Home is where the volunteers are: early 20th century house renovated, rejuvenated and radiant.

When Paul Kittas embarked on horticulture maintenance for Riverside Park in New York, his duties were not simply weeding and planting. The volunteer soon realized that before he could begin "beautifying" the park, he had to clean up the graffiti-stained, debris-littered area surrounding the Peter Jay Sharp Volunteer House near 107th Street.

"The whole area was overgrown, there had been no one working in the area for a long time," says Kittas, adding that homeless people used the back side of the house as their bathroom.

It took about three years of weekend work, and sometimes during the week as well, to clear away the area and begin planting anew. Once the weeds had been removed, the poison ivy banished and the grass mowed, the volunteer house soon came into view. The one-story limestone structure bad been used periodically as a way station for volunteers and park staff; where tools could be stored and a park tender could rest in between work sessions. But the house, much like the area that once masked it, was outdated, decrepit and an eyesore in the park.

It could not hold much more than rakes and soil, let alone shelter people from nature's elements. "It really wasn't safe," said K.C. Stahl, Riverside Park administrator. "Like most of New York, the park was completely rundown in the 60s." But since then, within the last decade, the city of New York Parks and Recreation partnered with private organizations such as the Riverside Park Fund, which supplements the department's staff at Riverside Park.

With the help of the Riverside Park Fund, the early 20th century home was transformed during a two-year, $1.3-million renovation project completely funded through private donations. Last year, the home was officially dedicated to the volunteers and open to the public, becoming the only park facility that exists just for volunteers.

The project became "one of the most successful partnerships and a model of what a public/private partnership can be," Stahl said.

The Riverside Park Fund began in 1986 as an overseer of various non-profit groups who either use or help Riverside Park. When the idea of renovating the house surfaced about four years ago, it did not take much longer to get approval to begin the job, says Jim Dowell, president of the fund.

The plan was to gut the entire building, leaving only the facade intact, because of its significance to the park and the park's initial architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. "Basically, it was within the confines of respecting the history of the building," Dowell says.

New heating, electrical and a new floor were built, along with an entire second story and a wraparound mezzanine. Because the building's original dimensions were compact, an outside staircase and a second-story bridge were built to get to the second floor.

What was once an afterthought for volunteers, who tended to their gardens, is now a central meeting place. While the first floor is still being used as a tool shed, the mezzanine level has a horticulture library and a plant propagation area. The second floor is home to the Evelyn Sharp Meeting Room for volunteers, park users and special interest groups.

And besides volunteers, the house now attracts park visitors to the area, something that was not a consideration before. "A lot of people like to come by and go into the volunteer house and look around, and when they find out it was all raised with private donations, they can't believe it," says Kittas, who was inspired himself by the project.