Another ‘Extreme Makeover’: For sale sign

It’s one thing to win a new 3,600-square-foot house courtesy of a nationally syndicated television show. It’s quite another to keep it, a Sandpoint man has learned.

Eric Hebert, whose family was featured in ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” more than two years ago, is putting the home up for sale because it’s too expensive and time consuming as he raises his late sister’s 11-year-old twins.

“It’s a little too much for the three of us,” Hebert told the Bonner County Bee.

In November 2005, about 250 construction workers and landscapers worked around the clock to get the new home on Baldy Mountain Road finished while Hebert and the children were treated to a Bahamas vacation by the reality show.

Now Hebert has discovered a new reality.

Maintaining the home is expensive, he said. Since moving in, his bills have tripled.

Hebert is single, works full-time in construction and spends most evenings taking his niece and nephew to baseball and soccer practice. He said wants to enjoy his time with the children, whose mother, Francine Hebert, died in 2004 of a heart attack at age 37.

Lori Sullivan, co-owner of Sullivan Homes, the primary contractor on the project, said she understands Hebert’s plight.

“It’s too bad it’s a burden for him,” Sullivan said. “We’re sad for Eric.”

Hebert is worried that the hundreds of community members who volunteered to help build his home will think he is selling it to make a profit.

“I’m doing it not to lose money,” he said. “I just hope people understand the reality of it.”

The house and acre of property are listed for sale at $529,000. Hebert owns two acres adjacent to the house and listed that property at $160,000.

But, he said, he would not trade the “Extreme Makeover” experience for anything. He believes it has changed his life and the children’s for the better, citing their opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., meet many caring people in the community and own the home.

He doubts he will ever again live in such a nice home, which includes three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a bonus room, an office and a master bedroom with access to a deck that includes a fireplace and hot tub.

Two large windows in the two-story great room overlook a tree farm. The floors are covered with hardwood and slate.

Hebert worried about how the kids would react but said they understand his decision.

Hebert is unsure what he will do once the home sells. He may stay in the area because he has a lot of friends and some family here. He may also move to Montana.

“One thing at a time,” he said.

Hebert moved from Montana to Sandpoint to care for the children when it appeared they would otherwise end up in the foster-care system. He moved them out of a rundown trailer and into a “berm house,” described as a daylight basement with a roof. In the “Extreme Makeover” program, the berm house was demolished and replaced in a week with a large, two-story house.