in his own words “I’m a walking comedy show for you, aren’t I?” Yes, LittleFish, you sure are.
Recycling Cabinet
DIY Wine Rack
Dear,
I hope you’re having a nice afternoon. I want to tell you about a hilarious home-renovation book we have coming out. Think “The Money Pit” movie of the 80s but in a cosmopolitan setting.
In 1993, after more people had fled Chicago for the suburbs than any other city in America, Ed Zotti and his wife, Mary, chose not only to stay, but to gamble their future fixing up a dilapidated Victorian home in a dicey neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. Zotti depicts the harrowing and hilarious details of the project in THE BARN HOUSE (NAL Hardcover Original; $22.95; September 2, 2008).
Two doors up from a murder/arson scene and across the alley from a former drive-up drug mart, the Barn House was a rehabber’s nightmare. A ceiling had collapsed, the upstairs wiring had shorted out, and the oak floors were painted red, white, and blue. Unsettling discoveries included a box of .38 caliber bullets with five missing and the fact that the house was built on sand. But Ed, an unapologetic “city guy,” saw promise behind the Barn House’s shabby façade. Never mind that the renovations would drag on interminably and drain every resource, financial and otherwise, that he and Mary had.
This is a classic account of one family’s private urban renewal project, featuring burglars and irate neighbors. From its grim beginning to its unexpected outcome, The Barn House is the inspiring story of what it means to live (and totally rewire) the American Dream. Now, their place is stunning.
Ed Zotti is a long-time journalist and editor of the syndicated “Straight Dope” newspaper column by Cecil Adams. His articles and book reviews on subjects ranging from architecture to pigeon racing have appeared in such publications as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He has published six books and is the recipient of a Citation for Excellence in Urban Design from the American Institute of Architects.
If you’d like a complimentary copy of THE BARN HOUSE to review on your blog, or would like to schedule an interview with Ed, please be in touch.
All the best,
Edison M. García