Sheila Consaul, from Washington, DC, purchased the Fairport Harbor West Lighthouse, located on the shores of Lake Erie, in 2011, when it was in bad shape. She paid $71,000 for the structure and now, more than a decade and $300,000 later, she’s showing off the stunning transformation. Prior to the sale of the lighthouse, the Coast Guard maintained the light, but didn’t do much in the way of building maintenance. The lighthouse uses solar power to keep the beam going, but when Sheila obtained it, there was no electricity, plumbing, or heating system inside the building. She has since had a generator and composting toilets installed, and she began collecting rainwater for showering. When she got ready to move in, Sheila had to have big stuff, like appliances, granite countertops, and water treatment equipment, brought in by barge, which cost her roughly $2,500 a day to rent. Despite the challenges, Sheila has now turned the nearly-100-year-old 3,000-square-foot lighthouse into spacious home, complete with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living area, dining room, kitchen, and utility room. Sheila now holds an annual party on the anniversary of when it was first opened almost a century ago, where everyone in the neighborhood is invited to come inside and check it out — and the event has become so big that around 800 people came this year.
