Yours, Mine and Ours: A Beach House for Two Families

For the past three summers, the gracious Nantucket-style home in tiny Long Beach, Indiana, has been the site of barbecues, beachside football games and giggle-filled sleepovers for as many as 27 children. (Judy and her husband, Mike, bring two kids to the mix; Dawn and her husband, Steve, bring four.) When the families bought the three-story house, however, it looked as if its best days were in the rearview mirror. Past rehabs had stripped much of its charm. And the basement? "It looked like it was out of The Silence of the Lambs," Dawn says. In short, it was perfect.

"I love houses that have a great lot and beautiful architecture that I can spray my fairy dust on and make phenomenal," says Dawn, who confesses to being a serial house renovator in addition to a real estate agent. "I've turned lemons into lemonade several times."

Pictured: Both families had vacationed on Lake Michigan for years, so buying this waterfront house was a dream come true.