From Neighborhood Eyesore to Designer Home

April 29, 2009 — -- Judy Fuller recycles, but she goes way beyond cans and bottles. The Waukesha, Wisc., native converted a neighborhood "eyesore" into a beautiful eco-friendly home that also helps her raise money for charity.

The city was planning to demolish an old, rusty water tower, nearly 40 feet tall and 50 feet around, that could hold 675,000 gallons of water.

The tower had sat unused and neglected for years but the demolition would cost the city about $100,000.

"So I walked up to the water department and said I wanted to buy it," Fuller said.

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For $1,000, Fuller became the owner of the giant tower in 2004.

"The concrete had oxidized and it was scaling off the building and it was old porous, concrete [that] rebar was poking through," said Fuller, the owner of Pinnacle Building Inc. who exceeded her budget of $200,000 on the water tower project.

After three years of drilling, painting and renovating, the water tower was transformed into a three-floor, 6,000-square-foot designer home that looks unlike any other in this community of 65,000 people.