Published: October 07, 2009 09:43 pm      

Who will be the one lucky family?

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will build new house for Kokomo-area family

KOKOMO — An Anderson-based general contractor confirmed Wednesday that producers from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” have enlisted the company’s services, but the project’s details were limited.

Paul Schwinghammer and Derek Wilder, president and chief executive officer, respectively, for Hallmark Homes Inc., announced during a press conference Wednesday the company would work with the ABC-TV show to build a home for a deserving family within a 30-mile radius of Kokomo.

The show finds families, often dealing with financial burdens, illness and other plights, and builds lavish custom homes for them with the help of the community.

Schwinghammer and Wilder would not identify the Kokomo-area family, which is among five possible candidates, or where the family lives until Ty Pennington, the show’s star, knocks on the door to tell them about the project on Oct. 21.

“The family is in the dark themselves until Ty Pennington pulls out his famed bull horn,” Schwinghammer said during the press conference.

Once the show’s cast and crew surprise the family that day, the residents will have the rest of the day to clear out the house. The next day, workers will demolish it.

Hallmark Homes will have 106 hours, which is about 4 1/2 days, to finish constructing the new home. Volunteers will work around the clock to finish the house by the end of the week.

“Candles will be burned on both ends and in the middle until it’s done,” Wilder said.

The company will work for free, as will all the subcontractors and other volunteers helping. Some supplies and services are still needed, Schwinghammer said.

“We still have some holes,” he said. “Drywall is a hole we need to get plugged.”

Wilder said it was doubtful the show would give much, if any, publicity to local sponsors, largely because it has national vendors it uses. But the company wants businesses to receive local exposure, he said.

“No one’s going to be a TV star,” he said. “However, there are levels of participation where you can get credit on the show.”

Hallmark Homes also has developed a rewards system for sponsors, according to Wilder and Schwinghammer.

The company is also looking for unskilled volunteers to help out with the project.

“Not only is the deserving family’s life going to change, but the volunteers’ as well,” Wilder said.

Schwinghammer said the firm is still working on obtaining the necessary permits and designs for the new home.

“It will be larger than a bread box and smaller than the Empire State Building,” he said.

He would not say how much the house would be worth, adding that the real estate market and the house’s location would affect it too much for him to estimate the value. The family will not have to pay taxes on it, he said.

In order to compliment the donations that will cover construction costs, Hallmark Homes is planning fundraisers, such as an auction, but no dates had been set as of Wednesday, Schwinghammer said.

The first scheduled event is a pep rally for volunteers set for Oct. 16. A time and location has not been set yet, Schwinghammer said.

Anyone interested in signing up to volunteer, donate or sponsor can visit www.hallmarkextreme.com for more information.

The episode is tentatively scheduled to air in January. The show, which is in its seventh season, airs from 8 to 9 p.m. Sundays.

• Daniel Human is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He can be reached at (765) 454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.