From Animal House to Our House

Eleven years ago, Ron and Jill, then his girlfriend of six months, discovered the house of their dreams: a landmark Victorian row house that had belonged to a notorious fraternity in Baltimore. Unfortunately, it was now a condemned, abandoned property. But Jill wanted the house and Ron wanted Jill.

Beyond the wall-to-wall graffiti, collapsed fireplaces and banisters, and three dumpsters worth of trash, the couple envisioned this as their future dream home. So Ron bought the 4,500-square-foot ruin, despite the fact that neither Ron nor Jill knew anything about home renovation, and that the project might ruin them both financially and emotionally.

A book for lovers, dreamers, and do-it-yourselfers, From Animal House to Our House recounts Ron and Jill’s decade-long adventure in house restoration, offering inspiration, insight, and hilarity as they hammer away at the American dream of home ownership and true love.

“Armed with a tight deadline and a small budget and without mechanical expertise or clear plan, Tanner and his new girlfriend undertook a renovation project that would frighten away most contractors. The nuts and bolts of the project are detailed lovingly here—in words and hand-drawn illustrations—as well as the pair’s evolution from dating renovators into married homeowners.” —Therese Nielsen, Library Journal