Dan and Mary Hughes are the kind of busy people who always seem to find time for another project. It seems as though some of their favorite projects involve renovating houses in St. Johnsbury. They cut their renovation teeth on their first home on Boynton Avenue. About eight years ago they took on the project of a large Queen Anne Victorian home on Main Street, pictured above. Over a period of several years, Dan and Mary pooled their talents with a number of contractors and created a home that is a showpiece in the center of St. Johnsbury’s Historic residential district.

Most people would stop there and enjoy the fruits of their labors. But Dan and Mary decided to start a new project -- renovating a house just around the corner from them into an office space for Dan’s business, Celtic Marketing. A specialty food broker, Celtic Marketing represents food products that are carried by markets across the country. They found the house on Clinton Avenue, which had become something of an eyesore over the years. It needed a lot of work to make it usable and fit in with the other homes in the neighborhood. And as Dan tells it, they also had to convince the neighbors the company didn’t have huge tractor-trailers pulling up to the office with products. The renovation work on the building took them about a year, with Dan and Mary once again participating fully in the heavy lifting.

Now the Hugheses are at it again. They purchased the house next door to their home on Main Street when it became available about a year ago, and started yet another renovation project. As with each project, the job was more than they had anticipated when they started, but the progress has been steady. A small house, they have added a master bedroom and bath along with major renovation of the existing space. From the outside, the house looks completed, but Dan says he hasn’t finished all of the interior painting yet -- his responsibility. Their plans are for a family member to live in the house when it is ready, keeping another lovely property in St. Johnsbury in the family.

Another "labor of love" for Dan is his volunteer job as head coach of the Good Shepherd Middle School boys' basketball team. He started helping out with the coaching when his son Brendan was a 7th grader. Even though Brendan is now in high school, Dan has stayed with the Good Shepherd team, coaching the perennial underdogs to an 18-2 season so far this year. "I'm attached to the kids and I really love it," says Dan.

The Hugheses have really enjoyed their work renovating houses in St. Johnsbury. As Dan says, “We love it here and were very excited when the opportunity came up to own a building for the office that is just steps away from our home. Now with the third house right next door, we’ve added another property that’s really attractive right nearby.” Are they planning a new renovation project? Dan says, “Let us get this one finished first, and then we’ll talk!” Maybe when basketball season is finished???