This project has been a tremendous challenge and hugely rewarding. It created new friendships and professional relationships  across the lines of generation, race, economics and gender. It created work for people who need to work and people who love to work. It gave an old house with a fantastic history a grand farewell and saved over 85% of the building material from the landfill. It helped people remember what the neighborhood was and imagine what it could be in the future. It got a lot of people in Wilkinsburg talking - about blight, taxes, jobs and art. And on the sunny days when we weren't freezing in the snow there was even some dancing.

Floor joists.

Floor joists.

Twenty foot long 2" x 5" studs.

Twenty foot long 2" x 5" studs.

The siding that was hiding under the fiber cement shingles.

The siding that was hiding under the fiber cement shingles.