by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
Call it an Extreme-ly good opportunity for all the parties involved.
Family-owned and operated J.A. Long Design Builders in Orange Park was chosen as the co-builder on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in Clay County for Middleburg resident Carrie Prewitt and her three girls, Ashley, Taylor and Gina.
“They called us,” said John Long, J.A. Long Design Builders founder. “They wanted a true custom builder and they wanted us to do the plans.”
Long said Ark Remodeling and Construction of Gainesville, co-builder on the project, was looking for a local builder to help with the Clay County build. After research and discussion with Clay County officials, the search led them to Long.
When Ark officials called Long and asked if he’d like to help with an Extreme Makeover house, he thought it was a joke.
But, no, it was real.
“We decided to do it because it was local and we were able to help someone locally,” said Long.
Building a house in 106 hours was a challenge, but Long had some help from a few familiar faces. Linda, his wife and financial officer, and sons Randy, chief financial officer, and Ryan, a designer, were up to the challenge.
They started building the house Jan. 27th and the revealing was Feb. 2, with every hour from start to finish planned on a schedule.
“Each hour represented a day and each day represented a month,” said John Long. “They call it a normal four or four-and-a-half-month build, which is quick for us, because we are using fewer people. The reason it goes so fast is because it had more than 10 times the number of people we would normally use.”
They started making calls after Thanksgiving to get help with the huge project.
“We’d call people and say we need it free and we need it fast,” said Long. “We needed donations, sponsorships and tradespeople.”
Acquiring assistance was a little tough in the market, but in the end they had enough people to get the job done.
Thousands of volunteers came out to help pack up the family’s belongings and help with the build. The build is completely based on volunteer help from tradespeople including electricians, plumbers, drywall contractors, framers and more.
“It was a lot of people, suppliers and a lot of organization,” said Linda Long.
John Long and his family stayed on site in donated RVs so they could work on the house all day. John Long took the night shift while Randy Long took the day shift.
“We had a team of builders and remodelers and had people running different areas during the day and at night,” said John Long. “One person would not have been able to handle it. So, I became sort of a figurehead running around thanking people for being there and trying to solve big problems with Extreme Makeover’s project manager. The project managers carry around the book and are in touch with the designers and decorators and all that. They are the liaison between ‘this is what we think the house is, this is what the designer said and this is what we are after.’”
Randy Long Ark was on the Ark-led day-build team.
“They were there during the day and partnered with us to put together the build teams, trade leads and things of that nature,” said Randy Long.
The Long family met Ty Pennington and the entire Extreme Makeover cast and crew.
“I was surprised because I never realized how much star power Ty has on the cast,” said John Long. “When he came out, all the girl’s were ‘ahhing and oohing.’ We saw him two or three times, but the staff and designers were there all of the time.”
The house ended up totaling 3,298 square feet and has a courtyard in the center. The designers from Extreme Makeover styled it to a Pacific Rim theme on both the interior and exterior after J.A. Long had completed the plans.
John Long said the reveal at the end of the week was quite emotional.
“We were all spent and tired,” said John Long. “They call it almost like a POW-experience. We were worn down enough that when the limo pulled up, I started crying. I don’t usually do that. I was a mess by then. The rest of the family was in better shape because they were still on normal schedules. I was sleep deprived by then.”
The Long family said Carrie Prewitt and her family appeared appreciative at the reveal of their new home.
“It was satisfying and fulfilling to see the family so excited when they saw the house,” said Randy Long.
Custom homes are always a challenge, he said, so doing the Extreme Makeover build helped them to stand out in the crowd.
“It’s a challenge and it obviously helps with public relations because they can see you can do something different and ‘out of the box,’” said Randy Long. “It showed we can take on a challenge and custom homes are always a challenge. That’s one thing customers always want to know … if we can handle their house, their preference and their challenge. And we can.”
After their brush with fame, J.A. Long hopes people will see them as the true custom builders they are.
“We hope the project will differentiate us a little bit and bring in more projects,” said John Long. “We don’t have big expectations because of the build. They were a nice family and it was more about helping the community and the challenge.”
J.A. Long Design Build has been open for over 35 years and currently build about six to eight homes a year.