Ron Tanner

Ten years ago, Ron and his then-girlfriend, Jill, did the impossible. They bought condemned property—a big Baltimore Victorian brownstone ­and vowed to bring it back to its original glory. The house had been home to Baltimore's most notorious fraternity for a decade and now, wrecked and abandoned, it was filled with garbage. As if that weren't daunting enough: Ron and Jill had been dating for only six months and they knew nothing about fixing up old houses. Friends, family, and concerned onlookers told them not to do it ­ they would surely lose their shirts and their love in the bargain. But Jill wanted the house and Ron wanted Jill. So Ron bought the house.

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