Some people look at a dilapidated old house and see problems. Annette and Richard Andradez see potential.
For years, the couple spent their spare hours cruising the back roads around their home in New York’s Hudson Valley, 75 miles north of Manhattan, admiring the fading farmhouses and beleaguered bungalows languishing along the roadside. “We see an old house, and we’ll be like, ‘Oh, that could be so nice!’ ” says Richard, a retired carpenter and contractor. As they drove past, he would toss out renovation ideas while Annette countered with her own. But their changes remained purely speculative.
All of that changed about 10 years ago, when the empty nesters decided to act on their fantasy, purchasing a tiny 1838 schoolhouse that had seen better days. Although the pair had built a contemporary home for themselves in 1989, they had never attempted a remodeling project together, and weren’t even sure what they were going to do with the structure once they finished. The results were so successful, their daughter ended up moving in.
Itching for a new challenge, the Andradezes focused their attention on a decrepit farmhouse that Richard had often admired while driving through the town
