Christa Bachman had long hoped for a home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, an enclave of historical homes with gas lanterns illuminating tree-lined streets. But with prices at a premium, her only option in that neighborhood was a fixer-upper.
Six years ago, she found what she was looking for in a sorely neglected brick-and-stucco English cottage built in 1929. It had last been renovated in the 1970s but was structurally sound.
“It needed so much work, but I saw all the potential it had,” Christa says. She, along with her late husband, young son and four rescue cats, made the untended cottage their home, and the work began.
Among the many renovation projects, the
