WEST UNION — Determining who was more excited — thousands of spectators or family members seeing their new house — was difficult during the reveal Sunday for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
But everyone enthusiastically chanted “Move that bus” as Audrey Gibbs and her six children got out of the limousine that chauffeured them to the property north of West Union.
The family seemed in a bit of shock, and fans cheered as the show’s bus drove off.
“When I saw them come in today, it was probably one of the most exciting times of my life,” said Carol Cameron of Calmar. “I am so happy for this deserving family.”
Cameron knows the Gibbs family well and was one of the people instrumental in luring host Ty Pennington and designers Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson, Sabrina Soto and Jeff Dye to Northeast Iowa.
Pennington joined the family Sunday as they entered the house for the first time. The five-bedroom house includes a portion resembling a silo and a two-car garage that looks like a barn. Details of the inside will not be revealed until after the show airs on ABC.
“It’s a beautiful home done really, really well with some professional designers. It’s very, very nice. They will be very happy. All of us will,” said Ed Larson of Larson Construction in Independence.
Larson and his wife, Janet, and their family were chosen as builders for the project.
“It was rewarding. The outpouring of the entire community and Northeast Iowa was overwhelming,” Janet Larson said. “Everyone has come together as a community. This is America at its best, Iowa at its best and Northeast Iowa at its very best.”
Gibbs lost her husband to cancer in August 2000 and seven months later developed a brain aneurism. She is legally blind.
Her medical condition meant the loss of her career as a cosmetologist, and her home was deteriorating. There were no working toilets, and a ceiling was collapsing.
“They’ve always had a home. They just had a very sad house as far as the structure. It got to the point where it was not fixable,” Cameron said.