Glens Falls tiny house a years-long journey from ruin to restoration

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The house at 5 Culvert St. is a nationally-recognized historic site, but until a few years ago, it spent over a century in disrepair.

In 2017, Darren and Lisa Tracy, the Saratoga Springs-based owners of West Branch Engineering and Consulting, bought the former 1870s office of Dr. James Ferguson for $1, and had a lot ahead of them. The 627-square-foot structure had gaps in walls, flooding, and a roof that had completely caved in and broken through two floors, into the basement. That roof had to be raised 6 inches from the brick in order to get it intact again.

The original windows are still intact, as are most of the outside brick walls. Inside, the building is a currently-occupied apartment, which the Tracys say found a tenant quickly.

The effort to fix the house finished this past spring. Since then, it's received an Excellence in Historic Preservation award from the Preservation League of New York State.

Darren and Lisa Tracy previously restored property in Elizabethtown, which they got registered as a historic place themselves.