Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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62 nshoremag.com October 2014 photographs by zoe isaac building Home Makers A team of local design/build professionals band together in the name of a place to call home. By Sarah Shemkus on monday morning, june 9, the property on the corner of Acton Street and Washington Street in Lawrence was just an empty lot. Two days later, it was an active construction site. By the end of the week, it was a home. "The dream has become reality," says Dieudonné Kanko- longo, whose family of seven now lives in one of the two units erected on the spot. "I didn't imagine in five days they could do such things." Kankolongo's dream was brought to life as part of a weeklong construction extravaganza known as the Home Build- ers Blitz, a national Habitat for Humanity event during which more than 250 homes are built for low-income families across the country in just one week. In all, build- ers and other construction professionals donated more than $25 million in goods and services to the effort. In Lawrence, Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity collaborated with a team of seven local building firms, dozens of co - tributing area businesses, and hundreds of volunteers to construct a pair of attached houses. The homes are the 81st and 82nd residences the Merrimack Valley chapter has built. "It [was] an unbelievable week," says Steve Howell, chairman of the event and owner of Lawrence-based Howell Custom Building Group. The structure was assembled from pre-built wall, floor, and roof panels that were lowered into place by a crane on the first day of construction. Everything went smoothly; the crew finished the first day' work ahead of schedule. On Tuesday, 50 Community ne facing the backyard, away from the street. The goal was to give residents a pleasant view and more privacy. Inside, each 1,300-square-foot unit includes a kitchen, living room, one and a half baths, and three bedrooms. The incoming homeowners chose their own finishes such as cabinets, flooring, an countertops. The options were basic but high-quality according to Gary Moffie owner of The Remodeling Company in Beverly. "The philosophy is to put the same effort and quality into the finish a we would on any project," says Moffie "It's just a lot faster." Among the volunteers were Peter Souhleris and Dave Seymour, co-hosts of electrical contractors swarmed the site to complete the wiring. The rest of the week was dedicated to finishing the interiors and then landscaping the yard. The resulting building is two stories tall and covered in gray vinyl siding reminis- cent of the clapboards that are common in the largely residential neighborhood. Young shrubs and a vibrant green lawn ring the front of the building; the sod was a finishing touch, laid shortly before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. On the other side of the house, two back doors open onto a small, grassy yard. Architect Andrew Steingiser designed the building to wrap around the edges of the corner lot, with most of the windows Team Effo t Local builders come together for Habitat for Humanity in Lawrence.