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I've traveled around the country on a number of occasions, discovering early on that locating a place to live can be much easier if one offers home improvement skills in exchange for a portion of the rent. One such instance occurred in Memphis at the Lowenstein-Long House, a one-time B & B/hostel facility. In need of employment, as the local leather care market had offered a blank card, I mentioned my background in minor house repairs to the hostel employees. It turned out Colonel Long had another piece of property in need of assistance, and within a month of proving my skills, I was offered the resident manager's position at the rooming house.

This particular Stonewall Street property was a huge three floor structure, not counting the basement area. There were eighteen rooms in all, with fifteen designated as living spaces or bedrooms, and there were six baths. The house was originally built around the 1920's and somehow became a nursing facility during the 1970's; the paperwork was still in the basement. It was also during the time of the nursing facility when nine of the bedrooms and three baths were added as a cinder block offshoot of the house. And the Colonel had purchased the property in the mid 1990's for his son as a renovation project, but that investment option fell through.

When I arrived at the property in February 1999, the Colonel had been hiring out anyone that claimed a hint at home improvement experience, from hostel travelers to a variety of locals. His plan was to sell off the Stonewall house, even if he incurred a loss. He just had to make it presentable. The Colonel was well past retirement age and had his hands full with the B & B and the hostel. Plus, his so-called employees had been taking advantage of the situation at Stonewall and I discovered myself in the midst of a war zone construction party.

I won't go into the details of the shape this house was in, but try picturing portions of a landfill in each room of your home. And it took the better part of two months removing debris and undesirable tenants, as well as running off those local employees that had no desire to abandon their cash cow. While that aspect of the job was being completed, it was time to hire an electrician to install outdoor lighting and a company to get the wet sprinkler system back on line; there were city codes to meet. In the mean time, it was up to me complete any painting and renovation projects, keep up with regular maintenance duties, as well as maintain tenant

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