Couple turning former train depot into home By GRETTA NEMCEK nemcek@poststar.com GRANVILLE -- Wayne and Michelle Shaw have been staring at the old Delaware & Hudson Railroad station from their Main Street insurance business for 10 years. The building was deteriorating, they said, so they finally decided to do something about it. The Shaws bought the old station three months ago and are planning to turn it into their home. Built in the mid-1800s, the station still has sliding doors in the back where trains once dropped off packages. The original ticket windows are still in place in the middle portion of the building, which currently houses a beauty parlor. The Shaws already have gutted the back portion of the building, tearing the original wainscoting off the walls. "It's sad," Shaw said. "We would have rather left the wainscoting. But to make it feasible to live there, we just couldn't do that. We had to insulate and do what needed to be done to make it feasible to live there and be able to afford to live there." The couple said they have received some criticism from local people who disagree with their renovation plans. "The negativism was discouraging," Shaw said. "Some people can't see something before it's done, and some people can." Despite the messy work of renovation, Shaw said she has a clear image of what her future home will look like. "It's going to be beautiful," Shaw said. "Just changing the windows gave the building a new look." The Shaws currently are renovating the front portion of the building, where they'll live until the back portion is renovated. Then they'll move to the back and rent out the front. They plan to repaint the outside of the station, and Tuesday morning they were tearing off the roof. They've done a lot of the work themselves, with help from builder Mitch Bernard. Shaw said they anticipate the renovation work will be finished in about three years. They have a lot of work ahead of them, but they don't mind. "It's a labor of love," she said.
