How the SWAP Model House Changed the Direction of My Life

My involvement with SWAP started around 1978, when I was first told about their efforts on Pine Street by a client. I visited the very run-down street, that then had more empty lots than houses, and selected #408, that was vacant and in poor condition. While waiting for the house to close I needed a place to live and thus became the very first tenant of 439 Pine Street, which became, and remains, SWAP’s office.

SWAP had purchased #439 because it was thought to be the worst house on the street and the idea was to renovate and resell it. The profits would be invested in purchasing and renovating another house; thus, it was called the Model House. As I continued to become more deeply involved, I decided to join the Board and ran for Vice President on the promise that we would find additional funding and finish the project, which in fact we did.

Michael Warner was the architect, the late Robert Fain was my co-committee member and Keith Lescabeau, now Abcore Restoration, was selected to do the work, which he did with efficiency and professionalism. Keith and I went on to work together over a period of 40 years. I so enjoyed the process of overseeing the completion of this project that I decided to return to RISD, complete my degree, and become an architect, a career that spanned 30 years, in which I specialized in historic preservation and revitalization of urban housing.