I assumed my realtor had made a typo.  "There's an ice house for rent across the street," her e-mail read.  I made arrangements to see this "nice house" and the next weekend found myself standing in front of a tiny garden cottage behind a tall stockade fence.  The landlord, Suzanne Paterson, explained that this building, built over 150 years ago, once stored ice for the hamlet of High Falls.  The renovated space was "funky," Sue said, indicating the massive freezer door, three-foot-thick walls, miniscule kitchen, and steep staircase that led to the loft, and whoever rented it was necessarily "funky" too.  I moved in to The Ice House the next month.

When friends visited, they exclaimed about the divided-light windows crazed with dormant ivy and Virginia creeper; the beaded wood panelling; the rustic, rough-hewn beams; the sun-filled loft and clawfoot tub; Sue's playful green color scheme;  and the sheer size of it, or lack thereof - 550 square feet for my daughter and me.

It turned out that, despite the thick walls, the place was very cold in winter, cramped for two people, and unreliable: the waste pipe, which ran through the unheated entryway, froze on several occasions, necessitating messy, all-day repairs.  The staircase and the low, sloped ceiling in the bathroom were constant hazards, and I often found myself staring distractedly at the sink's rusty drain.

Nevertheless, I loved the light and the garden, and took no small amount of pride in "roughing it."  And the more I learned about the little hamlet along the D&H Canal and my home's small but important role in its development, the more I liked it.  When my daughter discovered our home on a historic map of the hamlet, I genuinely felt we were occupying a place with history.

In "Residential Reuse," Nina Shengold visits some of the many adaptive reuse projects that dot the Hudson Valley.  From barns to deconsecrated churches, train stations to factories, chicken coops to apple coolers, these converted buildings do more than provide "funky" housing - they preserve and honor the historic fabric and character of our unique region.

Also in this issue, Lorrie Klosterman examines Universal Design, the growing trend in home design of creating spaces to accommodate people of every age and ability.  Julia Lazarus examines the pros and cons of the ever-popular wood stove.  And Susan Piperato looks into the fast-growing new phenomenon in home design: the home office.

It's a great issue.  Enjoy.  And enjoy exploring more of the Hudson Valley this month.

- Jim Andrews

Errata: In October, we erred in a story about the home of Margarita Carreras and Carlos Padilla, "Bauhaus Haiku."  Carreras LLC, which features designs by Margarita and operates a gift store in Rhinebeck, is a corporation of five partners, including the couple, that has branded the name "Carreras" and sells its products in stores nationwide.  Visit www.carrerashome.com.