Budget Breakdown: With $94K, They Turned Their Cracked Concrete L.A. Backyard Into a Serene Meadow

René Petersson grew up in Silver Lake. He remembers a time when the Los Angeles enclave was a secluded and tight-knit community, long before it became synonymous with trendsetting cool. When René and his husband, Michael Castagnetto, started looking at homes to buy on the east side, they both hoped to find a place that had retained its original character and felt tied to the past.