Behind the Scenes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Bringing a soldier home to see his family and his dream house
By LISA LIEBMAN
Attention!
Ty reveals the latest version of the historic Chatham house. "I love the symmetry of this place," he says.
Timothy Bell
Suite Retreat
Antique mahogany doors Michael salvaged from the orginial Chatham house open into a master bedroom infused with a Colonial ambiance. The mahogany bed Ty designed and other mahogany furniture add a richness to the room's blue and gray (a nod to the Civil War) and white color scheme. Ty created this fun, floral wallpaper and added picture-frame molding to the blue accent wall "for depth and texture." Ah, rest easy.
Timothy Bell
The Process Begins
Ty draws the legs of the bed he's designing. "I want them low to the ground, but with an elegant curve."
Timothy Bell
Multipurpose Molding
Ty used molding as a frame for this artistic rendering of the Chatham house. It was a bit of a puzzle figuring how to cut and piece it together.
Timothy Bell
All in Good Measure
Ty and producer Kim Lewis decide on the placement for a 5-foot painting of the Chatham house that Ty commissioned to hang over the bed in the master bedroom, along with Jean's blue-and-white plates.
Timothy Bell
Picture This
Along with renowned artist John Paul Strain, Ty looks at a photo of the original Chatham house to make sure they've gotten the details right. "I want it to look kind of mysterious," Ty says.
Timothy Bell
Hang in There
Ty and Strain, who completed his work in less than a week, secure the framed canvas- the molding was painted silver- with French cleats.
Timothy Bell
Whoops!
Ty spackles the spot where he'd originally put one of the French cleats too low.
Timothy Bell
All the Dish
"We need to see which of Jean's plates work together," Ty tells Lewis. "I want them to be symmetrical and balanced- light, dark, light, dark."
Timothy Bell
Caught in a Jamb
"I used to paint for a living," Ty says, "so touching up these door frames is a breeze."
Timothy Bell
Michael Lucas had a dream. As a National Guardsman devoted to preserving landmarks in his native Virginia, he wanted to build a home similar to the one that originally stood on his property, a former Civil War battlefield in Rice, Virginia. But Michael, 39, had barely laid the foundation for his version of the historic 1860s Chatham house, when he was called to serve in Iraq, leaving behind his wife, Jean, 34, and their sons, Michael Henry, 12, and Joseph Nathan, 7. "Michael put his family and his house on hold to go fight for his country," Ty says. "So we wanted to build a house for him to come home to." When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition surprised Jean and their two sons with the news, they brought Michael home from Iraq for the occasion.
