I, Mark deJong, was born in Holland and raised in Cincinnati from the age of 4. My background includes a formal education in Fine Arts followed by a career in residential construction, where I gravitated toward a specialization in plaster restoration, carpentry, and wood finishing. This particular house project follows a handful of other home restoration projects in various Cincinnati neighborhoods. For me, breathing life back into an old house like this is an opportunity to express a playful aesthetic, re-imagining various elements of the layout and finishes, while also choosing to preserve certain clues about the building’s history. I try to strike a balance between contributing my own personal vision on the one hand, and respecting the original architecture and craftsmanship on the other.