By Carol E. Barnwell
Hollis Baugh, a member of St. Christopher’s, League City, (TX) designed and helped to build the largest home yet for ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. The 5400 square foot structure in Kemah will be home for the Beach family whose home has been unlivable since Hurricane Ike. The family of 15 has been living in a trailer on their property until this January when they were chosen to receive a new home from the popular reality television show.
The home, which Baugh helped to design to the program’s specifications, was completed in 106 hours by a team of vendors and volunteers lead by Blu Shields Construction, and was designed to fit the needs of the Beach family. Members from many Episcopal churches volunteered to work on the home through the unusual subzero temperatures that plagued the first part of the build.
During their 23 years of marriage, Larry, 40 and Melissa, 40; have fostered more than 85 children that adoption agencies were not able to place. They have four biological children and nine adopted children ages 23 years to 22 months. Their son Cody, 19, is currently serving in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan. Several children have special needs and the new home is complete with a therapy room.
Baugh, who was born in Nacogdoches and raised in Houston, started building houses with his father when he was in junior high school. He and his workers are excited about helping the Beaches regain their quality of life after so many months of hardship. “I have been blessed by helping people,” he said.
Baugh joined the Episcopal Church in 1993 after moving to Baycliff near League City when his wife Anne visited and began attending St. Christopher’s. He built his windstorm inspection business and now covers the 12 coastal counties, certifying construction to meet the state’s windstorm requirements. “Just knowing how to build a house isn’t enough,” Baugh explains. “We check the framing, the nailing of the sheeting of the walls and the roof that provides the wind force resistance.”
A graduate of the University of Houston, Baugh is a registered professional engineer and was appointed by the Texas Department of Insurance to do the windstorm certification. While the state holds him to a high level of performance, Baugh said his values, informed by his religion, make daily choices easy. “The spiritual part makes it easy to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. Every three days someone calls and wants you to do them a ‘little favor.’ We can’t fudge.”
Trained as a Stephen minister, Baugh spent several years serving as junior warden and is currently a lay reader at St. Christopher’s. He helped put in the church’s community garden. He has worked with Blu Shields Contruction for a number of years. The family company is committed to design and construction of quality, high-energy efficient homes built within a short timeframe.
“Building houses in 128 hours doesn’t scare them,” Baugh said. “It scares me!”
This was their biggest challenge to date, said Baugh, who prebuilt floors and walls which were then set into place with large cranes during the 24/7 week-long build. The home will have an elevator so all children will have access to all the rooms in the house. “It’s a real Hollywood production,” he said, listing numerous camera crews, a hospitality and VIP tent, crowd control and street closings needed to complete the event.
The Beaches were one of several families interviewed for the show, which will air in March. “Yes, some families will be disappointed, but this is a very deserving family and we are doing a good thing,” Baugh said.
“We couldn’t have done it without him,” said Blu Shields, who walked by during our interview. “You are sitting in front of a good man! Hollis came up with this idea to pre-build, pre-panelize,” he added. Ninety percent of the house was then sitting on trailers in the parking lot, waiting to be unloaded as it was needed by two enormous cranes.
Before I left, Baugh showed me his slide rule collection. “I’m missing a round slide rule, then my collection will be complete,” he said.
Thanks to Baugh, Shields and the thousands of volunteers who made this home makeover happen, the Beach family moved into their new home less than a week after leaving their trailer. That’s gotta feel good for everyone involved.
Work continues in Galveston
To help rebuild other homes damaged in Hurricane Ike, go to http://www.ikerelief.blogspot.com/ and volunteer with Texas Episcopal Relief and Development. Hundreds of families are still not in their homes following the devastation of Hurricane Ike and you and your friends can do something about it. Join us in this effort to get people back home.
Carol E. Barnwell is communication director of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.