When Julie Rabinovitz first walked through the doors of the 1920 two-story house on Ann Arbor’s Fountain Street, she saw crumbling plaster walls, ancient paper-thin carpet, a turquoise blue toilet and walls painted in a color she described as Pepto-Bismol pink.

It was love at first sight.

Rabinovitz looked past the dated décor and saw the original oak columns in the vestibule, original woodwork framing the windows, a sturdy brick exterior, beveled-glass windows, three relatively large bedrooms and the perfect place to raise her young family. While her husband, Ran, had some reservations, she knew it was the right house.

“It scared my husband more than me,” she said. “I didn’t realize the extent of the work that was needed. I didn’t want to know. I knew it had good bones.”

With work from Cardea Construction Co., the house, with approximately 1,500-square-feet, was cleaned and buffed, They kept the house historically accurate while adding modern touches and siding with green construction choices when possible.

“When we started the house looked weary, really tired out,” said Patricia Harroun, founder and president of Cardea. The remodel took place a year ago.

All of the wood floors - oak in most of the downstairs and maple in the kitchen and second floor - were refinished. The kitchen and upstairs rooms were gutted and new plumbing, wiring and mechanicals were installed.

The plaster walls, especially on the second floor, had to be extensively repaired, with some holes measuring more than three feet, Harroun said. Three-quarters of the ceiling in the smallest bedroom had to be re-plastered.

The remodel stayed true to the house’s history. During the project, a newspaper from Dec. 29, 1929 was found inside a wall along with, inexplicably, a roll of toilet paper.

The time-capsule newspaper was a reminder of the house’s long history, and the project kept the era’s character: The kitchen cabinetry is painted wood, in keeping with the era. Original light fixtures were rewired rather than replaced and the push-button light switches were kept.

The stairs leading to the second floor, black from age, were refinished. Even the wool runner up the stairs, dark from more than 50 years of dirt, was cleaned and put back in place. And the upstairs bathroom floor was replaced with black and white tile with a windmill pattern, the same pattern that was in the couple’s first apartment.

There are other odes to history: The pedestal sink in the full bath was salvaged from the Michigan Theater and the claw-foot tub was also reclaimed. Both were purchased from Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, which sells surplus building supplies, furniture and appliances.

In addition to repurposing, other green construction practices were used: Low- or no-VOC paints; cellulose insulation made from 100 percent recycled paper; and drywall (when needed) made from recycled gypsum board. The kitchen cupboards are made from responsibly grown lumber. The black counter tops are from Paperstone and are made from recycled paper and cashew resin.

The remodeling wasn’t always easy, Harroun said. With plaster damage, it’s impossible to know upfront how much damage exists. Some of the damage was extensive.

And then there was the black glue. The sheeted vinyl flooring in the kitchen had been secured directly to the hardwood floor with a black glue that couldn’t be removed except by hand scraping. That took days. And there was no hardwood under the vinyl flooring in the kitchen nook, and a new floor had to be installed.

But Rabinovitz never doubted for a moment that it was the right house, she said. “As soon as I walked in, I knew I wanted this house.”