By Matthew Avitabile
TANNERSVILLE – Author Wendy Marech wrote about her process of rebuilding a house and herself in her new book Rebuilding: A Celebration of a Fixed-Up House and Life, which she cites as "my love letter to the Catskills and a celebration of repair of all kinds."
The author moved from Brooklyn during COVID to an area just outside of Tannersville. Marech said that she was in the process of leaving her marriage, which plays a major role in the theme of the book.
“We stumbled on this community we really liked,” she said. There are 20 houses in her neighborhood, along with a “real spirit of community there.”
The house was “unusual” she said, which made for an “adventure.”
Marech has been an author for her entire career, including writing a former syndicated newspaper column while living in Providence, Rhode Island. It grew from a local newspaper one, to a regional one, and then the New England Wire Service, then to a national level. Since, she has written a handful of books, including an award-winning picture book called Sanctuary. The book stemmed from a friendship with a fellow parent, who happened to be an architect interested in designing sanctuaries, and her son’s early childhood, and one of his friends. The girl’s mother was an architect and the discussion moved to designing sanctuaries and how children “instinctively” know what they are. The book included illustrations such as a “fort in the child’s bedroom, a closet, a tennis court, and a library,” as examples. She credits Joanna Chen for the illustrations. (Apologies here — Joanna is very press-shy!)
She also wrote The Red Castle and the Blue, a fairy tale about a princess who finds that being a princess “isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” and that the person best suited for saving herself is “herself.” In the book, there’s a knight seeking a mission and the design shifted from a football player stereotype to one more similar to the Three Musketeers. Marech said that one of the most rewarding aspects of writing children’s books is she likes being able to bring her thoughts to see her stories materialize on the page.
The most surprising aspect of moving to the Catskills, she says, is the wide array of animals that find their way into the house, including “mice by the dozen,” snakes, vermin, ermine, squirrels, and bats. She said that while bears haven’t entered the house yet, they’ve “made themselves comfortable on the porch.”
“Figuring out how to deal with mice was a very steep learning curve,” she said. While many homeowners may have their own methods, it hadn’t “crossed [her] mind” prior. The first weekend, the exterminator caught 16 mice; the following week he caught 10.
The house was built in 1893 and “hadn’t had much upkeep since then.” While the contractor said that there were “good bones,” the rest of the house was a “bit of a mess.”
The book highlights the different portions of the progress, including the exterior paint, the basement, the kitchen, the porch, the electricity, the windows, and the heat, the bathrooms, and the floors, and much more.
“This house needed a lot of love,” she said. “Far more love than we anticipated.”
As with many old houses, one fix often first required several other fixes. This included an effort to fix sliding doors that “wouldn’t slide,” the house first had to be jacked up. The harsh winters have also led to a shifting foundation and unexpected triage.
Since the end of the winter, the growth of greenery has been a challenge.
Marech said that one of the best parts of her move to the Catskills has been watching her son, who was 12 when they moved, grow up in the area. As he has grown up, their relationship has changed “against the background of this house, which has been lovely for me.”
“I think he’s always loved it from day 1,” she said, adding that the area “feels like home to him.”
What Marech has discovered, however, is that the concept of home now always involves an ongoing list of what she calls “house chores.”
The author said that she was not “cognizant” of the amount of ongoing maintenance that a house requires, which she compares to “having another child.”
Marech’s book revolves around three themes: repairing a house, living in nature, and moving on from divorce. The author said that she enjoyed books with multiple themes. This includes the process of “leaving a marriage” and determining what happens next. She cited the “Great Divorce” concept, where many Americans who have been getting divorced later in life.
“In all of these,” she says, “you have to find your way.” “They all come with big challenges, but also big rewards.” The “experience of being in nature, walking in the woods, having this time to just be is very restorative,” she said. The theme of rebuilding a house, she continues, also presents an interesting parallel to fixing up a life. She notes the example of both needing a sturdy foundation for whatever is built on top.
The book also details her adventures in the Catskills, including outings to Kaaterskill Falls, the Huckleberry Point Trail, Dibble’s Quarry, and beyond. “It’s been a profound process of discovery,” she says. “Really fun, and incredibly fulfilling."
“There’s something nice if you grow up in a place and you know everything for forever” and another to discover new things in an area. She cited hiking up a local area, including writing notes on birch bark and placing it in a box. It allows a view into others visiting and is now “one of our favorite spots.”The perspective has allowed a unique view of the Catskills and what it means to enter the next chapter of a life, both of a home and in life.
For more information about the book, visit https://www.marloepress.com/shop/p/n9biazdq3qi1wgrlru1syheghjw9hu.
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