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NARRATOR: Not everyone lives in a suburban tract house, or wants to.
but a movie theater,
a train depot, a horse trailer?
HANNAH: This is our bedroom,
which is actually built above the cab.
NARRATOR: What about a Dumpster?
People just walk by, and they don't even notice,
even if I'm outside barbecuing.
NARRATOR: Stick around for a tour
of some amazing living spaces,
and meet the people whose creativity and vision
made it all possible.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
Phoenix, Arizona, is also known as The Valley of the Sun.
In the foothills surrounding the city
sits a home with an unusual origin.
Allie Auther and her husband, Will,
now call the historic station home.
The house has three bedrooms, three baths,
an open living room and kitchen area,
a TV room, and a guest suite.
This is the Mayer, Arizona, Train Depot Station from 1898,
which makes it 114 years old,
and the rest of the house is the addition,
our personal residence.
NARRATOR: The depot was the hub of the Prescott Eastern Railroad
in Mayer, Arizona, in the early 20th Century.
Later, trains hauling mining supplies
frequented the station,
but in 1958, it was abandoned,
making the depot fair game
for graffiti artists and vandals.
In 1963, Don Dedera purchased the train depot
and moved it to Phoenix.
He put it on a flatbed truck
and hauled it down the old Black Canyon Highway,
which is now our I-17.
NARRATOR: The 75-mile trip was long and tedious.
The 40-foot-tall building didn't clear telephone lines,
so a worker on the roof
had to physically lift the lines over the depot.
Dedera called ahead to the Deer Valley Airport
and asked if he could use the runway as a detour,
and he did.
Transporting the depot wasn't his only problem.
When it came to hoisting the depot onto its foundation,
Dedera discovered that it weighed five tons more
than he estimated.
ALLIE: One crane couldn't do it,
so for most of the day,
the depot hung suspended in the air
while they had to wait for another crane
to help finally hoist it into place.
NARRATOR: Today, the depot is home to a cozy guest suite,
and each room has its own history,
like the baggage-handling room,
where Allie has made use of the old freight door.
They retained the original hardware
even though it's permanently fixed
to create a unique wall.
Adjacent to the baggage room is the station master's office,
where there are many more remnants of the original depot.
Welcome to the station master's office.
This is where he'd spend a great deal of time,
and he'd be sitting here waiting for the train,
keeping a great look-out for the arrivals,
and then he'd gladly sell you your ticket
to Tucson, Sierra Vista, and all parts of Arizona.
NARRATOR: The ticket window
still has the original glass from the 1800s.
On the passenger's side is the public lobby
that Allie and Will dedicated to guests.
One of the challenges we faced in remodeling
was trying to match up the beadboard from 1898
to modern beadboard,
and so we ran into a thickness difference
between the old beadboard and the new
of about an inch and a half,
so we had to create a transition here
by adding in a little bit of wood.
NARRATOR: The Authers have incorporated the depot
into the rest of the house
by using bits of the railway materials
for decorations inside and out.
They made an interesting discovery
underneath the house.
ALLIE: When we moved in,
Will was brave enough to climb underneath the depot,
and he found this treasure of the hardware.
This is the track from the other door --
rolling door -- from the depot.
and when we were in the remodel,
we wanted to repurpose all of the cool pieces of redwood
that had this great graffiti from when it was abandoned,
and so hence we have a laundry-room door
that's really cool.
We got to reuse the track, we got to repurpose the redwood,
and we've just got a fantastic laundry-room door
that ties in the depot to our main house.
NARRATOR: And the rail antiques don't end there.
One truly authentic relic sits on the back patio.
[ Bell dings ]
There, the steam-engine bell tolls
for a time long gone,
while the depot sits on a hill
overlooking The Valley of the Sun.
Brooklyn is New York City's most populated borough,
holding nearly 2½ million people.
Watching them all compete for space,
Gregory Kloehn was inspired
to create a home from an unlikely space --
a commercial Dumpster.
KLOEHN: It just hit me.
I thought, "Hey, that's a perfect shape for a home.
It's got a nice pitched roof. It's small.
You could really make a living space out of this.
NARRATOR: The main challenge with this home is space,
but Greg found a creative way
to include all of the amenities he needs,
including a sink, a stove, a toilet,
and a shower that connects to the outside of the Dumpster.
People pass by as he is showering
and still don't understand that he can live in a Dumpster.
He's even built in a couple of add-ons
for relaxation and entertainment.
People say, you know, "Hey,
I don't even have a barbecue at my house."
You know, "Wow, you got a barbecue and a garbage can,
and you got the little mini-bar."
I think they're just surprised
that someone would take something like this
and spend enough time to make it a home.
I made this kind of a deck.
You can go up, and you can sit on it
and hang out.
Then I also put this little flap on.
It's the original Dumpster, but then I welded this thing on.
So, I can just put it up, lock it in place,
and then have a back rest, you know, on a nice day.
Just gives you a whole nother level.
NARRATOR: One thing that Dumpsters don't come with is windows.
Greg added an adjustable feature
that raises the roof to reveal two windows
when he wants to let in a little light.
Here is just a jack for a trailer --
a regular, like, boat jack or something.
I just inverted it.
I just crank it down at nighttime --
You're ready for bed --
and this really transforms it back to looking like a Dumpster.
Everyone always asks me,
"Oh, well, when you have this Dumpster,
"some truck's gonna come in the morning
and dump you out."
but you have to pay for it,
and no one's gonna pick the garbage up
if you don't pay.
So, if you don't pay, you don't get it,
and when this is closed down,
this thing will flip up, go on top,
and you can put a padlock here so no one could open it.
NARRATOR: It took Greg six months to outfit the Dumpster.
The interior is insulated,
and the cushions lining the walls and seats
provide a comfortable sitting space.
With a few adjustments,
Greg can produce a comfortable bed.
He admits his background in design came in handy,
but much of the work was done with basic construction tools.
He considers the home a portable living space
and added wheels to make it easy to relocate the Dumpster
from one street to the next,
and thanks to Greg's creative storage system,
there is still access to running water.
You could have a hose and unlimited water
or, if you're not an area that you can get a hose,
you just store about six gallons,
and you could live as long as that will last you.
NARRATOR: His full-time home is on the West Coast,
but when he's in New York, this is where he stays.
People just walk by, and they don't even notice.
Even if I'm outside barbecuing or hanging out,
they just don't realize what it is.
I mean, that's kind of the initial question is, "Hey, what is this?"
NARRATOR: Greg wanted to turn an everyday object
into a liveable space.
He did just that with this commercial-grade unit
he purchased for $2,000.
Equipped with running water and electricity,
the space has everything a person could need.
He does admit it's missing one thing.
No, I didn't make room for a trash can, you know, and that's ironic
because I didn't even think of that while building it.
Greg has given entirely new meaning
to the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure."
How can you take that and reuse it
and turn it into something else?
NARRATOR: Making the decision to turn a neglected grain mill
into a comfortable home
was the easy part for one North Carolina couple,
but preserving its history was a challenge.
So, our watchword was, "No beams will be harmed
[ Laughs ]
NARRATOR: We're back on our tour
of some of the most interesting places people call home,
including a historic train depot
and a street-side Dumpster.
Our next home is nestled in the foothills
of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains.
While most people want to escape the daily grind,
Tom and Lana Kleeberg sought a different kind of grind.
They've made their home
in what was once a water-powered gristmill.
It's a fixation I've always had
with old mills and mill buildings
since I was a kid.
Built in 1777,
the mill ground grain for the community
until it closed in 1955.
It sat empty until 1980,
when it was converted into a home.
In 2011, Lana found the property online.
When we first looked inside the windows of the old mill,
we saw all the potential of it.
It was like a diamond in the rough.
It had been neglected a bit.
It definitely needed a little more love.
After 100 days of renovation,
the old mill was transformed into a three-story house
with four bedrooms and four bathrooms
that Tom, Lana, their son, Jake,
and dogs Millie and Max call home.
The first floor of the home features a master bedroom,
a master bathroom,
and a foyer that features a cabinet
of historic artifacts found on the property.
The back wall showcases flour sacks
from other mills in the area.
There's also a half bathroom
that pays tribute to the mill's past.
The focal point of the house
is located on this floor, as well.
This is our living room.
It originally was the milling platform,
or miller's platform,
where the grain was ground.
It was rather high up.
We had to drop it by several feet
so that we could make it a living space.
The living room features the original millstones
and a trapdoor that reveals the original gear works below.
Even more stunning are the views of the re-created water wheel
and little Sandy Creek.
The floors on this level are made out of wormhole chestnut,
a rare wood native to the Appalachians.
Nearby is a spacious kitchen
and a fireplace designed to look authentic to the period.
The mantel holds mill artifacts.
Even the original mill door is still in use.
Many of the old timers who'd come to the mill
come in our new entryway, come directly over here,
and say, "Yeah, that's the original door.
"I remember coming in
"and parking our wagon outside that door
and bringing the grain through that door right there."
Just up the stairs is a second floor,
which consists of a catwalk, two guest rooms,
and an original beam
with traces of the building's former life.
After living here for a year,
we discovered some pencil work on it
where somebody had written down
how many bags of flour they were wanting to purchase that day
and how much it cost.
The third floor features another bedroom,
one dubbed "the man cave" that serves as son Jake's room.
The Kleebergs focused on creating a beautiful home,
as well as preserving history
despite the challenges of updating an historic structure.
It's preserving the historic fabric
but making it a living place that's comfortable
and good for our whole family.
Tom and Lana were determined to use historic materials
that were original to the property.
Every little nail, every hand-hewn beam.
The Kleebergs insisted on reusing the original beams
found on site.
So, our watchword was, "No beams will be harmed
[ Laughs ]
This insistence on preserving the past
led to short-term inconveniences.
Lana and Tom slept on an air mattress on site
during the renovation.
Other challenges were the creepy crawlies,
like large dobsonflies, bats, and snakes
that came in the building.
When new windows were installed,
Tom and Lana breathed a sigh of relief.
Windows are great.
Yeah. We like windows.
Tom and Lana consider themselves more than just homeowners.
They are stewards of the mill,
and they're determined to preserve its history,
a place to enjoy time with kids, grandkids, and friends
surrounded by the place they now call home.
It's been the most wonderful place we've ever lived,
and we would absolutely do it again, 100%.
Mm-hmm.
In rural England, horse trailers are a common sight,
but look closer
and you'll find this rig does far more than haul horses.
We wanted to create a beautiful, a mobile,
and self-sufficient home.
NARRATOR: Welcome back.
We're on a journey
to uncover the most unusual homes
from all over the world.
One U.K.-based couple wanted to settle down
without giving up their freedom.
Formerly a horse transporter, or locally known as a horse box,
this mobile home now transports the free-spirited couple
Dean Crago and Hannah Brown.
CRAGO: My partner, Hannah, and I --
We wanted to create a beautiful, a mobile,
and self-sufficient home.
NARRATOR: The former horse box is 100% self-sufficient,
locally known as off-grid.
It's independent
from any of the main energy suppliers in the area.
Dean and Hannah generate all their own resources
to run the eco-friendly mobile home.
Electricity, water, and sanitation.
For electricity,
we've got solar PV panels and a wind turbine.
For the water,
we've got the guttering system on the roof.
That then goes through five filters
to make safe drinking water,
and we've got an on-board
compost-collecting toilet system.
Inside is 120 square feet of living space,
complete with a kitchen, a bathroom and shower,
sitting area, an office,
and a bedroom that fits a whole bed.
Dean and Hannah custom built everything
for space and resource efficiency.
For us, we really like the sort of vintage,
sort of retro and classic look of all these dials here.
This top one, which I believe is from an old 1960s car,
monitors our battery voltage.
This second dial here,
this tells us how many amps we're generating
from solar panels,
and this final dial here -- This is our load dial,
which tells how much energy we're actually using.
NARRATOR: Another off-grid element implemented in the home
is the rainwater harvesting system.
All the water that falls on the roof of the Bedford
is channeled through various guttering systems.
Here we have a 12-volt water pump,
which is on demand,
only turns on when you turn on the tap,
so it doesn't use energy otherwise.
It then channels through a 10-micron sediment filter
and then onto a 5-micron active charcoal filter,
which purifies the water further,
and then finally through a ultraviolet water filter,
and then that ensures that all the water in the system
is completely clean and completely safe
and completely delicious to drink.
NARRATOR: Once the resources were established,
the couple focused on the comfort factor.
BROWN: The shower, for me, was one of the must-haves.
Got a proper range master cooker in here,
so if we have guests,
I can cook a full-on, you know, roast dinner.
And we've got our Belfast sink in here,
which doubles up as working space,
which is great.
Again, obviously living in this sort of space,
you've got to make the most of what you've got.
NARRATOR: Adjacent to the kitchen is the living room,
including a sofa couch and a removable kitchen table.
Me and Dean owned a much smaller van
prior to this one,
and a sofa was definitely something that I missed.
This is our bedroom,
which is actually built above the cab,
so perfect place for the bed.
The little round window that you can see
me and Dean put in ourselves.
NARRATOR: And on cold winter nights, they can heat the space
without using gas or electricity.
We've got our wood burner,
which I personally think is worth its weight in gold.
It's actually made out of an old gas bottle.
It burns wood really, really well.
We can control the heat.
It is really, really cozy in here.
and, yeah, it's absolutely lovely.
Outside, the couple built a mobile patio
out of what used to be the horse loading ramp.
It's really beneficial for us, you know,
with space being an issue.
It's nice to have a nice, dry outdoor area
so you can really feel that connectedness to nature.
Dean and Hannah both saw the potential for a great home
in the vehicle's original, rather run-down, condition.
CRAGO: We purchased the truck from a lady
who was still using it as a horse carrier.
It was a bit worse for wear.
There were certain rotten bits.
It needed a fair bit of welding metal work,
but the engine itself was in fantastic condition.
It's a Bedford TK. The engine is a 6-cylinder 330.
It's very reliable, easy to work on, and I love it.
I love driving it. You feel like king of the road.
[ Engine turns over ]
That's a proper engine!
They don't make them like that anymore.
NARRATOR: To this couple, the vehicle represents freedom.
CRAGO: It is very mobile.
At the moment,
it takes us a few hours to pack up the vehicle
just because we've got sort of so much tat
and so many things around,
but we have got the option to take those things with us
and to up and go anywhere as we please.
It affords us a lot of freedom, which is great.
NARRATOR: Dean and Hannah have successfully converted
this former horse box
into a self-sufficient mobile home.
They are happily home, sweet home,
wherever they may travel to next.
Athens, Georgia, is home to several churches,
but Jane Taub, an artist,
converted this church into her home.
This used to be a Pentecostal church
and a Baptist church,
and I've transformed it into my home.
NARRATOR: Inside, a culture clash is occurring.
I love the Balinese lifestyle, but I'm in Georgia.
NARRATOR: So Jane created a design
where American rustic meets Zen.
TAUB: I had all this Balinese furniture
that I had brought back from Bali,
so I wanted to have the Asian,
and that's what I was looking for
when I was out looking for property.
I wanted to have a very open-air indoor/outdoor feel.
NARRATOR: She incorporated rustic furniture
to give the home a natural warmth...
TAUB: Well, I love it because it's rustic,
but I love the romanticness of the visual.
NARRATOR: ...and she added decor inspired by Asian aesthetics.
TAUB: I absolutely love it.
NARRATOR: Jane designed an open entryway
like those commonly found in Bali.
There were two doorways on each side.
This doorway was square
and entered into the women's room,
and this wall I moved forward two feet
and closed up the doorway.
NARRATOR: When the church was built in 1945,
the inside ceiling contained acoustic tiles
with little light.
This is it -- voilà -- with the space opened up.
NARRATOR: Today, the ceiling soars
over the 4,000-square-foot main floor
and lets the sun shine in.
A huge open, industrial kitchen connects to the dining area.
Hidden behind this hutch
is a special area for Jane's art projects.
A closet does double duty as an office
that leads to the master bedroom.
TAUB: This is the master bedroom right now,
and it was a classroom.
Off the master bedroom is a sun room,
as well as the other bedrooms.
Jane built a partition to create bedroom number four.
TAUB: This room, it's an overflow guest room.
It's one of my favorite rooms.
I love the lattice.
It's open in the ceiling
so you can actually see the light from the clear story.
Just off the kitchen,
Jane cut windows into doors and added a balcony.
She also created a Zen backyard.
Well, this is one of my favorite areas.
This is the pool area,
which gives me more of the Balinese feel.
This used to be a playground for the children.
NARRATOR: So how did a globetrotting artist
end up living in a Southern Baptist church?
Seriously had been dreaming this up
for five years before I found it.
NARRATOR: When the building went on the market,
Jane was compelled to check it out.
TAUB: As soon as I walked through the door,
I went, "This is the space I've been wanting."
I think it was the grandness that made me really want this,
so the grand scale of it all, the adventure of it all.
I feel like this is a perfect space.
After a seven-month renovation, Jane has found inner peace
in her indoor/outdoor rustic Zen church.
It wasn't hard to decide where to put the media room
for this California homeowner.
He derived inspiration
from the building's previous life.
FORD: Originally, where I'm standing is where the screen was.
There were about 300 seats here, 250 seats,
and it was at a slight slope, like all movie theaters.
NARRATOR: Our journey
to find the most interesting homes around
has taken us to a Dumpster in Brooklyn
and a horse trailer in England.
Just a few blocks off Sunset Boulevard
in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood
sits the historic Kim Sing Theatre...
...now home to designer and gym owner Willard Ford.
Built in 1926,
it served as a vaudeville stage, movie theater,
and gathering space for the local community.
Now the converted building
is a 3-level, 10,000-square-foot multi-use space
that's not only home to Will but also several businesses.
It includes a large, open kitchen,
dining room, showroom, office space,
an upstairs loft, living room, and an outdoor courtyard.
FORD: I just happened upon the building one day,
and the price was so low.
It had been abandoned for about 15 or 16 years.
Will saw potential in this historic space,
so he bought it
and spent the next five years gutting and renovating it.
Doing much of the work himself,
he flattened out the sloped floor
and added steps at both ends.
He also kept three of the four original brick walls,
then he added steel support beams
to the original 1926 bow truss
to strengthen the aging structure
and bring it up to code.
The new fourth wall bordering the courtyard
is made of wood and is punctuated
by tall glass windows and doors for ventilation.
The courtyard itself was created
from knocking down the original wall
and building a new one further in.
Half of it was previously under roof,
so if you look at above where we are right now,
there's a bow truss,
and the exterior wall was at the end of the bow truss.
So, if I were to step two steps to my right,
I would have been inside.
NARRATOR: The large, open space
used to be the actual movie theater.
If I turn to my left, I'd be looking at the screen,
and if you look to my right,
that's the entrance or the front door.
NARRATOR: As Will's home and office,
the central space serves multiple purposes.
It contains a kitchen and dining room,
as well as a showroom
for Will's custom-designed furniture and clothing.
The long table serves triple duty
as a dining-room table,
event buffet space,
and a gathering spot for company staff meetings.
To make the most of the high ceilings,
Will installed flat, double-stacked cabinetry
along the entire kitchen for extra storage,
and metal racks turn the plain brick wall
into a customizable product display.
Above the entrance behind a bow truss,
offices are glassed in.
and directly across is an open-air loft.
Below that,
where the movie screen once hung,
is a cozy, recessed media room that doubles as a guest bedroom.
FORD: Originally where I'm standing is where the screen was,
and directly on the north side of the building
was where the projector room was.
There were about 300 seats here, 250 seats,
and it was at a slight slope, like all movie theaters.
NARRATOR: One of Will's businesses directly across the courtyard
takes full advantage
of the building's large footprint --
a gym with a full-size competition ring.
Well, it used to be a storage room.
I converted it into a gym,
and we have about 40 to 50 students
and 6 or 7 instructors.
We teach everything from boxing and wrestling
to mixed martial arts and conditioning courses.
NARRATOR: Outside Will kept and restored the original Kim Sing marquee,
keeping this urban home
connected to its Hollywood history.
FORD: The building is a place where I do everything.
I work here. I live here. It's shaped itself to my life.
NARRATOR: This old five-and-dime was once a neighborhood hangout
in the small town of Northside near downtown Cincinnati.
This is where Irish and German immigrants settled
in the mid-19th century.
The brick building was built in 1890.
Today renowned bass maker Nick Lloyd calls it home.
Nick's craft has unusual requirements,
and his 2,200-square-foot home
is structured to accommodate them.
The first floor is home
to the workshop and machine room.
On the second floor is his showroom,
the varnish room that houses his wood supply,
and the master bath.
The top floor is a loft living area
for Nick and his new bride, Jennifer.
Up here is a kitchen, living room, and bedroom,
but it hasn't always looked this nice.
The condition of the building was bad.
It was really a blighted building at the time.
NARRATOR: Stefanie Sunderland
is executive director of a non-profit organization
that rehabilitates abandoned buildings.
She and her organization
were the first to renovate the building.
It had been condemned, declared a public nuisance.
It was a problematic building.
NARRATOR: Before Nick bought the house in 2009,
it had gone through eight owners, two foreclosures,
and was slated for demolition when Stefanie discovered it.
The whole building was covered in plastic and aluminum siding.
A huge flaw was revealed when it was removed.
There was a crack in the brick work
from the roof line
almost all the way down to the ground
where the front third of the building
was pulling forward.
NARRATOR: That's because there was no support
for the storefront that was also hiding behind the siding.
SUNDERLAND: We had no idea it was here, initially.
It was all barricaded.
And the main reason I wanted to buy this building to begin with
was the storefront.
The open light,
but then the privacy to make instruments --
It's a wonderful space to work in.
Another discovery was a side service door
that was covered with siding.
We realized that there had been a door
that served for deliveries to the grocery.
That's why the window's double wide like that?
It is.
So, there were a lot of surprises in this unit.
Some of the surprises came from Nick himself.
So, this had probably been a bedroom,
and we had to convert it to our kitchen when Nick came in
and decided that he didn't want it as a kitchen.
Well, yeah, I wanted the kitchen on the third floor,
and I wanted this room as my machine room.
On the second floor was a couple of bedrooms,
but Nick changed that, too.
LLOYD: I decided that I wanted this to be a showroom,
so I had the wall taken out,
so it kind of opened up the whole showroom...
Nick uses the showroom
as a secluded place where clients play comfortably.
He has a few appointments a week
with musicians like Boris Astafiev
of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
...and I can work downstairs,
and they can play as long as they like.
Also on the second floor
is the room where Nick does his varnishing
and stores his raw materials.
The reinforcement of the crack worked in his favor.
Steel beams now support his very heavy wood supply.
On the third floor is the living space
that Nick shares with his wife.
The whole purpose of moving here
was to have this beautiful work space,
and the living space was kind of second in my priorities.
And I just saw this room, and I thought, "Okay, kitchen.
Somehow we'll make it work."
They made it work
despite some structural inconveniences
for a man of his height.
The only drawback that I had was this wall here, being 6'4".
I just kind of kick my head to one side
when I walk across the stairwell here.
Something else I had my contractors do
was cut this surface back
so it's parallel with the ceiling,
and it makes it a much more accessible area.
NARRATOR: On the far side of the open living area
is their bedroom, with some unusual windows
that were also discovered during the renovation.
This old building has gone through a lot
in its 140-plus years,
but it now has a new face and a new purpose.
I like to bring a building back.
I like to save historic buildings.
They add a lot of character to the neighborhood.
NARRATOR: It also encourages others to buy into the neighborhood,
giving the whole community a new life.
When the pigs, chickens, and horses
moved out of this barn in Burgundy, France,
one woman and her family moved in.
NARRATOR: We're back on our tour
of homes that used to be something very different,
like this former train depot
and a neighborhood five-and-dime store.
The Burgundy region of France is a rural area
dotted with farms hundreds of years old,
but one ancient barn
is no longer home to cows and chickens.
Instead it's been transformed into a luxurious modern home.
Hello, my name is Josephine,
and welcome to my house, La Bichette.
NARRATOR: Josephine is an interior designer from Paris
with an eye for mixing mid-century modern
with antique accents.
Once a working barn,
La Bichette now boasts four bedrooms,
four bathrooms,
and a great room featuring a towering ceiling.
GINTZBURGER: Since the very beginning,
I knew that I wanted to take out this floor.
This house, for me, was really my dream project.
I could do everything, what I cannot do with clients.
NARRATOR: Natural lighting was a very important feature,
but the barn was originally divided
by thick stone walls and a much lower ceiling.
That did not fit with Josephine's plans
for a large, unobstructed space,
so she tore out the large stone walls,
opened up the ceiling, and created windows.
GINTZBURGER: There were no windows here at all,
so I had to create the entire lighting system in a certain way
so that I can have light from morning to evening
from east, south, west, and north.
NARRATOR: Josephine didn't want even the walkway
to obstruct the light,
so she installed a metal-grate catwalk
to the upstairs mezzanine.
The children hate me for this because barefoot, it's hurting.
NARRATOR: The catwalk leads to Josephine's bedroom and bath,
which is open to the rest of the house,
allowing her to enjoy the home all of the time.
So, this is really my favorite spot in the house
because I'm a mother of three boys,
and I'm here above the kitchen
to control the home and the spirit of the house.
[ Chuckles ]
NARRATOR: Josephine wanted La Bichette
to be her sons' dream home as well as hers,
so she let them design their own bedrooms.
Her eldest son chose a bedroom and bath
with a separate sitting room
featuring a distinctive curved sofa and fireplace,
while her younger son wanted a place
to host an evening with all of his friends.
Alex, the 16-year-old one of this room,
he got very involved,
so he chose his own picture, his bed,
and the way he wanted it.
My oldest one, the 18-year-old,
he just said, "Mom, I'm fully confident with you.
I know you will do something nice,"
so one got involved
and the other one wanted just a big surprise.
NARRATOR: Entertaining is important to Josephine and her family,
so having a large, open kitchen
where everyone could gather and cook
was very important,
but it wasn't always this spacious.
The previous tenant, a farmer, lived in much smaller quarters.
GINTZBURGER: When I bought this house
at the beginning of the year 2012,
so not very long time ago,
it was only a cow shed and a hen house.
It was really a real farm house
where she just had one, two rooms in there,
and one room which was her bathroom
and her kitchen at the same time.
So, the toilet was separated by a curtain --
very, very sexy and very exciting,
and then she lived next to her cows and her hens
in her farm house.
NARRATOR: Now this massive kitchen contains a custom table
that was made from reclaimed wood
from the hay loft.
It's a perfect example of Josephine's penchant
of mixing the ancient with the modern.
The entire project took me four months,
which is not a lot, I know.
I entered the house,
and I knew exactly what I wanted to do,
and so I sketched it quite quickly,
and then I had a full-time team of eight men here
for three months.
NARRATOR: With La Bichette,
Josephine got to be her own client,
turning an old barn into a dream home
for herself and her kids.
With a healthy mix of rustic and modern elements,
this space now provides her family
with a beautiful escape from city life in Paris.
When architect Clint Runge and his wife, Kristin,
had an opportunity to buy a 1902 grocery store
in Lincoln, Nebraska,
they were on a mission.
KRISTIN: This place was just an empty shell of nothing,
and I remember thinking, "Who would live here?
This is crazy."
NARRATOR: We're back on our tour
of some of the most interesting places
people call home,
like a former barn in the French countryside
and a converted gristmill in North Carolina.
When architect Clint Runge and his wife, Kristin,
had an opportunity to buy a 1902 grocery store
in Lincoln, Nebraska,
they were on a mission.
My favorite part is the story.
I think it's got a great character to it.
I love finding all the original things that are in here
and remodeling them and finding new uses for them.
That's my favorite part of the place.
It's actually turned out pretty cool.
The store was built in 1902 by H.J. Amen.
It served as a grocery store, a butcher shop,
an insurance agency, and a bank.
Clint took the space knowing it was a work-in-progress.
He kept much of the store's original features,
including the entryway.
One of my favorite parts of the whole building
is actually the entryway into it.
The doors have -- There's dual doors.
I love there's the ads there on the front,
the original place.
Of course, the woodwork around here is just amazing.
The huge glass-block-window storefront.
There's even this little wood stage that's up there.
NARRATOR: Clint retained the building's integrity
as he incorporated many of its unique features into his home.
In keeping with the openness of the building,
he used part of the main room as his bedroom loft.
CLINT: This is the bedroom --
just an open space, built some risers up,
but the bed in the middle of it, cabinetry all along the back
right over the big storefront window,
built the brick up along the side.
Kind of nice detail.
Didn't have any closet space, either, so here's my closet.
NARRATOR: In the main living room, he kept the flooring
as well as one of the butcher blocks
as his coffee table.
The original freezer door is still in his dining room.
What once served as the meat locker
is now a craft and hobby room.
CLINT: Over here is the original freezer unit,
and as you'll see, consistent with the house,
I've tried to keep as many things as possible.
This would have been where they originally hung
all the meat inside and froze it.
[ Grunting ] This heavy door here
would have helped insulate it.
Behind it is this weight system.
Now, the meat would have been hung here for the butchers
to actually see how much the meat weighed,
and they could sell it to the patrons.
NARRATOR: Nearby is the kitchen.
When I first moved into this place,
this is one of those spaces that I love the most.
This is the original butcher shop.
It's now the kitchen.
All the tile was original to the place.
This butcher block was sitting right here, in fact.
It's now an island.
It's organic in nature.
You can see it has an interesting shape to it.
That's 'cause all the butchers would actually sit here
and cut their meat with little knives like this,
and they'd stand at all four sides,
and it now has this really interesting warped shape to it.
NARRATOR: The kitchen includes a giant boiling pot,
which is where the butchers processed the meat.
My plan with this is to make a giant bowl of chili in it.
NARRATOR: Behind the kitchen,
Clint created another practical transformation.
This is the guest bathroom.
It was originally the smoke room.
You can see we've left all the char
from the all the years of smoked meat inside.
So, when it gets really hot in the summertime,
you can still smell the scent of smoked meat.
NARRATOR: As the store and home come together,
Clint and Kristin still allow it to grow and change.
One of my favorite things
is actually that this isn't perfect,
that it's constantly being redone.
I have a master plan for the whole thing,
and over the years,
I just do a little piece at a time.
I think one of my favorite parts of this house
is just the wide, open space of it.
This place was just an empty shell of nothing,
and I remember thinking,
"Who would live here? This is crazy."
I've just grown to like just the big, open area.
Welcome to the home of Robert and Marilyn Katzman.
For this fun-loving San Francisco couple,
home is anything but ordinary.
This is the Katzman residence -- a firehouse built in 1896.
Back in 1977,
when Robert and Marilyn were looking to purchase a home,
this 4,500-square-foot fire station
was nothing but a run-down relic.
ROBERT: We needed space for our business.
We knew this was for us.
They gave us the keys after about a month or so
after we bought the fire house.
We spent almost two weeks in here without any electricity.
The Katzmans went to work.
After countless hours of elbow grease,
they had converted the space into a charismatic home.
Through the entrance on the first floor,
there's the garage, the media room, and the kitchen.
Fire-house memorabilia
adds historical flair throughout the house.
We started collecting.
We didn't really do it thinking we were gonna be collectors,
but things would come our way,
and as people saw that we were keeping the history alive,
they'd knock on the door and say,
"I've got these nozzles from this old fire house.
You should have them here."
NARRATOR: Robert and Marilyn
were keen on preserving the history of the building.
Most of the kitchen looks the same as it did
when the firefighters used it,
even down to the appliances, like the original sink.
Upstairs is the old fire station bathroom,
which hasn't changed much over the years.
The guest room honors the old captain's room,
complete with part of the original bed.
The remaining upstairs is the huge master suite.
This spacious room
also includes the original firefighters lockers from 1896.
ROBERT: Each had his own locker, had the bunk against the wall.
There's a dozen lockers, and I have two.
What's a fire house without a fire pole?
It's sufficient and more fun than stairs.
Robert and Marilyn preserved so many belongings
from the original fire station
that the house has become a tribute to firefighting.
We have to keep the history alive.
We love the history, and we can feel the history,
and it's important
to keep as much of it the way it was as you can
and enjoy living in it the way it was.
I mean, it's not for everybody.
They fell so in love with the history,
they decided to purchase the fire engine of their dreams,
a 1955 Mack.
They've even started using it to run tours of San Francisco.
When you love the city the way we love the city
and to be able to own a piece of history
and live in a piece of history of the city,
it's remarkable.
To complete the last piece of the puzzle
for these firefighting fanatics,
the Katzmans acquired a fire-house dog.
The Katzmans, their dog, and their historical home
fit like a glove
in the colorful city of San Francisco.
By resurrecting a maritime treasure,
this Welsh homeowner made his children's dreams come true.
My two sons -- I mean,
this is the coolest place for kids to grow up.
When they were at school,
they were known as the lighthouse kids,
you know, which was fantastic for them.
NARRATOR: We've visited homes around the world
that at one time were an animal barn,
a fire station,
and a historic movie theater.
This next home was built to withstand the harsh weather
off the west coast of Wales.
The lighthouse in West Usk, built in 1821,
is now home to Frank Sheahan and his family.
Hello, I'm Frank, and welcome to the West Usk lighthouse.
NARRATOR: This lighthouse has a unique shape
because it sits on soft, reclaimed marshland.
It was built wide rather than tall
so that it would not sink into the ground.
Weighing in at 6,000 square feet,
it is 50 feet in diameter, stands 58 feet high,
and has 18 rooms,
including 8 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms,
kitchen, formal dining room,
and an original stone spiral staircase
connecting them to a rooftop deck and lamp room
with 360-degree views of the sea.
23 years ago, Frank and his wife, Danielle,
wanted to change their environment and lifestyle.
I wanted to escape London,
and this was a great opportunity for that.
NARRATOR: After searching for a suitable property to convert
for two years,
Frank knew the lighthouse could be a one-of-a-kind home,
but when he first saw it, it was miles away
from being a beautiful retreat of his dreams.
It was in terrible condition,
which put a lot of people off from buying it.
You know, there was actually cows and sheep living in it,
and it did smell of cows and sheep.
NARRATOR: Even in this condition,
Frank saw the chance to live in a one-of-a-kind home
and start a business at the same time.
The idea of being independent, self-employed,
living in a place like this, was a dream, really.
NARRATOR: Now Frank uses four of the bedrooms
for his wife and two sons
and uses the other four as a bed and breakfast.
Each of the bedrooms features its own bathroom
and has a nautical theme and name,
and, as it turns out,
a lighthouse is a great place to raise a family.
SHEAHAN: My two sons --
I mean, this is the coolest place for kids to grow up.
When they were at school,
they were known as the lighthouse kids,
which was fantastic for them.
NARRATOR: When Frank bought it,
the lighthouse was missing the signature lamp room on top,
as it had been lost to neglect decades before,
and Frank wasn't sure he could re-create it,
but nine months of research and building,
with the help of the local government preservation office,
he restored the lighthouse to its formal glory.
I was so relieved when it's all finished
'cause I did feel guilty
about people coming to stay here at the bed and breakfast
and you haven't got a lamp on top of the light house.
NARRATOR: With the lamp revived, the major work is done,
but Frank has learned living in a lighthouse
is a constant labor of love.
It was hard work, but, you know, we're now --
At our age, we're really beginning
to sort of reap the benefits
of all that hard work we've done, you know.
It was a big project.
I thought we'd finish it within a year or two,
but, of course, 23 years later, I'm still working on it.
NARRATOR: Frank is just the latest
in a long line of keepers for the lighthouse at West Usk.
For centuries, lighthouses have used their beacons
to warn people to stay away from the danger ahead,
but for Frank and his family, the message is, "Welcome home."
From train depots to horse trailers,
Dumpsters to grocery stores,
these domestic pioneers have proven
that you can take almost any space
and make it home.