Sugarhouse by Matt Batt

Sugarhouse; Turning the Neighborhood Crack House Our Home Sweet Home by Matt Batt

Matt and Jenae live in Salt Lake City and need to buy a house fast because the lease for their apartment is up.  They have lost 2 bids already and are losing faith, when fate intervenes. Matt luckily drives by a house newly listed on the market.  It is a great street, a perfect location, everything about it seems perfect until they walk in the front door.  The smell is atrocious, who knows what is on the carpet and there is aluminum foil on the windows.  It is the neighborhoods former crack house.

Matt and Jenae buy the house and have a ton of home improvements to do in just one month.  Matt is not a handy guy, he is a writer who isn't good at much else but he signs up for some classes, makes some mistakes and eventually, with the help of his wife, fixes up the house.

Matt tells the story of his fixer upper with humor and style.  Batt is witty and insightful, with a little of bit of He-man thrown in (insert a Tim Allen grunt).  He includes the everyday family drama of his life, which I found pretty interesting, as his grandpa is quite the wild man.  In fact, I really enjoyed reading about his mom and grandparents, it added a lot of the story.

Sugarhouse is a entertaining book for those already in the home improvement stage of their lives but it is also a cautionary tale for those thinking about buying a dilapidated former crack house.  Beware or Be Brave!