Mid-Michigan’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – The House

One of the exciting aspects of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is seeing how radical the change is from the family’s old house to the brand-spanking-new one.

No makeover is complete without before and after photos, right?

Take a good look at how the Nickless family stood today. These would all be gone tomorrow as work begins on the new house.

From the street, the view of 1860s house is partly hidden by a couple of trees:

Though the house initially looks solidly built, its age and state of disrepair become clear, on closer inspection. A couple of the windows are missing glass panes. The window on the lower right is covered with a plastic film. I can’t imagine the horrible heating bills these cause during Michigan’s winters.

The back of the house is no better. There’s a narrow set of stairs going down from just inside the door. When I was looking around the house, I can’t even tell which is the front door and which is the back. There is no clear front door that could welcome the family and their visitors.

Off to the side is the chimney and several small windows. You can see a part of a swing set there but there isn’t a proper deck or patio.

Near the back of the 1-acre property, is this very charming play structure that Tim built for his children. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish it before he died. I took a good look around this area, and chatted with Arlene’s grandchildren. It was obvious that they have been here often and quite enjoyed playing with their young uncles in the playhouse. They told me about the door that wouldn’t close, and the windows without panes. It was also a bit wobbly and needed more work to be 100% safe for kids to play in. These are part of the jobs that Tim would have taken care.

Here’s the interior of the playhouse. I’m guessing that the playhouse will be something really special once Ty is done with it.

The property that the house is located contains several trees, including some fruit-bearing ones. There’s also a huge tree in the middle of the back yard. In addition to the play structure, there’s also a trampoline near the back.

The designer’s work is clearly cut out for them. With the combined record of local builder and project coordinator Mayberry Homes and the crew of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, all the problems of this home will soon be a memory. I am so excited to see how it will turn out!

(10-01-08 Update) Schedules: Spectators are welcome to visit the site. Shuttles will be available on Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., from the K-Mart parking lot on South Cedar St. On Friday, the shuttles will run from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. ‘Move the Bus’ is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. Spectators are urged to get to the site hours before the 2 p.m. reveal. “Up to 6,000 people are expected” according to this LSJ article.

images from personal collection