ALL IN THE FAMILY

IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE RIGHT BLEND of naïveté and chutzpah,” says Shelley Smith Pelliccione, smiling as she recalls what does sound like one crazy scenario.

After she acquires an old, beat-up cottage on the outskirts of Savannah, she meets this great guy—a rock guitarist, no less. Early in the courtship, he drops by and finds her embarked on a DIY reno, specifically, on her hands and knees, stripping linoleum off the original Georgia heart-pine floor. His day job is project manager for a general contractor; he marries her anyway. Finding they are both meticulous with the details, though different ones, they decide to take their time renovating.

Then along comes a baby. Then talk of another. The cottage is getting crowded, so they start working overtime—till midnight some nights—replumbing and rewiring, painting and sanding, changing diapers. Her parents, enjoying retirement in Tullahoma, Tennessee, come for