Welcome to Houselove!

In 2000, we bought "as is" a 4500 square-foot, Baltimore Victorian brownstone that had been wrecked by a fraternity. Jill and I had been dating for only six months. We knew nothing about restoring old houses. It was a recipe for disaster. This website tells the story of our efforts to make our love work as we made our old house whole again.

In 2003, we got married in the house. In 2008, THIS OLD HOUSE magazine did a feature about us. Our old house renovation adventure continues. We update our site weekly, with major additions quarterly. So sign up for our email notifications, drop us a line, and keep in touch!

Yours warmly, Ron & Jill

What's New this Winter?

Jill: Ron's book is out! I love it! You'll love it too -- it has everything a good read should: humor, adventure, fun, and trouble. Ron is now in the midst of planning a 66-city book tour. He'll be meeting up with preservation and historical societies at every stop. Maybe he'll be coming to your home town! Here's the tour itinerary so far.
And here's the video trailer for the book. It's really funny: From Animal House to Our House video trailer
Ron: I've been working on my camper van conversion in preparation for my 66 city tour. It's a huge project that incorporates everything I know about house renovation and more: The Houselove Camper Van!
Jill: we finished my office! OMG, it took us eight months and included everything from stripping wall paper to running new electricy and building custom cabinets. I beleive it's the best room in the house. There's even a huge antique cabinet for my Steiff collection I t hink Ron is jealous! Jill's Office.
Ron: We have new Q & A 1) here and 2) here and 3) here and 4) here.
Jill: We'd like to welcome a new old house lover, David Delind to our Your House page. And three great blogs to our blog roll: House Crazy, The Eclcectic Victorian, and the Hamilton Project
Ron: I am now a licensed house inspector, after having taken the 80-hour course, then the 4-hour exam, and then gotten my insurance. I still have to build a website for the business. I'm excited to get into this line of work. The next time you buy a house, give me a call!

For older posts, click here.

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What's New in Fall 2011?

Jill: We've finished our back yard with a super Victorian look by laying 3,000 bricks in a herring bone pattern. For me, it's a dream come true! big backyard project to unveil
Ron: Jill and I went to Antiques Roadshow. It was a surprising experience and not what you'd think from having watched the show: Behind the scenes at Antiques Roadshow!
Jill: Ron bought a Sprinter van to convert into a camper van. It's a huge project! So we've added a van page to chart the progress: The Houselove Camper Van!
Ron: I will be touring the country next summer to promote my book, From Animal House to Our House: A Love Story. If you belong to a preservation society or live in a historic neighborhood or an organization that might like me to visit, let me know!
Jill: We're nearly done with my office! It's taking FOREVER but it's going to be great. We're making some how-to videos about it. Here's a peek at our progress:Jil's Office.
Ron: I'm taking a course to get certified as a licensed House Inspector! This has been a dream of mine because I want to know all about how houses work.
Jill: We'd like to welcome a new old house lover, Sheryl O'Donnel to our Your House page.

For older posts, click here.

What Was New in Spring 2011?

Jill: We've got a big backyard project to unveil
Ron: We've added three new tabs to our navigation thumbnails below: garage, featured project, and videos. Check them out!
Jill: Ron and I have been having a lot of second thoughts about compact florescent lights lately. Are they worth the cost and the trouble? Here are some things to consider.
Ron: We've added more to our question and answer page and reorganized it so that now you can browse it by topic.
Jill: We've added some more articles to our suggested reading list. You'll want to check these out, especially one called "Tiffany Glass and Other Tales from the Crypt."
Ron: Fun fact! The bathroom pictured in the June 2011 issue of THIS OLD HOUSE magazine -- pages 76 & 77 -- is OURS!
Ron & Jill: We are heart-broken to announce that our lovely, crazy, wonderful basset hound, Frieda, died unexpectedly in April. The full story and video tribute to Frieda are here.

What was New in Winter 2011?

Jill: Our neighborhood's first holiday house tour was a sold out success! Make plans to visit our historic neighborhood next winter! The Charles Village Snowflake Tour of Historic Homes
Ron: Welcome new old-home renovators James and Amanda Cotton to our Your House page. Check out their 1870's farm house!

Jill: We have a new Frieda video! In this one she's eating the big stalk from Brussels Sprouts. She makes Ron laugh and laugh. Frieda Gets a Stalk of Brussels Sprouts
Ron: We've added some new gifts to our shop -- expanding its offerings. Check it out!>>>
Jill: BIG NEWS! Ron's book -- telling the story of how we bought and renovated our house and still managed to stay in love and get married -- has just been accepted for publication!

Release date will be sometime next year. If you have a local bookstore or reading club you'd like Ron to visit, let him know! In the meantime, take a look at the first chapter of FROM ANIMAL HOUSE TO OUR HOUSE: A LOVE STORY >>>
Ron: Jill came up with a great idea for a coat rack -- just in time for winter. Check it out in Jill's notebook

What was New in Fall 2010?

Jill: I have a new entry in my notebook: fall is the time to go flea-marketing for tools!
Ron: I've answered a number of questions generated by our how-to videos.
Jill: I am SO excited! We've just discovered that we have an adult leopard frog in our pond! We didn't think the leopards survived, but they have a secret we didn't know about.
Ron: We have made a new how-to video, this one on wiring a floor lamp. This is one of those jobs that everybody encounters.
Jill: We have a number of new comments from our readers on the comments page. We love your comments -- they keep us encouraged and energized!

What was New in Summer 2010?

Jill: Frieda's got a new video: How Many Ice Cubes Will Frieda Eat?
Ron: We've added a new feature -- historic houses. Do you have a historic house you've visited and would like to tell others about?
Jill: We've added another new feature called Jill's notebook It offers tips and a featured project each season.
Ron: We've received a lot of questions generated by our how-to videos. Check out the answers here. We update this weekly.
Jill: We're excited about our new Houselove store. Take a look at our selection of pretty notecards.
Ron: we've added over ten slide shows to our new website. My favorite is the "light show," which features all of the lights in our house.
Jill: we've added the comments pages from our This Old House article, which was read by over 400,000 house lovers. You might find the comments about the fraternity interesting.
Ron Another new feature: The next big renovation project