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photo by Brie Cohen
Larson Contracting workers knock down the DeVries' house with three excavators during filming of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on Thursday. At the right center is Ty Pennington, the show's celebrity designer, being filmed as he excitedly yells about the demolition.
Tearing down the house
Published Friday, October 3, 2008
In just a matter of a few minutes Thursday the old farmhouse of Dirk and Susan DeVries was demolished to make way for a new house devoid of problems.
With about 300 area volunteers in blue “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” T-shirts looking on and cheering — with celebrity Ty Pennington and the show’s designers also present — three Larson Contracting excavators tore apart the house.
The demolition marked the start of the construction on the DeVries land, where in less than five days a new, fully-furnished house will stand.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Hayward firefighters spray water on the debris as excavators tear down the DeVries' home Thursday.
Pennington said the DeVries family — which is made up of father Dirk, mother Susan, and children April, Derik and Hanna — is one that has a lot of love.
He said everybody he’s talked to in the area has told him that he and the “Extreme Makeover” show are in Hayward for the right reasons.
Dirk, 50, works as a mechanic at Royal Sports in Clarks Grove. He used to be a farmer, but a farming accident from his younger years left him with only arm.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Production crews prepare to film the “Braveheart” scene as volunteers wait in the buses for their cue to cheer.
Susan, 42, is a music and reading teacher at Hollandale Christian School, who is also known for her artistic talents. She has a heart condition that causes her heart to beat about 120 times per minute, Pennington said, adding that coming home to that house every day was actually making her sick.
April is 17, Derik is 15 and Hanna is 12.
Earlier this week, Hanna described the house as “coming apart at the seams.”
Though he was excited about the makeover, Derik said Tuesday he was a little shaky about the demolition because the family has had so many good memories in the old house.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Camera crews film Ty Pennington opening and closing the door to the DeVries home shortly before tearing it down Thursday.
The family was on their week-long vacation in Niagara Falls, N.Y. when the demolition took place.
It came after what was already a long day of filming.
At 6:30 a.m. Thursday, volunteers who were to participate in the show’s famous “Braveheart” scene began to arrive at the site to get their blue “Extreme Makeover” T-shirts and white hard hats. Despite the chilly temperatures in the upper 30s the people were eager to be there.
Instead of walking up to the house in one large group like it’s done on most other episodes of the show, in this “Braveheart” scene the people rode in cheering and waving on 10 Albert Lea Area Schools buses. With Susan and Dirk’s close connection to Hollandale Christian School and the fact that they actually drive children on a school bus every weekday, it was a fitting entry.
Photo by Brie Cohen
Ty Pennington yells into a handheld camera during the demolition Thursday.
Crews filmed about a half dozen takes of scenes that included the buses pulling up to the house and the volunteers running off of them cheering and then circling around Pennington and Al Larson, the owner of Larson Contracting, the company that is building the house.
In the final take, the buses came down 200th Street in rural Hayward and then turned down the DeVries driveway. The volunteers, clad in their blue T-shirts, excitedly ran off the buses and cheered as they formed a donut-shaped circle around Pennington and Larson.
Camera crews got multiple shots of the group cheering from several different viewpoints, and then Pennington and Larson gave speeches.
Photo by Brie Cohen
The production crew films the volunteers rallying with the designers and Al Larson Thursday.
“You guys ready to do some demo?” Pennington yelled out to the group.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
After a few takes of this scene, the volunteers lined up against the buses, which were parked around the house, and readied for demolition.
Then, one by one the designers and Pennington attempted to swing sledgehammers and throw rocks at different spots at the house for the cameras.
The volunteers were silent and stood watching.
Did you know?
The house where Dirk and Susan DeVries have raised their three children in rural Hayward is the same house that Dirk grew up in with his five siblings — four brothers and one sister — and parents.
Out at the demolition site Thursday, one of Dirk’s brothers, Bill, arrived at the old house just as it had been knocked down and crews were beginning to clean it up.
Bill said as he was watching the crews, he could remember many winters when he grew up playing in the basement of the house with his siblings because it was too cold to be outside.
“You live there for 20-some years, from being a small youngster to when you grow up and move out ... that’s a lot of family gatherings and holidays,” he said.
He noted he is not sad the house was torn down because his brother and family are going to benefit greatly from it.
“The building’s gone, but the memories are still there,” Bill said. He estimated that the house was built sometime in the early 1910s, but wasn’t sure. He thought there was an addition put on in the 1950s.
While watching the action Thursday, he met up with his youngest brother out at the site as well. Dirk’s mother was also there for a while too, Bill said.
“I’m really happy for them,” he said of his brother and family. “They deserve this."
Pennington was filmed running into and out of the house, and then after about an hour of preliminary demolition work, three huge excavators fired up their engines and waited for the cue to begin tearing the house down.
After getting the cue around noon, they tore through the walls and the roof; about 30 seconds later, at least a third of the house was knocked down. Dust billowed out as pieces of the house crumbled, and Hayward firefighters sprayed water onto the house to alleviate the dust. At one point, the Reese’s collage on the wall in April’s room was visible from the outside, but in just a second, that too was down.
Once the entire house was down, the excavators kept breaking up the pieces of it and eventually cleared them off the land.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience — it really was,” said one volunteer Sari Edwards, of Albert Lea.
“It was a lot of excitement,” added another volunteer, April Petersen, who lives about a mile away from the DeVries home. “We did a lot more standing than we did filming, but that’s OK, it was worth it.”
The two women said they never anticipated that shooting a few scenes for the show would take as long as it did, but it was an experience of much energy and excitement.
“If somebody didn’t volunteer to come out here because they didn’t think it was a good cause, they’re crazy,” said Edwards, who is a regular viewer of the “Extreme Makeover” show. “Who would have thought that something like this would happen in a small town like this?”
Petersen described the DeVries family as “really wonderful people,” who give a lot of their time to help others.
Albert Lean Jodi Walters, who was also volunteering, described the experience as being awesome.
She said though she does not personally know the family, she decided to come out and volunteer to be a part of the effort.
Her highlight was seeing the design team — people who are usually on TV — right in Freeborn County.
“It will be fun to see the finished product,” she said.
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Comments
Posted by bobbyg (anonymous) on October 2, 2008 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Exhilarating to say the least! What a Cinderella story
Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on October 2, 2008 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ya gotta luv it!
Posted by oldmilkman (anonymous) on October 2, 2008 at 7:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
this is great to see in our county what a plus my hat goes off to all the people able to donate their time !!!!!!!!
good luck to the family!
Posted by splishsplash07 (anonymous) on October 2, 2008 at 8:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is wonderful, the Devries are a very deserving family!
Posted by Michelle24 (anonymous) on October 2, 2008 at 10:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I love Extreme Makeover and what they do, but as of tonight I drove to the site hoping to get a glimpse of the design team only to be told (by security guard) that Ty & the design team left after the demolition today and are not coming back until Sunday morning. On TV they state their always there and always working hard, well now I don't believe it and am kinda hurt that they would leave like that!
Posted by CC (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 12:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ty and the design team didn't "just leave." They usually have more than one build going on at once, and Ty and different members of the design team fly back and forth. There is currently a build happening somehwere down south, I believe. Doesn't mean they aren't still working hard for this family!
Posted by lk96 (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 5:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Michelle,they are finishing up a house in Lansing Michigan.That is why I think they left here.At 2:00 pm today a family will get to see their new house.
Posted by gegal (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 7:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is an awesome site being out there and helping with the whole process. The attitude of the volunteers and staff is sincere and so giving. Keep it up everybody! I will be there again on Sunday...
Posted by Momma23 (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 8:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hear they are asking for duct tape items for the boys' room. Why not ask the Red/Green show to show up with donations? I believe I have seen numerous duct tape items from them... And whatever happened to the girls' Reese's items? Were they kept for her and will they be added to??? Just some thoughts... This is so exciting! What a great thing to happen to this family and to the area!
Posted by mrsbtemplin (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 8:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes, there is a home being revealed today in Holt, Michigan.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/...
Not sure which designers came to MN, however Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis, Rib ??, and Ed Sanders have been here along with Ty....except when Ty left to knock on the DeVries' family door. I am sure once he's done with production here today he will be heading back to MN. No worries!
Posted by max08well (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 9:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wouldn't it be great if everyone upon participating in this great experience, came away with the desire to keep on giving in the community, by reaching out to their neighbors?
Posted by menace56 (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I was thinking it would be wonderful to see the house after it's finished and ABC has left. Perhaps, the family could entertain an "open house" to allow the public a first-hand view of the finished product. Why not, have a "donation" per visitor that could go to a local charity? Just a thought........
Posted by max08well (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 10:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great idea!!!!
Posted by adamwilkie (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Would you want people coming through your house like it was an attraction? Donation per visitor? Can we come to your house next weekend then menace? And your's the weekend after max08? There will be plenty of pictures online and the show will air in late december early january. Do people go to the Habitat house for a tour? Maybe they do but if it where my house i would not appreciate this.
Posted by Momma23 (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
adamwilkie- I don't think that menace and max08 meant anything negative by their comments. This "extreme" home makeover is drawing A LOT of attention and people who are not able to be a part of volunteering are just curious about it. It is exciting to watch and I, myself, would love to see the house (and yes, I would pay to view it). And, yes, if it was my house, I would not mind having an open house and sharing my "fortune" with others. I am not saying that the DeVries family should have an open house-I believe that should be their decision and their choice-but I think it would be an excellent idea! Heck, I wouldn't mind if they kept the proceeds for themselves. I am sure they have plenty of medical bills and other bills that the money could help pay (and I think others would love to be able to help them in that aspect also). I think people are being drawn in and are excited for this family, as they should be. This is something that usually is just seen on TV, so to have this happen so close to home, people want to be involved.
Posted by max08well (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LOL, like anyone would come to see my house!!! I guess I would hope that given the opportunity for a home make-over, I wouldn't mind. I would love to have all the volunteers who worked so hard to get to see up close and personal, the "fruits of their labor".
Posted by controlledhyperness (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
adamwilkie....as for a Habitat house, yes there is a tour...usually before any personal items make it in the house. That way, people in teh community get an idea for what the inside of the house looks like, and can celebrate with the recieving family. Granted, this house will probably outshine anything Habitat builds, as it should, but I think the family would be happy to show off their new house at least a bit.
Posted by Cheyenne (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is the second home in Minnesota that Extreme Makeover has done. Granted the other one was in the Cities, Minnetonka, I think? But that one aired approx. a year ago.
Posted by Wildbill (anonymous) on October 3, 2008 at 5:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I just came form the job site. Eduardo and Tracy were there doing some filming. Quite an amazing feat. The power of network television.
By the way, all spectators park in a corn field. Hope that it doesn't rain hard. It's definitely worth watching though.
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