10/15/2026
Our home at 48 Riverside Drive is a very old building, originally built as a residential home in the 1850s and converted to student housing by the previous owner. Over the past eight years, we have maintained it as best we can with our limited resources. We installed a new metal roof in 2021 and painted the front and south side in 2023, though the back and north side remain unpainted and peeling. Otherwise, little has changed. The kitchen is cramped and poorly laid out, which is inconvenient considering we cook lunch for each other every day, and our dedicated art and craft space is too small to be truly functional, especially when several kids are in creative mode at once. Yet somehow, we make it work.
Our vision is to turn the garage into a maker space for larger projects as well as arts and crafts. We also want to bump out the first floor and build over the garage to create a much larger, more functional kitchen and common room.
Besides substantial funding, we recognize that making this dream a reality will require extensive planning, an architect’s drawings, and permit applications. Therefore, we would start by updating the original wood flooring downstairs, repairing the stairs, removing the carpet upstairs, repairing the subfloor, and installing new flooring.
The good news is that we have secured a $2,000 donation to get started. Details will be coming soon. Part of this contribution is dedicated to materials and supplies for hands-on projects such as the tree house in the backyard, and the remainder will serve as seed money for a capital improvements fund.
If you would like to help us realize this vision, you can contribute to the Capital Improvement Campaign by clicking the link in the comments. Every dollar gets us closer to our dream. Thank you!
