She bought the more than 80-year-old home a year ago but has only lived in it for about two months. It was a real fixer-upper, according to Cooke. But the artist and photography teacher wouldn't have had it any other way.

She saw the renovation as an opportunity to rekindle the history of the house.

"I wanted to discover the bones of the house," Cooke says. "And the structure of the house and be true to the history. I think a house is a living thing and I'm not sure there's ever a real beginning or an end to it. It's evolving."

The house needed to evolve a lot, and she followed the "It takes a village" concept during the renovation of her home, enlisting the help of friends and former students.

Fortunately for Cooke, she has a lot of friends who are artists. When she needed the walls painted, she threw a painting party. A contractor, who is her former principal, made tables and friends did much of the art on the walls.

"This is about using the resources you have and bartering and trading," says Cooke. "I may not have the financial resources, but I do have the people resources. It takes a dedicated group of friends."

And that makes the place a lot more special in Cooke's eyes.

"Everything that's done," she says. "I look at it and think, 'that person helped do that.' And I'll always remember. It's like making a work of art."