By Kate Kachor
When Tia Weston bought her new home it had no heating, water or electricity and was flagged for demolition.
The property had been in the same family for more than 30 years. It had been left abandoned and only used as a place to store personal items.
Tia Weston bought an abandoned house.Credit: Tia Weston
“It was in such bad shape that at one point it was going to be given to the fire department to burn down,” Weston, 29, said in a recent YouTube video.
“The previous owner had an emotional attachment to this house because it was his childhood home.”
It was late last year when Weston, from Louisville in the United States, first learned about the home while out house hunting in regional North Dakota.
As fate would have it, she ended up speaking with the home’s owner.
She bought this property in North Dakota for $1.50. Credit: Tia Weston
She claims he told her he’d “basically give this house away” if someone was willing to renovate it, rather than see it knocked down.
“I remember walking into the house for the first time and I immediately loved it,” she said.
“It was small, the layout made sense and I knew I could turn it into my dream home.”
The bathroom before work had been done.Credit: Tia Weston
When she decided she wanted to buy the house, Weston offered the owner $US1 ($1.50), which he accepted.
The bathroom after renovation.Credit: Tia Weston
The pittance of an offer was to get the ball rolling on the paperwork.
It would end up costing Weston significantly more to transform the home, around $US40,000 ($61,000).
She had $US32,000 ($48,000) from the sale of her previous home in Louisville and made up the remaining $13,000 from money earned from documenting the renovation on social media.
After cleaning out the home, Weston tackled the most urgent repairs, including the roof, the home’s electrics, walls and ceilings.
She and her father replaced parts of the roof that had rotted, though much of the original timber shingles from 1924 were sound.
It took the pair 37 weeks to complete the renovation and move in.
“I’ve been living in this house for over a month now and I’m so in love with it,” she said.
Tia Weston completed much of the work herself with the help of her father. Credit: Tia Weston
“I feel like every corner I look in tells a story of what it was and what it is now.
“This house was one of the biggest passion projects I’ve ever had in my life. I became so obsessed with turning it into something beautiful.”
Weston now plans to tackle the property’s half an acre of land and restore the front porch.
This article was originally published by Domain.com.au. Reproduced with permission.