The house, located on Grove Avenue in St. James, will be completely remodeled, turning the tiny two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot cottage into 2,400-square-feet, with new bedrooms, a completely remodeled kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom, among other additions. The house, which stands on a one-acre lot, was scheduled for completion today.
“A job like this would normally take several months,” according to Seth Selesnow, with Alure Construction, but the crew has four-and-a-half days to complete the actual construction of the house. The show completes the entire house, which includes construction, decorating and landscaping in seven days. Alure Construction has worked on two previous homes in the New York area for the show and Selesnow said, “It’s a great opportunity to help out a family in the area.”

A mailbox has also been set up outside the home on Grove Avenue for donations and the whole St. James community has rallied behind the family, along with members of the Suffolk County Police Department. In fact, according to County Executive Steve Levy, the neighbors were the ones who contacted the ABC network and brought the show to St. James. Talk about “small town love,” the area’s legislator, Lynne Nowick (R-Smithtown), said.
Crowds of people gathered around the house during the event, which also brought out local politicians, including Levy and Nowick. Area businesses came out to offer their support in any way possible. Marc S. Taczanowski, a local chiropractor, was at the site helping fatigued workers. “Everyone’s willing to do whatever they need,” he said.
The show is scheduled to air on ABC in June.

With the makeover, the house's value rocketed from about $375,000 to about $825,000 in the 120-hour reconstruction period, said Nick Albanese, an real estate agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman, based in Smithtown-St. James. He said the house's taxes would rise from $3,200 to $11,500.

Don't they pay off the mortgage on the house for you?  So all he's left with is just real estate taxes?

That's not bad, AT ALL.  If anything, he's a lucky lucky guy.
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