100-Year-Old Cottage, 21st Century Remodel

The living lab also has been an eye-opener for friends and visitors. Three years after those neighborhood protests, people still ring the doorbell and ask about the windmill. Only these days it's no longer seen as a folly, Curt says, but "a source of pride."

The same might be said for the house. It may look like a well-preserved circa 1910 cottage, but its spirit, to paraphrase its proud owners, is pure 2010s.