From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story - Hardcover

Tanner, Ron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0897336240 ISBN 13: 9780897336246

Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

Ten years ago, Ron and his then-girlfriend, Jill, did the impossible. They bought condemned property -- a big Baltimore Victorian brownstone ­ and vowed to bring it back to its original glory.  The house had been home to Baltimore's most notorious fraternity for a decade and now, wrecked and abandoned, it was filled with garbage. As if that weren't daunting enough: Ron and Jill had been dating for only six months and they knew nothing about fixing up old houses. Friends, family, and concerned onlookers told them not to do it ­ they would surely lose their shirts and their love in the bargain. But Jill wanted the house and Ron wanted Jill. So Ron bought the house.

About this title

Book Description:

Ron and Jill—his girlfriend of six months—discovered the house of their dreams in 2000: a landmark Baltimore brownstone that had belonged to a notorious fraternity. It was condemned property, had sat abandoned for nearly a year, and was such a wreck that no one would buy it. But Jill wanted the house and Ron wanted Jill. So he bought the 4500-square-foot ruin. Neither he nor Jill knew anything about house repair or renovation. The bank gave them six months to get the house up to code. The neighborhood historians told them flatly, “You’ll never bring that house back.” Ron’s realtor said, “This house will eat you alive.” Ron’s mother said, “Why do you always do things the hard way?” 

Impulsive and quixotic—and with two marriages behind him—Ron inspired little confidence. His life had been a series of mistakes and wrong turns. He recognized that taking on this wrecked frat house could be the biggest mistake of his life and he wondered if this time, in what seemed his final reach for love, he had reached too far. As soon as he and Jill started working on the house, they were at odds every day and it became clear to them both that the project would very likely ruin them financially and emotionally. Panicked, flirting with bankruptcy, and barreling through disasters, they had to learn how to live, love, and work together—and succeed against seemingly insurmountable odds. 

A book for lovers, dreamers, do-it-yourselfers, and fans of old houses, From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story recounts Ron and Jill’s adventure, offering inspiration, insight, and hilarity as they hammer away at the American Dream of home ownership and true love. In 2008, This Old House magazine published a feature story about Ron and Jill’s work. The online version of this story drew more than 400,000 readers to the magazine’s website.

About the Author:

Ron Tanner teaches writing at Loyola University in Baltimore and directs the Marshall Islands Story Project (mistories.org). He is the author of two books: Kiss Me, Stranger and Bed of Nails, which won both the G.S. Sharat Chandra Award and the Towson Prize for Literature. He has won many other literary prizes as well, including a Faulkner Society gold medal, a Jack Dyer Fiction Prize, and a Pushcart Prize.  Tanner lives in the big Baltimore brownstone featured in this memoir with his wife, Jill, and their many pets. Their website, Houselove.org, is dedicated to the love and care of old houses.

About this edition

• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0897336240
• ISBN 13: 9780897336246
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288