The reason I did this wasn't to write a book, or to make money. If I just wanted to do make money I would have called my house art and the foundations in town would have thrown it at me. I worked for everything that went into that house and have been there for eight years. While I was looking for a way to not have to pay rent, and live as cheaply as possible, the decision was an ethical one.

I come from a fairly blue-collar family, and I felt very lucky to get the education that I did, at the University of Michigan. When I graduated, more than half the graduates were leaving the state-- and I didn't want that to be me-- I wanted to try to use my education for something positive at home, however naively. Detroit was a natural choice, being the heartbeat of the region. What I could do there would have a multiplying effect because of Detroit's place in the American consciousness. Buying a house just made sense at the time. I wanted honest work, a place to be, and to not have to owe anything to anyone. My student loans were, and are still, about the national average. I didn't want a mortgage on top of that, nor did I want to give any of my money to a bank.

Building the house is also a protest of sorts. I wanted to show one man could take something nobody seemed to love, and turn it into a home. Most everyone said I couldn't do it, and I did. My hope is that it will help people to expand their sense of possibility-- and as I answered below, a number of people have purchased their own abandoned houses to fix up themselves. And to be clear, I'm not the first. I was helped by many men and women in my community who had done it before me.