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The home, just south of Richland Center, was built on an ultra-compressed time schedule of 106 hours, for the magic of television and by the elbow-grease of hundreds of construction workers, landscapers and volunteers.
The Anders-Beatty family arrived home Thursday from an ABC-sponsored vacation to Canada to find their rickety farmhouse replaced by a new home. Their reactions were filmed by a legion of TV cameras and watched by a crowd of hundreds.
Rochelle “Shelley” Anders, a first-grade teacher in Richland Center, and her children were told a week ago that they were chosen for the show, which picks down-on-their-luck families to receive a new home.
As the show’s ritual requires, a bus blocked the new home from the sight of the family members as they arrived Thursday.
When the bus finally pulled away, Anders and four of her children — Tess, Reid, Drew and Tyler — hugged and covered their mouths in happy surprise.
The new home is in a farmhouse style, with gray and red siding and a “silo” attached, a three-story tower resembling a lighthouse. In the unconventional architectural feature, a spiral staircase leads to the top and windows look out 360 degrees.
The silo could be used as a weight room or observatory or for “contemplation,” said David Simon, president of operations for Veridian Homes, which built the home.
A two-car garage is attached by a covered walkway. The backyard features a garden, a planned prairie and teak furniture. Anders enjoys gardening and Bruce Company, which was in charge of the landscaping, replanted some of her perennials.
The old home, which Anders lived in since 1981, was in poor condition. The siding was crumbling, windows were broken, a portion of the living room ceiling had caved in. The family relied on a wood furnace for heat. During last winter’s record snow, the children lived with relatives when they couldn’t get wood to heat the home.
The children’s father, Gary Beatty, died of a heart attack four years ago.
“Throughout all the challenges the family has gone through, she kept doing what was important,” said Beatty’s sister, Sally Zogg. “Shelley is an extremely dedicated teacher. She got herself to work and took care of her kids.”
The event had elements of a large-scale TV production.
The crowd was asked to yell “move that bus!” in several takes and the family walked up to the house more than once with cameras trailing behind before producers were satisfied with the shot and allowed them to enter.
The patient crowd waited for hours — through a hard driving rain in the morning and beating sun in the afternoon — to see the family arrive around 3:30 p.m.
Yet the long wait didn’t dim the enthusiasm. A group of children yelled, “We love you, Ms. Anders!” and cheerleaders in pink shirts stood high above the crowd waving pom pons. Each time host Ty Pennington walked past, the crowd screamed.
The local media was not allowed in the home and could not talk to the family Thursday.Veridian crews, ABC employees and other volunteers worked day and night since Saturday to build the home, continuing into Thursday, as last minute touches were added.
“I am overwhelmed,” said Anders’ mother, Hedy Anders. “I am just overjoyed. I feel it’s something she deserves and the family deserves.”
An auction at Quaker Steak and Lube in Middleton on Wednesday night raised $33,000 to help Anders pay off her mortgage. But Anders said she was worried about her daughter’s ability to pay taxes on the new home.
“I’m concerned about the financial part,” she said. “I don’t want her to be more overburdened. She’s got kids in college and braces to pay for.”
The children’s aunt, Sally Zogg, said the home reflects the family: outdoor-loving, down-to-earth, caring people.
“They listened,” she said. “They were able to really listen to who this family is and what’s important to them.”
