A dream home unveiled.

Byline: Jack Moran The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - A dramatic scene borrowed from prime-time television unfolded Thursday in the Hayden Bridge area neighborhood that Alan and Gail Reynolds can now officially call home.

About 200 people gathered along Lomond Avenue for a chance to shout "Move that bus!" - a cry that rattled nearby windows and prompted the unveiling of the Reynolds family's brand-new, 3,444-square-foot house.

Upon seeing the impressive home, Alan Reynolds pressed his right hand to his forehead and sank back against the limousine that carried his family to their new residence. A dazed grin was on his face.

"Oh, man," he said. "Oh, wow. This is unbelievable."

Construction of the dwelling - along with Thursday's big revelation - followed a script that plays out every week on the hit ABC reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Just like the show, the local version featured a team of volunteers dedicated to a charity project aimed at improving the lifestyle of a family that faces daily challenges while living in a substandard house.

The Home Builders Association of Lane County spearheaded the yearlong effort to gather laborers and materials for the Reynolds' new, fully furnished home. With everything donated, the family will live without having to worry about monthly mortgage payments.

"This whole thing is a story of love," the association's immediate past-president, Dan Hill, said. "That's what it's all about."

The tight-knit clan - Alan and Gail Reynolds, their sons Jason, 18, and Joel, 21, and Gail's father, Jack Morton, 83 - has weathered a series of health-related challenges over the years.

Alan, Gail and Morton each have been hospitalized in recent years with a variety of ailments. Alan, the family's sole wage-earner, had open-heart surgery in 2004, a few months before his wife underwent back surgery.

The family's life revolves around Jason, who is fed through a tube in his stomach and requires around-the-clock care for a rare disorder called muscle-eye-brain disease.

Since before Jason was born, the family has lived in a cramped, drafty house in east Eugene that was built by Alan's father in 1953. The "old" dwelling is being fixed up, with the builders group planning to sell it and use the proceeds to help cover costs of the new Springfield residence.

In the new house, much of the main floor will serve as a makeshift hospital, complete with a ceiling lift to move Jason from his bed to a changing table.

"We'll be able to take care of him in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise," said the family's eldest son, Joel. The good-natured University of Oregon junior has for years devoted much of his time to helping care for his brother.

At the new house, the entire second floor has been reserved for Joel, a musician who hopes to graduate from college with degrees in philosophy and religious studies.

Morton, who for years has lived in a trailer outside the Reynolds home, will enjoy a much-improved setup in Springfield. He's moving into a space set across a breezeway from the main home, with his own bedroom and bathroom.

"I'm overwhelmed," said Morton, a World War II veteran. "I can't believe what I'm looking at. It's really something."

Alan and Gail - childhood sweethearts from Eugene who married in 1983 - "oohed" and "ahhed" and "wowed" their way around the new house on Thursday, paying special attention to the master suite, which includes a jetted tub and an enormous walk-in closet.

"It's going to take a long time to take this all in," Gail said following the family's initial tour of the home. "This is a complete miracle."