About Us

Hi! We are Lucas and Rebekah Hanna, owners of Ditch Lily Designs! DLD is our side hussle and creative outlet. Our day jobs are computer programmer and Realtor, respectively, but we have been working on projects together since we were 16. We truly can get anything done if we work together on it. Our personalities and skill sets complement each other and we love to work together.

Ditch Lily Designs is all about taking the worst house on the block and transforming it into an amazing place to live. Since DLD is all about houses, we thought we would tell you our house stories. Lucas isn’t as much of a talker as I am (Rebekah) so here is the short version of our house stories that got us to this point:

We moved to Muncie in 2002 and bought our first home together at the age of 21 and 22. Due to the nature of their jobs, neither of our parents had ever owned a home, so we were in uncharted territory. We loved that first house (we still own it as a rental) and we remodeled it from top to bottom, using home improvement books as reference (yes, books). Thankfully, we made friends and joined a community that was willing to help us muddle through these projects when we needed help. Not only did our first home give us a love for home improvement, but helped grow our love for the City of Muncie.

In 2002, as we were learning our way around Muncie (using paper maps) I saw a house on West Jackson that I was enthralled with. It was a beautiful white house on a huge lot with a garage – all features that were uncommon for homes in most downtowns. I said to myself, “I will own that house one day.”

Life moved forward. In 2007 we moved out of our first house and into an 1880s fixer upper. It was a dream come true! It was an Italianate farmhouse on 5 acres in city limits! The house needed a ton of work, but it had a tree lined driveway and sat 300 feet off the road, but was just 3 minutes to Target, and offered the peace and quiet of the country while still offering high speed internet (which is a huge deal!) We set to work remodeling this house. We loved the history of the house and property. We loved the fact that we were able to breathe new life into this somewhat forgotten home. I grew in the Philadelphia area, where old historic homes are common. As as child, I watched This Old House weekly (first because we didn’t have cable so there were no other options, and then because I loved seeing houses transformed). This was our chance to live “This Old House.” It was hard work and 3 years of lots of all nighters, but we got it done.

Random, yet life changing factoid: In 2012, Lucas bought a huge old house in the tax sale at 519 W. Adams in Muncie’s Old West End neighborhood. We planned to fix it up and started getting involved in the neighborhood.  We fell in love with the Old West End.  As life happens, things don’t always go according to plan. So, in 2013, we basically mothballed the property. We put on a new roof and secured the property so we could return to it when we were able.

Fast forward to 2016. Our kids were getting older and we thought that living in a neighborhood would be a good experience for them. They could be more independent, ride their bikes to school, and meet new friends. So, we sold the Italianate and moved into the quintessential 1988-1991 constructed home ; ) we live in now. We love the location and our neighbors, but I missed our old house. I missed the history, the quirkiness, and the hardwood floors.

Flash back to the white house on Jackson that I had loved since 2002. In 2018 it went for sale. I, as a Realtor had avoided showing it because I knew if I did, I would want to buy it. I had a client who really wanted to see it, so I ended up showing it. As we walked through, they decided it was way too much work for them. I was ecstatic. I called Lucas and said, “We are buying this.” Because he supports me and deep down inside loves old houses too, we bought it and ran with my vision. For quite some time I had wanted to remodel a home and have an Airbnb, so this was the perfect opportunity. Another long story, but we bought the white Italianate on Jackson that I fell in love with 16 years prior and over a 1.5 year period transformed it into The Muncie Guesthouse.

After the completion of the Guesthouse, it was kind of game on for us. We had fallen in love with Muncie’s Old West End in 2012 and so many great things had already happened in the neighborhood since then. The neighborhood association is amazing and we have lots of friends who live in the neighborhood who have devoted countless hours to making it a better place. We knew we wanted to make a difference in the neighborhood by continuing to rehab other homes around the Guesthouse. So here we are. We own several properties now and have begun renovating our little corner of the world in the OWE, including starting on 519 W. Adams (mothballed house from 2013) soon.

We came up with the name Ditch Lily Designs in 2020 to consolidate our projects under one name and allow us to develop focus and a vision. As a child, I (Rebekah) went to summer camp in the mountains of Pennsylvania. One thing that always caught my eye were the Tiger Lilies. They grew along the creek and in random places. I always thought they were beautiful. As an adult in Indiana, I noticed them too. But, as an adult, what I noticed most was their randomness. They seem to be able to grow anywhere – in a beautifully manicured flower bed or on the side of the road in a ditch next to some trash. I heard someone reference the Tiger Lily as a Ditch Lily and it stuck with me. No matter, what the surroundings were, the Ditch Lily was beautiful and helped make the space beautiful too. That is how we want our homes to be viewed. Some of them are in well cared for areas and they add to the surrounding beauty. Some are in less cared for areas and will inspire beauty and future revitalization.

As our slogan says, we are truly “turning imperfect spaces into beautiful places.” We hope you will enjoy following on our journey with us.