For Julie Janovic – young, energetic, and ripe for a design challenge – the fates smiled kindly when she found a side-by-side two-family house in Cambridge in the early stages of construction. By committing to buy the property while there was still time to make significant changes in the project, she was able to turn what might have been a standard-issue builder’s spec condominium into a customized duplex that feels like a single-family house.

Aiding and abetting Janovic in her various projects were “gifted problem-solvers” Lynda Stevens and her assistant, Leah Langefeld, of Fresh Coat Painting in Swampscott, decorative painters by day, musicians by night. They executed Janovic’s creative ideas, such as faux painting screws on doorknobs, face plates, and window hinges so that they look rusty. In the three bathrooms, exposed PVC pipes were painted to look like old verdigris copper or well-worn steel.

With some early interventions, a spec condo becomes a one-of-a-kind showplace.

This article was written by By Estelle Bond Guralnick and published in Boston Globe Magazine in 2001.