Over the weekend we finally got the big reveal from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, featuring the 15-member Beach Family in Kemah. Pictured above: the new Therapy Room, modeled after “the carnival in Kemah.”
Next from the Beaches’ new 6,340-sq.-ft. home: magical mushrooms in the “Trees and Tea Parties Room.”
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- Extreme Makeover: Home Edition — Beach Family [abc]
- Previously on Swamplot: From One Extreme to Another
Photos: abc
They must have mentioned the Kemah Boardwalk two dozen times over the course of the show. And old Tillman didn’t even have to kick in any $$$$. Heck of a deal!
I suspect the Trees and Tea Party rooms are about to be the hot new look for those who can afford the look. Amazing what a little imagination, and probably a lot of money, can accomplish. They certainly redefine the term “kids rooms.” I suspect a lot of adults would probably love to redo their rooms into Alice in Wonderland fantasies as well. And some might after they see these.
subprimelandguy,
As much as the boardwalk is Tilman’s business venture, the boardwalk is also critical part in the city of Kemah bringing in a lot of tax revenue from people other than it’s citizens (which is the best kind). Extreme Home Makeover often promotes the city or community the are in and the Boardwalk is Kemah primary feature. Kemah is just as happy for the promotion.
This show is so stupid…it’s so over-the-top impractical I can barely stand to watch it anymore. When the kids outgrow these crazy rooms in five years or less, all that junk is just going to have to be trashed.
And of course it makes sense to build an indoor carnival in a city that HAS A CARNIVAL ALL THE TIME.
UGH. I liked Kemah before Tilman.
I feel sorry for the family. Those kids will be outgrowing those rooms in no time and then they will be stuck.
Check out the article that ran in the WSJ today titled “Extreme Makeover Downsizes Its Dream Homes”. Even though these people are getting the house for free, the vast increase from what they were spending in maintenance, utilities and taxes are not. So, what do they do? They take out a home equity loan when expenses outpace their income or if they fall on hard times again. What happens if they fall behind on the mortgage and try to unload the property before foreclosure? They can’t sell the home for anything near what should be market value or what they owe since there’s not a single comparable even coming close in their neighborhood.
Now the show’s producers are trying to compensate by building 2,000-3,000 SF homes, but evidently the Beach family home (all 6,000+ SF) was built before they came up with this bright idea to not build McMansions in modest subdivisions. Sure, they may give a $50,000-$100,000 check to cover an increase in living expenses…but how long is that going to last when your property taxes alone increase from $5,000/year to $15,000+/year?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304017404575165840903285032.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks
I saw this episode and these were really nice people who did a lot of good for a lot (13!) children.
BUT…why does Extreme Makeover TEAR DOWN existing homes to build what appear to be cheap and tacky giant houses existing neighborhoods?