Louisville 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' house unveiled to thousands

Hughes gets personal 3-D reveal of finished 'makeover'
By Angie Fenton
The Courier-Journal

The crowd cheered as Patrick Henry Hughes emerged from an SUV limousine yesterday afternoon.

His father, Patrick John Hughes, lifted his son from the vehicle and set him in his wheelchair before they both waved to the more than 5,000 spectators gathered around their Buechel Bank Road home.

The family — including Patricia Hughes and brothers Cameron, 12, and Jesse, 16 — stood behind the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" recreational vehicle as Ty Pennington and his fellow designers led the crowd in the much-anticipated cheer, "Move that bus!"

As the vehicle rolled down the driveway to reveal the new home, Elite Homes Vice President "Rocky" Pusateri presented a 3-D model of the residence to Patrick Henry Hughes.

The 19-year-old, who was born without eyes, was able to feel what his family could see: a new home designed and constructed in 105 hours by the ABC show's cast and crew and hundreds of local volunteers with the goal of making it easily accessible for him.

The Extreme Makeover crew selected Patrick Henry Hughes and his family to be the recipients of the show's 108th renovated residence. Their old home was demolished Friday; a large tree that was in their front yard is now in the backyard.

Their above-ground pool has been replaced with a handicapped-accessible ground-level pool, complete with a wheelchair ramp coming from Hughes' new, apartment-like portion of the home.

The crowd watching from the perimeter of the house and across the street remained as the family entered the home to begin taping their reactions to its many features, room by room.

One of the most amazing aspects of the house is a verbal-command automation system that has been installed in Patrick's portion of the 3,200-square-foot home. It was donated by EyeOn Automation, a division of Hitcents, which is based in Bowling Green, Ky.

"We felt our system was a perfect fit for him," said Hitcents president Chris Mills, 25, who owns the company with his brother, CEO Clinton Mills.

The home is equipped with technology that is able to respond to 350 verbal commands, from opening doors to changing the channel on the flat-screen television to telling the time or outside temperature.

"The coolest thing is ... Patrick can say, `Computer goodnight'" and the system prepares the home for bedtime, Chris Mills said. It shuts off or dims lights, makes sure the doors are locked and will even play mellow nighttime music.

The technology cost "over six figures" and required 10 to 15 workers nearly around the clock for three weeks to have the system customized and ready.

"It was just a lot of dedication, but it was something we all wanted to happen," Mills said.

A number of the Hughes' friends attended the "reveal." Among them was Diane MacKenzie, a Spanish teacher at Atherton High School, where Patrick Henry Hughes was once her student. He now is pursuing a degree in Spanish at the University of Louisville.

"I'm overwhelmed with emotion," said MacKenzie, who was surprised earlier yesterday morning when she and her colleagues — Pat Cantwell, a guidance counselor, and Steve Lin, Atherton's choir director — were ferried to the site in a limousine by Elite Homes.

"Everyone wants to cheer for someone who wins a big prize, for someone who's doing something for those in need," MacKenzie said. "This is one of those moments when your heart feels like it's going to skip a beat."

Tomorrow, the Hugheses will address the public at a news conference at 11 a.m. in front of their new home.

Reporter Jason Riley contributed to this story.