but when toby barlow and a few friends came across the properties, he saw growth. >> there's a lot of people tearing down homes, but not a lot retoring them. >> two were sold at $1,000 a piece. they acquired a third through a donation. the plan is to renovate and give the homes away to three aspiring writers for three. it's called the writer house project. >> it's a city that needs and deserves writers, whether you are a poet, writing essays, whether you are a novelist. there's a lot to write about. >> in a city with 80,000 abandoned structures, more houses are being brought down than there are being built. once word got out, the news spread fast, not just locally, but worldwide. shannon lowell worked and lived here all of his life. >> we are trying to put the soul back into the skeleton of a neighbourhood. >> it's a good thing. >> as you can see, there's a lot of work to be done. it will cost between 25 and 50,000 to renovate each house. once the work is complete the writers can move in. the only cost to them will be to pay property taxes and insurance. >> toby barlow believes it's a

toby barlow believes it's a concept that could hit home. >> our hope is that it inspires people to do something different. we are focused on writers, but there's no reason you couldn't take the model and bring teachers or say to the fire department or the police, "how would you like to have a house." after money is raised to support the project, youth carpentry begins work. applications will be made in the spring, with a hope of making a difference in detroit, one house at a time. >> coming up, a picture of the day. a storm chaser and a photographer's breath taking images of nature that is most fierce. >> it will be a messy night for many people. ice will melt quickly. for washington, philly, baltimore, you'll see the snow until 3am in the morning. in new york we had rain and thunder going through in that rain. it's embedded. we'll change over to freezing as well as snow. that will happen about midnight. it will go on to 5am. we expect to see 3-5 inches of snow. maybe eight inches up here towards jersey, bringing totals for the event to about 18-20 inches. compared to other years in 2

but when toby barlow and a few of his friends came across these properties they saw room for growth.here are plenty of people taking down homes -- >> two of the houses were sold to them at $1,000 a piece, they acquire add third through a donation. the plan is to renovate and then give them away to three aspiring writers for free. it's called the write a house project. >> this is a city that i think deserved writers. whether you are a poted, or writing essays will you are a journalist, there's a lot to write about, a lot of inspiration. >> in a city with 80,000 structures, more houses are being torn down in detroit than there are being built. once word got out about this project, the news spread fast. not just locally but worldwide. >> shannon hole has worked and lives here all of his life. >> trying to put the soul back into the skeleton of a neighborhood. i think it is a good thing. >> as you can see, there's still a lot of work to be done. it will cost between 25 and $50,000. and once the work is completet writers can move in. the o. cost to them, property taxes. >> our hope is tha

but when toby barlow and a few friends came across these properties they saw room for growth. >> therenty of people taking apart and tearing down homes but not a lot of people restoring homes so we thought it would be a great opportunity. >> reporter: two houses were sold at $1,000 apiece and acquired a third through a donation and the plan is to renovate and give the homes away to three aspiring writers for free and it's called write a house project >> this is a city that needs and deserves writtens if you are a poet or journalist or novel list there is a lot to write about and inspiration. >> reporter: more houses are being torn down in detroit than there are being built. once word got out about this project, the news spread fast, not just locally but worldwide. >> let's get this going. >> reporter: shannon lowell has worked and lived here all of his life. >> and trying to put the soul back in the skeleton of a neighborhood. i think that is a good thing. >> reporter: as you can see there is still a lot of work to be done. it will cost between $25-$50,000 to renovate each house and on