Photography by Danny Fulgencio
General contractor David Wignall moved into a one-bedroom Preston Tower unit in 1994 and remained single until he met resident Judy Casas in 2010. Now they share a two-bedroom unit on the seventh floor that David converted from two 1,100-square-foot units.
Judy’s husband, Yogi, died in their Preston Tower home of lung cancer in 2008. They were married more than 36 years. The three had been acquainted from encounters in the garage and elevators. Judy was lugging a stereo up from the garage, and David offered to help her. He says he could tell she had no clue how to hook it up. He was trying to be a friendly neighbor.
“If you need help, let me know, and I can help you put it together,” he told her.
Later, he asked her to join him for a glass of wine, and the two began dating. David proposed in 2011, and the couple married on the beach in Mexico on July 4, 2012.
Their merged, renovated units have a large wine cellar, a relaxation room and a media room. David and Judy, a former Southwest Airlines flight attendant, travel to Napa and Santa Fe frequently. David loves their “lock-and-go” lifestyle.
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“If you forget to have the paper stopped, you don’t worry about it,” David says. “Mike, the mailman, will pull the mail if your box gets too full. You don’t have the fear when you are seven floors up that someone is going to kick in the window and steal something.”
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After 22 years in the building, Judy enjoys keeping up with neighbors, whether they are sick or struggling. “You become very connected and protective of one another,” she says. “The elevator is a good place to catch up.”
