The Savvy Woman's Guide to Owning a Home : How to Care for, Improve and Maintain Your New Home

In a light and humorous way, yet clear and detailed enough to be of real help, the book teaches the basics of home care, safety, and getting into a new community. It covers everything from moving into the new place, to seasonal and yearly "to do" lists, to dealing with a host of repairs.

The book is laid out in a sensible way and contains sidebars with lots of helpful hints and fun anecdotes. It's something I could easily see becoming a bible for the new homeowner, female or male, but is especially excellent for women because it avoids the jargon often used when such information is geared toward men.

KK Wilder, Producer, "Wild Spirit: The Writing Life"

I was first drawn to construction when my father, Henri de Marne, decided our side porch would make a dandy office for himself. Then seven years old, I offered my services by hanging around until he found something useful for me to do. Soon, I could name all the nails and hand him the right ones at the right time. I learned all the tools and their functions. I'm sure I took a few whacks at boards in my time, but with my slight weight at that age, I didn't make much of a dent, much less pound in too many nails. As a reward for my efforts, Dad made me my own tool box for my little set of tools. I still have it.

It wasn't long before I was fixing things as well as taking them apart. I was learning this stuff. One of my early jobs was working as the Assistant Buyer of Lamps at the Hecht Co. in Washington DC. When I had enough of the office, I could be found upstairs in the back storage creating new lamps from busted parts. My one-of-a-kind specials were put on display and sold. The tough part was when a customer wanted a match. Later, I was hired by a flooring company to sell flooring. I enjoyed playing around with the merchandise and ended up running the warehouse. I furnished my first townhouse with scraps of carpet, padding, carpet samples and plywood. Sold all of it when I moved to Germany for a year when I married Peter.

Back in the States, we moved to Vermont where we ran an old Vermont farmhouse as a ski lodge for a winter. Not only did we run out of water the first day we had guests (Christmas Day), but I had to cook for them as well. (I'm not a cook, my sister is.) Dealing with the fix-it issues of old dryers, temperamental heating systems, cranky plumbing, mazes of "put-together" pipes and wires, wells, and chimneys was an education in survival! Our guests didn't starve, either.

Eventually we bought our own house. As our family grew to include two children, the house grew. We fixed electric wiring, replumbed fixtures, finished off a bathroom, added a large addition, dealt with lightning storms blowing out our water supply, electric lines coming down, days without power and water, and all manner of exciting events.

As a homeowner, I've had 26 years of practical on-the-job training to write this book. I've been helping Dad with his column (he writes it, I straighten out the computer tangles) and therefore learn his information as well. Married to a masonry contractor has given me an amazing education in safe installations of chimneys, what can go wrong and why, how to correct the problems, or more importantly, how to find the right person to do the right job the first time.