Fixing Up A “Fixer-Upper”

The terrace is the perfect place to entertain friends. Chris Runge built the Aegean blue Bahamian shutters and rustic cypress benches; interior designer Gretchen Rose chose colorful Key West Hand Print cushions to add to the tropical appeal.

It was a home no one wanted. And why would they? The abandoned three-bedroom 1950s ranch house hadn’t seen a speck of updating in years. Add to that battle scars left by recent storms and you have the picture. To call it a “fixer-upper” was being generous.

The house got lucky the day Chris Runge came along. Where others saw pitiful, he saw potential. “I had looked at 32 places before I found this and hit a road block with every one, so I said, ‘Lord, I’m asking you for a house I can afford,’” says Runge, smiling as he remembers the day he first laid eyes on the place he has called home for the past five years.

“I came into the living room and there was a ficus tree growing right in the middle. The ceiling and walls were dark and dingy; it was scary around every corner. I almost walked away, thinking it was too much work, yet somehow I just knew this was where I was supposed to be. My friends thought I was crazy and told me not to buy it.”

 Read the entire article in the January 2007 issue