What, this doesn’t look like the house of your dreams?

Last year local builder Thom Woglom started scouting for the ultimate fixer upper to buy and turn into a showcase of what his company, Warwick’s Greenway Technologies, can do to totally green a home. It turned out to be a small, distressed brick ranch at 37 Hawthorne Avenue, off Route 17A built in 1973.

Yep, Woglom’s got imagination. “This is just what we were looking for,” said Woglom, who had been planning the project for more than three years. “We wanted a small house that could serve as a case study where we can maximize every inch in a way that not only makes it user-friendly, but adds to the sustainability of the design.”

“Hawthorne fit the bill for Thom because at that purchase price I knew he would be able to invest in the kind of environmentally responsible improvements that will mean a lot to the future homeowner,” said realtor Geoff Green of the Green Team (no relation).

Currently the six-room home is completely gutted, awaiting the first of many transformations that will make it more efficient with energy, water and waste. Walls will be moved, stairs relocated, and cellulose insulation and energy efficient windows installed. Outside changes include a new roof, siding and the re-terracing of the backyard, and a covered ramp entryway will provide protection from the elements.

Renovating the Hawthorne house is like being a scientist in a laboratory. “It’s almost like we are taking the property, putting the pieces in a paper bag, shaking it up and laying it back out on the table,” said Woglom. “When we put the pieces back together, we are doing it in a much better way. We know we will have a really interesting design and one that will use the space as efficiently as we can.”

When the house is finished later this year, it’ll go back on the market.

Paid: $135,000 By Pip Klein