An extreme surprise

Deirdre Newman

Rain had thinned the crowd of people waiting to welcome Thomas and

Deirdre McCrory home by the time they arrived, but it did not dampen

the throng’s desire to see the look on the couple’s faces when they

saw their newly renovated house for the first time.

“Complete exultation,” is how Tom’s good friend Chris Meehan

described the look.

The McCrorys’ home was renovated in a one-week construction frenzy

by the crew of ABC’s TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The

couple and their two toddlers were whisked away to Arizona last week

so the design team and construction crew could have free reign over

their house.

The 1,077-square-foot house was expanded by 423 feet, which

included a new bedroom, as the family will also be expanding soon,

gaining three new members at once. The couple handed over the

ultrasound of their triplets to the producers before looking at it

themselves so the producers could design the triplets’ room

accordingly, said Patrick Munoz, a friend of the family.

“I’ve been seeing this place go up and have talked to Tom every

day but have not revealed anything to him,” Munoz said. “It was

exciting to see him.”

The eager crowd of friends, family members and neighbors stood in

the rain for two hours, Mayor Gary Monahan said. When the McCrorys

finally arrived, some of the crowd had dispersed because of the rain,

but the couple was given a celebrity greeting by the resilient

troopers who remained.

“Tom got out with one of his sons and waved with a big smile on

his face, and everyone was screaming and cheering him on,” Monahan

said.

The family was supposed to celebrate its new house with the crowd

at a huge block party, but that was postponed because of the rain,

Monahan said. After a quick chat for the camera with the show’s host,

Ty Pennington, under umbrellas, the family was escorted inside the

house for a grand tour.

The producers of the show are still treating the interior of the

house as top secret until the show airs in March. But some who helped

with the renovation, such as Munoz, got a sneak preview.

The triplets -- two boys and a girl -- will be in the nursery

room, Munoz said. The room of one of the McCrorys’ sons is designed

with a jungle theme. Munoz helped paint detailed wood cut-outs of

animals such as monkeys and giraffes that were then pasted to the

wall.

Their other son will now be sleeping in a pirate ship bed since he

is fascinated by pirates, Munoz said. There is also a waterfall and

large jungle gym in the backyard for the kids, Munoz added.

The exterior of the house has gone from salmon color to green.

With a front gate of frosted glass and fresh greenery in the front

yard, it has the feel of a Japanese garden.

The whole experience resulted in the neighborhood coming together,

said Monahan, who visited the site during the week of construction.

“I’m sitting there and watching 60 people working on this house,”

Monahan said. “It’s like a neighborhood build, and it’s like the old

days when you built a house, your neighbors all come out and help you

build it. Now it’s like you try to build a house, and all the

neighbors come out and tell you not to.”

One of the neighbors who will be sad to see the “Extreme Makeover:

Home Edition” crew pack up and head out is Spencer Mearns. The

9-year-old, who lives across the street, became an honorary crew

member when he and his friend asked if they could help. They helped

pick up the trash. On Wednesday, Spencer was studiously performing

his job sporting an “Extreme Makeover” crew T-shirt that hung below

his knees.

“It was fun,” Spencer said. “The fun part was when I got to go in

the control room.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.