The Dore Family

Dore Family
Season 2, episode 11
Recap by J.G. Bird
January 9, 2005
In the fog-shrouded beauty of Washington State, the Extreme Makeover Home design team arrives exposed to the elements, rather than in the usual comfort of their familiar bus. It seems fitting that the show open like an outing - Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders, Preston Sharp and Ty Pennington are introduced to the roughing it atmosphere that the recipients of the home makeover have endured. Ty opens the show from atop the local ferry and the team disembarks on ATVs. The house site feels so remote, yet Kingston is just across Washington’s Puget Sound.

The women of the Dore family have lived for nine months out of a large storage shed. The mom, Roseanne, and her three daughters are set up in this one room, no-amenities, arrangement off a pair of bunk beds and among all belongings due to a devastating house fire. The charred remains of the family house face them every day, as the homeowner’s insurance policy had a lapse and full coverage for the removal and replacement of the home was not there. The usually close-knit group has clearly been trying to lose the memories of the desperation of the day-to-day situation. Any chance to stay over at friends’ homes is welcome more and more for these girls, even if just to use indoor plumbing. So, it is of course exciting and overwhelming for these lovely women to have a call from Ty and his crew.

The youngest girl is Aariel – the design team is quick to recognize her artistic talent.
Two older daughters are in or near their twenties: Jessica and Sarah. Each seem outgoing and athletic – Michael spots snowboarding equipment specifically coveted by Sarah. You don’t get much information about Mom, but she does seem to communicate her depth through her large, gentle eyes – Roseanne and these girls deserve this vacation and ache for a new home. An SUV limo quickly chauffeurs the Dore’s to the Disney World resort.

The plan is to provide at least a 2-story 3000sq ft home. HomeAid provided the main workforce and materials behind the Garay home this season, and again they are credited with the structure that will be built here for the Dore’s. Centex Homes and the local Naval base provide a workforce totally gung-ho for this rebuild. The bus may not have made it to the build site, but giant cranes and earthmovers do.

The format of the Extreme Makeover: Home Ed. show is going to be affected by the introduction of the regular airing of How’d They Do That. From what aired tonight, I foresee briefer construction portions to the primary show, so more time can be devoted to delving into the details of the families’ hardships. Why would you watch the next night, otherwise? Some of the days glossed over here are sure to show up again in the following day’s How’d They Do That show. Individual projects by Ty in particular, are sure to get more airtime in the How They’d Do That program.

That is to say, we don’t see much of the construction in tonight’s show, and we don’t get more than one project focused on in this show – all else is reserved for HTDT, my guess. This could be good, by individual designer’s standards, but may leave the original show lacking. Let’s give it a few weeks and see.

By Day 3 there’s a poured foundation and sectional framing in place, including the second story braces. Essentially, by Day 4 the exterior shot says, complete house. Without making too much of it, the materials are noted to be fire-resistant and retardant wherever they could make it and the home includes a fire sprinkler system advanced enough to not flood every room – only where a fire is sensed. Safety is going to give the girls a foundation of security to build this recovery upon; it’s needed. It is especially heartbreaking to hear the voice of the girl that knows the house fire was traced to her space heater.

Day 5 bogs down with rain, which seems to bother not a single local. It also gives us a good lead-in to Day 6 when even more locals inhabit the house. Ed and Paige invite in the Emerald City Mudhens Rugby Team for move-in assistance. Ty goes on megaphone rounds at T-minus 14 hours and quips to several of the women’s rugby team members: “Why is everybody wearing shorts?”

In a further show of Seattle-region rah-rah, it is the North Kitsap Fire truck taking the place of the big black bus at reveal time. The presence of cheering crowds already has the women rather unnerved and wobbly before the house is even revealed. The designers comment, as they have before, that it’s the moments of sheer joy on recipients’ faces that make the long, long hours worth it. In their new great room, mom is first to notice the recovery of “Grandfather’s Table,” one that Preston took pains to salvage as charred remains, re-veneer in pine and give a modern redo to the once chrome legs by painting them black. The kitchen is so very spacious and the pots and pans have storage in a floor to ceiling “walk-in” pantry.

Ty gives everyone the signal to seek out the individual bedroom suites. After So many months of not having even one formal bathroom, every girl, and mom is delighted with the bathroom adjoining each bedroom. Jessica gets a fully rigged yachting room; clean, primary colors, a bed in the style of a Captain’s bed, even a monogrammed canvas sail as the main wall décor. Sarah – our snowboarder has the most unique design element in a room - ski lift chair. And Aariel has a spiffy new laptop computer, with cutting edge designing software and hardware, with homage to the past as well, in a hundred year old tabletop plate press for classic graphic design. Her bed and wall accents are to my liking, like pages from a color palette and font book were all thrown together.

Roseanne’s room is double-doored and has classic elements like columns jutting from the wall that her bed is against. Soft greens and satiny, metallic accents to the fabrics on the bed cover and throw pillows are nice. Her bath complements the suite, having the similar double-door entry and the fireplace across from the bed following through to the tub.

Of course, that’s not all. Ty has worked a wing of the family home into a surprising dream venture for this cafeteria-lady. Through a section attached by wraparound porch, but with its own entrance, two distinctly furnished bedrooms have been created to serve as guest rooms for a Bed and Breakfast. One room has the most beautiful and classic-looking pine log bed set. The other, has a clean, modern décor. So, the Dore family will likely have the biggest and longest-lasting lookie-loo following if they intend to run a local Bed and Breakfast. It will be the first place EMHE aficionados can visit and stay at. Who knows if any family is really up for that? (Maybe after those three girls complete business degrees?) The buzz for next week’s episode: the EMHE show Sunday will go for an extra hour because the house does not get completed on time – this is the one local news was reporting last month would air in February – the South L.A. Andersen home(s).