Betsy Sweeny is a 27-year-old architectural historian and preservationist at the Wheeling National Heritage Area who decided to take on the task of renovating an 1890s home in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Sweeny is amongst a significant group of young professionals who have been leaving metropolitan cities for, quite literally, greener pastures.
Betsy found her turn-of-the-century, “eclectic-style” red-brick Victorian home on the east side of town for a mere $18,500 thanks in part to the Cheap Old Houses Instagram account, which promotes historic homes in need of some TLC.
She estimates that her renovation will come to $125,000.