James Schmidt, a senior in the School of Architecture at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, has been involved with the Shotgun House restoration project in Cairo, Illinois, for the last year. Jim joined volunteers at the Adventures in Preservation workshop, where he learned hands-on preservation skills from building conservator Bill Black, Jr.

Following the workshop, Jim spent the next ten weeks completing work on the exterior restoration of the project house, as well as starting interior restoration. Jim, along with Antoinette Lettiere, also completed a book entitled “Reviving Your Shotgun House”, which provides step-by-step instructions for homeowners needing to repair and restore their own homes. The book is available at the Cairo Public Library for public use.

Before beginning graduate school in the fall, Jim will work as an instructor for volunteers at AiP’s 2010 shotgun house workshop, during which restoration will begin on the second historic house slated for use as affordable housing.