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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield landlord and developer Don Hoelting has been busy the last few years refurbishing dilapidated homes and turning them into little gems.

Hoelting is willing to tackle even the toughest jobs, like rehabilitating homes with extensive fire damage. He said those are especially messy clean-ups because of the soot left behind. He’s taken three fire-damaged properties in Fairfield and brought them “back to life,” and one of those was his recent renovation of 1004 West Grimes.

“I’m surprised the house was still holding up,” said Hoelting, who noted there was a 20-foot gap in the foundation where the house was hanging in the air. “I like the challenge of rehabilitation, and I’m also kind of a fan of small homes. Because the home is not enormous, the cost can be controlled. This particular house had a basic design, and I was able to maintain that with a few minor changes.”

When he was finished with the remodel, Hoelting had turned a decrepit property into a nice three-bedroom, two-bathroom abode. The property was ready to lease in January 2024, and Hoelting found a tenant that same month.

Another fixer-upper Hoelting tackled was at 1100 West Hempstead, which he renovated last summer. That was a two-bedroom, one-bath house which had been vacant for many years, with a garage that was leaning. The inside of the house had suffered significant water damage from a leaky roof, so Hoelting had to replace the roof with new sheathing and shingles.

The third home that Hoelting has worked on in the past year and a half was at 804 West Grimes, which had been vacant for two years before Hoelting purchased it. The prior owner had a disability that required them to cut into walls to allow for handicap access, and Hoelting realized he would have to undo some of those alterations. He turned the bathroom back into a bedroom, like it was in the beginning, and put the bathroom back into its original location when the house was built. A six-foot addition on the back of the home was left unfinished by the prior owner, so Hoelting redesigned that space to make a second bathroom, laundry room and two small offices.

The newly renovated three-bedroom and two-bathroom house was remodeled from September through November of 2024, and sold promptly as soon as it was on the market.

In addition to his work restoring homes, Hoelting has pursued other careers. He became a CPA in 1979, and was the accounting manager of a few small companies. Even then, he liked splitting his time between accounting and property management. He’s owned rental properties since the late 1970s, before his move to Fairfield in 1983, and has served as the local dealer for several modular home companies, including Rochester Homes in Rochester, Indiana.

Hoelting estimated that he’s developed about 50 homes in Fairfield. He often takes charge of painting the inside and outside, a task he’s done for half a century. He also does all the odd jobs like hauling waste, cleaning up, and making trips to hardware stores and lumberyards.

“I have architectural software, and that’s one of the most fun activities when you’re renovating or doing home design,” Hoelting said. “And then there’s all this bookkeeping and accounting, which is not difficult, but it does take time.”

Hoelting has been one of the major players in developing Fairfield’s housing stock, though he’s trying to slow down a bit. He will turn 76 this summer, and he’s contemplating how many more projects to take on. At the same time, he still has ambitions he wants to explore.

“New construction is very much needed in Fairfield, and it would be enjoyable to collaborate with other people in town to create decent homes,” he said. “It would be satisfying to be able to build new duplexes, triplexes and small homes. I share a dream with many people to create a microhome community, of 20-30 homes anywhere from 400-800 square feet. There are quite a few of them across the country, but not in Fairfield yet.”