“It’s fifty-five years old. I knocked out the wall that separated the living room from the dining room to make more space. I’m working on a new kitchen, but since I don’t do a lot of cooking for myself, it’s been slow going. I’m a good cook, though. Did you know that?”

She hadn’t.

He pulled her along. He opened the refrigerator door and withdrew a bottle of wine. “I plan to replace this fridge with a subzero one that has matching cabinetry. And a built-in microwave, new stove and, rather than this old-fashioned pantry, I’m going to build out into the back porch, put in a bay window and have a breakfast nook.”

He planned more shelves than cupboards, and showed her a picture of a country French kitchen that seemed to have a spirit of good food and community. She began to envision it.

“The attic is unfinished,” he went on, digging in a drawer for a corkscrew. “There are two bedrooms upstairs, and I’m going to open up the staircase, build a couple of dormer windows and an outdoor staircase to the yard. It’s a small yard, but with a covered patio and some landscaping, it’ll be beautiful. Come on,” he said, abandoning the wine and taking her out the back door.

There was an old two-car garage with a peaked roof. “I’m going to enlarge the garage and build on a workshop. There’ll be storage up top, the workshop out back, and separate garage doors.” He led her back inside. “I’m going to tile where there’s linoleum and refinish the hardwood floors. And the front porch—now it’s small.” He poured two glasses of wine and handed her one. “Come on,” he said, taking her back to the living room. He had a curved sofa that sat before an old-fashioned fireplace. No TV, but a fancy stereo unit. He pointed to the window, outside of which was the front porch. “I’m going to make it larger and screen it, and that will give me more space to enlarge the upstairs.”

“It’s wonderful,” she said, sipping her wine. “How long have you been working on it?”

“A few years,” he said. “I’ve been doing a little here and there, but I haven’t done a lot of serious work yet. I can do a lot of the cabinet work myself, but for an addition I’ll need a bona fide builder and a permit. I’m just getting serious about it. It has to be a lot larger than it is. I wasn’t going to finish the attic, but now I’m going to make sure it will hold two bedrooms with a bathroom in between. I thought about fixing it up to sell it—and now I’m thinking of fixing it up to live in it. It’s pretty messy, huh?”