Developer Restoring 4 Houses Near The Outsiders House Museum

Some century old houses near The Outsiders House Museum are getting new life after a developer decided to restore them.  

The homes are in the Crutchfield neighborhood near Admiral and North Utica.

Just a few blocks away from The Outsiders House Museum, the four identical houses have gotten the attention of Danny Boy O'Connor.  

"This is the way I go to work; so when I go to The Outsiders House Museum, I take the back roads. So I've been passing this thing now for five years,” he said.  

O’Connor said the houses were "derelict" at best and thought one day they would be torn down.  

"This is a real leap of faith,” O’Connor said.  

Then Stuart McDaniel came along, with his company “GuRuStu Communities.”  

"I don't know Stuart. I'd like to buy him a beer and I don't even drink,” O’Connor said.  

McDaniel said each of the houses are 680 square feet and will have two bedrooms and one bathroom. He estimated they were built in the early 1920s.  

"They were clearly built with either minimal plumbing or none,” McDaniel said.  

He has fixed all that and said his goal is to offer affordable housing that is more efficient than where someone may be living now.   

"Some may be paying $600 a month and a $300 electric bill, and they're paying $750 a month and a $68 electric bill here,” he said.  

McDaniel said it was his wife's idea to bring a bit of New Orleans flair to the neighborhood, with plans for bright colors on the restored houses.  

"It's to bring new attention to something that had been neglected,” McDaniel said.  

McDaniel said the homes should be ready for people to start renting in about three or four months. He said he will offer his tenants free internet, since he already has it set up for security cameras and knows it will help out whoever lives there.