Seven years of renovation later, Chapman's journal on EnonHall.com gets 800 unique visits a day; his forum has 170 registered users. "We get e-mails from people saying, 'You're doing something we've always dreamed of doing,'" Chapman says.

He, too, gets comfort at tough times from his virtual family. When Tropical Storm Ernesto hit Virginia earlier this month, it took its toll on the house. Demoralized, Chapman, 43, didn't post an entry for a while. Readers expressed concern: "Hey - hope you didn't fall off the scaffold!" It was enough to lift Chapman's spirits and get him back online.

You don't need four acres - or even a mortgage - to have a popular houseblog. New Yorker Alex Bandon has about 550 square feet - pretty typical for a one-bedroom rental in the city. But her blog, "The Shelter Life," has had 20,000 visitors since she began it this summer, she says.

There are now 358 blogs on houseblogs.net. Among them: bloggers from Australia, Estonia, France and even Morocco, where an American family is designing and building a guest house in Marrakesh.

"Devil Queen" author Ahlen, a 30-year-old legislative analyst, checks about a dozen fellow blogs each day. He's particularly grateful to the people at "Nightmare on Elm Street," who sent him an extra set of Victorian doorknobs, and to Gary at "This Old Crack House," who sent him some wood plugs for his floor. He also enjoys following the stories.

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