Houzz Tour: Family Rebuilds Home and Community After Hurricane Sandy (27 photos)

BEFORE: This photo was taken one day after the storm. There was 2 feet of water on the Nelsons’ first floor. “We had to decide what we wanted to invest in … for us it was the value for the town and the value for our lives,” Chris says. “I knew right away that it was do or die for us and our community — we decided to invest in our community rather than the property.”

He adds, “It was not enough to wash away the memories that we had or cloud the memories to come.” The family knew they were lucky that their home’s structure had stood up to the storm fairly well, but there was an overwhelming amount of work to be done.

Chris postponed his reentry into the workforce and concentrated on helping putting his town back together — working with the federal, state and county governments and plowing through the paperwork and bureaucracy to fix the tiny town. The Nelsons decided to save their home, not only for themselves but also to provide inspiration for others. Instead of waiting for grants, they got to work right away. (They ultimately received about $120,000 in insurance money and paid for the rest out of pocket.)

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