16 May 2007: the Vacation gets an Extreme Makeover
Appleton to Waucousta: 71.2 mi; high 40s to ~60
It was another day free of speaking engagements, letting me engage in more recreation. I started with a short hike in High Cliff State Park, looking out over Lake Winnebago and spying a deer in the woods. I then headed south along the lake, then east and south to the Kettle Moraine area - home of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The weather was superlative - blue skies, pleasant temps - and the scenery charming. I love this Wisconsin dairyland, lakeview, and glacial landscape!
I made it to Waucousta shortly after 4:00 to see my name on the highway billboard for the school. David Wege gave me the warm Wisconsin welcome I'm getting accustomed to, asking about my trip and inviting me to relax. After I typed in two blog entries, David took me to his place for a shower, then he gave me a driving tour of the area. A fantastic dinner followed at the Fin 'n Feather, then David took me to the highlight of the day: the Extreme Makeover house in Dundee.
Last year, 41-year-old Matt Koepke was diagnosed with a virulent form of brain cancer. Four months later he died, leaving his widow Kris to finish raising their four teenagers. She also had an aging, small house in Dundee WI to maintain.
Though she was hosting a fundraiser for the high school choir in the house that evening (just imagine the hubbub from twenty kids playing bunko), she gave me and the choir director the full guided tour. Not surprisingly, the place was awesome - and filled with over-the-top furnishings. After moving in, Kris saw a price tag of $2400 on one light fixture; one end table cost $4000; the dining room set had an estimated cost of $20,000.
In addition to the fanciest new accoutrements, they incorporated pieces from the old house to retain its flavor. In one daughter's bedroom, the old (well-weathered) front and rear doors found new life as the headboard and footboard for her bed.
Some of the touches went overboard. All five bedrooms had TVs with cable modems - but Kris was responsible for the monthly rental on four of them. (They got removed.) The crew also wired the DVD hookups into the linen closet, so you could just point the remote at the wall to play and stop a movie. Of course, it would get old going to the linen closet to insert a new disk into the player.
Considering how quickly the crew assemble the houses, glitches naturally occur. For instance, take putting in the plumbing before hanging any doors. In one bathroom, the toilet was so large that the door, when hung, would not close. That required a quick trip down to the road to Kohler (who donated all the fixtures) for a smaller model.
The relayed stories of life on the set entertained me. When Kris moved in, she found the fridge was full of bottled water with all the labels removed - the crew couldn't be seen drinking (and endorsing) a particular brand. Also, whenever the cameramen filmed, they didn't want to see the crew eating, so the crew would throw any food they had into any available cupboard, drawer, or closet. Kris kept finding leftovers hidden away in surprising places for months.
Though Kris received the house free of charge, she still held a small mortgage on the original house and property. The hidden cost, though, lay in taxes. The tax asessor had come by just a few weeks earlier, reappraising the house for its new, highly inflated value. She, of course, was now liable for the increase. She was working out something with her father that would allow her to afford that.
After our late tour, David took me to my hosts for the night. Tim and Kiersten Immel lived nearby in a house Tim (a carpenter) had built the previous year. Since it was late, we chatted for only a few minutes before we turned in for the night.
It was another day free of speaking engagements, letting me engage in more recreation. I started with a short hike in High Cliff State Park, looking out over Lake Winnebago and spying a deer in the woods. I then headed south along the lake, then east and south to the Kettle Moraine area - home of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The weather was superlative - blue skies, pleasant temps - and the scenery charming. I love this Wisconsin dairyland, lakeview, and glacial landscape!
I made it to Waucousta shortly after 4:00 to see my name on the highway billboard for the school. David Wege gave me the warm Wisconsin welcome I'm getting accustomed to, asking about my trip and inviting me to relax. After I typed in two blog entries, David took me to his place for a shower, then he gave me a driving tour of the area. A fantastic dinner followed at the Fin 'n Feather, then David took me to the highlight of the day: the Extreme Makeover house in Dundee.
Last year, 41-year-old Matt Koepke was diagnosed with a virulent form of brain cancer. Four months later he died, leaving his widow Kris to finish raising their four teenagers. She also had an aging, small house in Dundee WI to maintain.
Though she was hosting a fundraiser for the high school choir in the house that evening (just imagine the hubbub from twenty kids playing bunko), she gave me and the choir director the full guided tour. Not surprisingly, the place was awesome - and filled with over-the-top furnishings. After moving in, Kris saw a price tag of $2400 on one light fixture; one end table cost $4000; the dining room set had an estimated cost of $20,000.
In addition to the fanciest new accoutrements, they incorporated pieces from the old house to retain its flavor. In one daughter's bedroom, the old (well-weathered) front and rear doors found new life as the headboard and footboard for her bed.
Some of the touches went overboard. All five bedrooms had TVs with cable modems - but Kris was responsible for the monthly rental on four of them. (They got removed.) The crew also wired the DVD hookups into the linen closet, so you could just point the remote at the wall to play and stop a movie. Of course, it would get old going to the linen closet to insert a new disk into the player.
Considering how quickly the crew assemble the houses, glitches naturally occur. For instance, take putting in the plumbing before hanging any doors. In one bathroom, the toilet was so large that the door, when hung, would not close. That required a quick trip down to the road to Kohler (who donated all the fixtures) for a smaller model.
The relayed stories of life on the set entertained me. When Kris moved in, she found the fridge was full of bottled water with all the labels removed - the crew couldn't be seen drinking (and endorsing) a particular brand. Also, whenever the cameramen filmed, they didn't want to see the crew eating, so the crew would throw any food they had into any available cupboard, drawer, or closet. Kris kept finding leftovers hidden away in surprising places for months.
Though Kris received the house free of charge, she still held a small mortgage on the original house and property. The hidden cost, though, lay in taxes. The tax asessor had come by just a few weeks earlier, reappraising the house for its new, highly inflated value. She, of course, was now liable for the increase. She was working out something with her father that would allow her to afford that.
After our late tour, David took me to my hosts for the night. Tim and Kiersten Immel lived nearby in a house Tim (a carpenter) had built the previous year. Since it was late, we chatted for only a few minutes before we turned in for the night.
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