PITTSBURGH (KDKA) The childhood home of famed playwright August Wilson, in the Hill District, is being restored.

At the same time, this project is helping to restore the lives of men whod lost their way.

Steve Shelton is founder of the non-profit Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, which has changed the lives of nearly 100 at-risk men. Three of them are working on the August Wilson house.

We give them a hand up, and not a handout, Shelton explains. Theres no monetary price they have to pay to get into the Trade Institute, but I tell them theyre going to pay with the price of change. Sometimes change is difficult. But these guys have learned well.

Apprentice carpenter Chris Wilson says he was out of work and on the streets, before he enrolled in the the Trade Institute.

Im hoping, few years from now, maybe five years, to have my own company, he said. Real estate, contracting business.

Apprentice bricklayer Scott Snyder served nearly 10 years in prison, on gun charges.

Definitely changed my life, he said. Instead of living on the street, trying to get money, now I can depend on a paycheck.

Apprentice bricklayer Duane Green served time on drug charges.

I went to prison for three years, he said. And when I got out, I needed an opportunity to make some money. I had a family, a wife and kids. And the Trade Institute gave me a way out.

More:
Restoration Of August Wilsons Home Provides Opportunity For At-Risk Men

by The Associated Press Associated Press

Throughout a recent sunny, cool, late fall afternoon, hundreds of Fouke-area residents enjoyed streaming through the two-story vintage Scoggins House as the city's Citizens For a Better Community group held an open house dedication for this near-century-old home.

The local tourists spent time walking up and down the home's sun-bathed pine-wood stairways as they explored the home's nine historically refurbished rooms and two baths while soaking up views of early 20th century furniture, the Texarkana Gazette (http://bit.ly/1sEuYzw ) reported.

The downstairs rooms included a parlor, dining room, kitchen and library (already containing perhaps more than 200 books), while the upstairs quarters consisted of two bedrooms_one converted into a bride's room, the other a groom's room. A third upstairs bedroom is now a reading room, and a fourth is an office. The largest upstairs room is now a fully computerized education center.

"The people here in Fouke are so willing to do anything to make things better," said Roxie Coker, a local resident. "I'm proud of my community."

The historic domicile is now on the cusp of a new life as a public library, education center and social event center. Local residents will be able to hold musical programs, bridal showers and baby showers, as well as conduct genealogy research, local historical research, budgeting, book review presentations, seminars and parenting and various other workshops in the building.

The education center, known as the Vera and Lawrence Huff Education Center, is named in honor of two local educators. Last year, the late couple's daughter, Mary Elizabeth Huff Haile, who now lives in Urbana, Illinois, donated $50,000 to the historic home's restoration.

The center also received grants from an anonymous donor, the Jerry Roberson estate and the Texarkana Area Community Foundation.

Fouke's Citizens For a Better Community Inc. started renovation work on the home in July 2011 after this nonprofit community volunteer civic organization bought the house for $45,000 when the most recent occupants were faced with foreclosure.

The Scoggins home, about a block north of U.S. Highway 71 behind Fouke City Hall, was originally modeled after a house from a Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Read the rest here:
Fouke historic home converted into public library

Dec. 21, 2014, 9:42 p.m.

They'd just moved into their first home when they engaged the services of Illawarra tradie.

He told us hed better any other quote we found and we thought fantastic. File image.

Mangertoncouple Amy Wyatt and Brett Williams had just moved into their first home when they engaged Lauren Gavin to seal some faulty valleys in their roof.

The Bellambi contractor and convicted conman, according to the Department of Fair Trading, spent just hours at the couples house but it was enough to cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to their dream home.

On October 14 this year, Dr Wyatt found rain streaming into her six-week-old daughters bedroom from a leak in the roof, drenching the carpet and the wall.

Prior to Mr Gavins visit, the couple had not observed any water leaking inside their house even during heavy rain.

The pair contacted their home insurer, AAMI, and a different roofer, to come out and assess the damage.

Both bodies found the roof leak had been caused by a corroded valley, which had not been repaired by Mr Gavin as requested.

The couple were devastated.

More here:
'Conman' hits couple's Mangerton dream home

Patricia Happe says a house on a quiet residential street in Edgeworth is an example of restoration, not renovation.

The Italianate-gothic home, which dates to 1860, had had some changes done to it in an effort to lift it out of that antebellum era.

But its owners, John and Mary Menniti, took it back to its roots with one major, effective change: the addition of a bigger kitchen in what was once a porch.

The house is for sale for $650,000.

Work done by the Mennitis adds an intriguing touch to the home, said Happe of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services.

On the Maple Lane side of the house, a previous owner moved the front door away from an entrance area that is enclosed by wood. Happe said the Mennitis reopened that area back, converting it to the porch it once was.

They went the opposite direction on the other side of the house. There, Happe said, an owner in the early 1900s added a bedroom on the second floor. The house originally had three, one of which Happe believes was a maid's room.

Under the added bedroom, a large porch was constructed, facing the yard and a detached garage.

Happe said the Mennitis found the original kitchen, which was below the maid's quarters, to be too small, so they enclosed the porch and made it the home's kitchen.

The result is a large, modern cooking/gathering space with a center island and custom cabinets that match the moldings in the rest of the home. Acanthus leaf carvings a popular 19th century design element have been carried over from the fireplace in the living room to the kitchen. The old kitchen has become a laundry space.

Continued here:
Edgeworth home offers modern conveniences, antebellum-era charm

The fourth home, not the third, was actually the charm for Kim Taylor when she found the house in east Topeka she is spending her first holidays in as a new homeowner.

This is the one I was supposed to have, said Taylor, referring to her dark beige, ranch-style house she has owned since early May. Im so comfortable. I paid attention to wait for the right one.

Describing herself as very patient and very picky, Taylor said participating in the Topeka Opportunity to Own, known as TOTO, homebuyers program has been a blessing.

Owning my own home, she said, has been such a comfort to me. Im much happier here.

Taylor, who grew up in Tecumseh and provides comfort as a caregiver for Home Instead, an in-home service for seniors, said she was pre-qualified by the TOTO program for two years and had put offers that fell through at the last minute on three homes. However, when she looked at the three-bedroom house she now shares with her five-year-old white male cat named, Mr. Nelson, she knew it was the one.

It had good bones to it, Taylor said of the house built in the early 1960s. It had the kind of structure and layout that I wanted. It has just the right amount of yard space for me to garden.

Having gone through the TOTO program, created in the early 1990s by Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc., or HCCI, Taylor said she knew what parameters to work within to buy her own home. Some of the requirements include attending homebuyer classes, having a good credit history, providing a down payment of $500 and the selling price of the house cant be more than $65,000.

Once qualified, the TOTO participant is eligible to receive a $30,000 loan that Taylor describes as a soft second mortgage which is used to make the house code compliant and energy efficient. That could mean replacing the windows, water heater and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, of HVAC, system. If there is any money left over after making the necessary improvements from the initial $30,000, Taylor said that balance is applied to the mortgage, reducing the monthly house payments.

That was such a blessing, she said. That made my payment even more manageable.

Taylor said when she moved into her home last spring, one of the first projects was gutting the main bathroom which had a configuration she charitably described as being odd. She said the TOTO program paid for the bathroom remodel except for the bathtub.

Read more:
At Home Living: Fixing up a new home for the holidays

Even before the front door is opened - even before one climbs the outside steps of the Spinelli home in Riverton - the dazzle begins curbside.

The wraparound porch, the gazebo - and in this season, the lights and decorations - all suggest that something magical is unfolding.

This is an exceptional place in any season, but at Christmas, the pre-Victorian home takes on a glow with an aura of yesteryears that blur present and future.

The soaring ceilings, the woodwork, the fireplaces and arches and crown moldings all explain why 700 visitors poured in for a holiday tour sponsored by the Riverton Free Library last year.

The tale of how the Spinellis came to own the Second Empire period home is one of patience and persistence.

It was in 1986 that the couple, both educators - she at St. Joseph's University, he as a corrective reading specialist in South Jersey - first saw the home. Back then, it was almost completely hidden by overgrown shrubs.

"It was definitely not very inviting," Cathy recalls.

Still, they considered what the three-story house, divided into several apartments, could be as a unified whole.

But then they learned there was no high school in Riverton, and with four kids ages 4 to 10, it was a deal-breaker - at least for the moment. They bought it anyway, knowing that someday they would not be landlords with rental apartments.

Read the original post:
Wonder restored

LOUISDALE If Yvonne Sampson didnt have a prosthesis in her throat, silence would rule the little house she and her husband built 40 years ago.

Raymond Sampson is deaf and mute, and Yvonne had throat surgery more than four years ago after a bout with cancer.

Sampson, 76, was fitted with a voice-restoration prosthesis that allows her to talk, but it requires special cleaning and care several times a day.

Its pretty quiet now, said Sampson, pressing a finger to the stoma or hole in her throat.

The prosthesis in her neck essentially replaces her voice box, which was removed during a total laryngectomy.

If I didnt have that, you wouldnt hear me, she said.

The couples daughter, Janet Martell, was shown how to clean and care for the prosthesis just after the surgery in Halifax and was sent home to Richmond County to provide the daily care her mother needs.

She is worried about what could happen if her mother needs emergency care. There are no medical staff in Cape Breton or in the Guysborough Antigonish Strait health district trained to provide the specialized care needed for a throat prosthesis.

Martell works in a local kitchen three days a week and goes to her parents house before work, during breaks and after work to make sure her mother hasnt choked on a piece of food or had her airway blocked by infection or a buildup of blood.

See the article here:
Family needs help as Cape Breton woman fights cancer and silence

For home renovations, it seems theres no time like the present. With an improving economy and rising home value, now is as good a time as any to add that spare guest room or build the deck of your dreams.

According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, spending on home remodeling should surpass $145 billion this year. Thats the highest amount spent in eight years.

But before you pull out the wallet, Boston homeowners should know some of the unique aspects of renovating in our historic city.

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First of all, its important to know that renovation is different from preservation and restoration. Renovation means to update a building, leaving features that are of use in the buildings current function, according to Bostons Landmark Commission.

So if youre looking to renovate your home, the first step is to figure out whether your house is on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the nations places worthy of preservation.

Jim Igoe is the executive director of Preservation Massachusetts, a nonprofit historic preservation organization. He said that if your house is on the register, you might want to consider renovating your home correctly, so that youre preserving its historic and cultural heritage. The title is honorary though, so historical preservation is up to you.

This could be as simple as repairing your windows rather than tearing them out and installing 21st century windows, or choosing to restore your original wood exterior, rather than getting aluminum or vinyl siding.

Unfortunately, just because your house is on the NRHP, that doesnt mean anyone will give you money to restore your house correctly, Igoe said. And keeping your renovation consistent with history can be time-consuming.

If your house isnt on the NRHP, it still might be located in a historic district. There are nine in Boston: Aberdeen, Back Bay, Bay State Road and Back Bay West, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Fort Point Channel, Mission Hill Triangle, St. Botolph, and South End. Each one has different rules.

Follow this link:
Renovating Your Home in Boston? Not So Fast.

For home renovations, it seems theres no time like the present. With an improving economy and rising home value, now is as good a time as any to add that spare guest room or build the deck of your dreams.

According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, spending on home remodeling should surpass $145 billion this year. Thats the highest amount spent in eight years.

But before you pull out the wallet, Boston homeowners should know some of the unique aspects of renovating in our historic city.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

First of all, its important to know that renovation is different from preservation and restoration. Renovation means to update a building, leaving features that are of use in the buildings current function, according to Bostons Landmark Commission.

So if youre looking to renovate your home, the first step is to figure out whether your house is on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the nations places worthy of preservation.

Jim Igoe is the executive director of Preservation Massachusetts, a nonprofit historic preservation organization. He said that if your house is on the register, you might want to consider renovating your home correctly, so that youre preserving its historic and cultural heritage. The title is honorary though, so historical preservation is up to you.

This could be as simple as repairing your windows rather than tearing them out and installing 21st century windows, or choosing to restore your original wood exterior, rather than getting aluminum or vinyl siding.

Unfortunately, just because your house is on the NRHP, that doesnt mean anyone will give you money to restore your house correctly, Igoe said. And keeping your renovation consistent with history can be time-consuming.

If your house isnt on the NRHP, it still might be located in a historic district. There are nine in Boston: Aberdeen, Back Bay, Bay State Road and Back Bay West, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Fort Point Channel, Mission Hill Triangle, St. Botolph, and South End. Each one has different rules.

More here:
Renovating in Boston? Not So Fast.

LOUISDALE If Yvonne Sampson didnt have a prosthesis in her throat, silence would rule the little house she and her husband built 40 years ago.

Raymond Sampson is deaf and mute, and Yvonne had throat surgery more than four years ago after a bout with cancer.

Sampson, 76, was fitted with a voice-restoration prosthesis that allows her to talk, but it requires special cleaning and care several times a day.

Its pretty quiet now, said Sampson, pressing a finger to the stoma or hole in her throat.

The prosthesis in her neck essentially replaces her voice box, which was removed during a total laryngectomy.

If I didnt have that, you wouldnt hear me, she said.

The couples daughter, Janet Martell, was shown how to clean and care for the prosthesis just after the surgery in Halifax and was sent home to Richmond County to provide the daily care her mother needs.

She is worried about what could happen if her mother needs emergency care. There are no medical staff in Cape Breton or in the Guysborough Antigonish Strait health district trained to provide the specialized care needed for a throat prosthesis.

Martell works in a local kitchen three days a week and goes to her parents house before work, during breaks and after work to make sure her mother hasnt choked on a piece of food or had her airway blocked by infection or a buildup of blood.

If my mother, God forbid, choked on something, shed die in less than five minutes, said Martell.

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A voice for Yvonne Sampson