REBUILDING A LAKE HOUSE COTTAGE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Abstract

INTRODUCTION I built my first “green” structure when I was ten years old—a multilevel tree house with views of my backyard and the woods beyond. The whole thing was built from lumber cast off (with permission, honestly) from a construction site down the road and hauled in by kids with wagons. Old nails straightened with hammers, a rusty handsaw for the cuts and a rickety ladder borrowed from some kid's father got us that fort in the sky—and my first experience in recycling and reuse. Actually, I had the privilege of growing up around talented people with solid skills. My grandfather worked on the Old Ironsides renovations at the shipyard in Boston. My father taught me his renovation skills. I worked on a house build when I was fourteen with a man who was a natural at creating beautifully engineered trusses and carriers. When I was a twenty-year-old UConn student, I spent my weekends in New Hampshire helping friends build their summer home out of salvaged materials. Did the experience stick? Who knows? But...