A welcome home.

Byline: Jack Moran The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Alan Reynolds never thought he'd live in the biggest house on the block.

So pardon his disbelief as he considers what the future holds for his tight-knit family.

"Wow. Wow. Wow," Reynolds said as he eyed the 3,444-square-foot custom home that's taking shape for his family in Springfield's Hayden Bridge area.

"We continually walk around here and say, `This is ours? We're going to live here?' ' Reynolds said with a wide grin.

In an idea spawned by the hit ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," local builders are constructing for the Reynoldses a new home to take the place of the family's dilapidated south Eugene house. The charity project is sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Lane County.

The goal is to move the Reynolds clan into their new home by Christmas, mortgage-free. The builders group will then renovate the family's 53-year-old Eugene house, sell it and use the proceeds to help cover costs of the Springfield residence.

"They're a very special family," said Ed McMahon, the HBA's executive vice president. "We couldn't have chosen anyone better or more deserving for this."

The Reynolds family's story is remarkable because of the strength with which they've stared down a series of health-related challenges.

Their life revolves around Alan and Gail Reynolds' severely disabled 18-year-old son, 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. The family's cramped home is now filled with medical supplies for Jason, who was given a slim chance of surviving childhood.

Alan, the family's sole wage-earner, had open-heart surgery in 2004, a few months before his wife underwent back surgery. Gail, who has always been her son's primary caregiver, also suffers from fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint disorder and heart problems.

Gail's father, 82-year-old "Papa Jack" Morton, is a World War II veteran who lives in a trailer in the family's driveway. Morton needs oxygen to help him breathe and has been hospitalized twice with nearly fatal pneumonia.

The family's eldest son, Joel, is a 21-year-old junior at the University of Oregon who has excelled in school. Because of his parents' health woes, Joel has had to shoulder some of the responsibility of caring for his younger brother.

Joel takes it all in stride, and is being rewarded with the entire upstairs area of the new house.

"It's an amazingly awesome setup for me," says Joel, a musician who hopes to graduate from UO with degrees in philosophy and religious studies.

Much of the main floor will serve as a makeshift hospital for Jason. The area will be equipped with a ceiling lift to move the teen from his bed to a changing table, greatly reducing the effort it takes to care for him.

"He has always required so much," Gail Reynolds said. "But he's our little angel. He was created with a loving spirit, and all he does is give out love."

Across a breezeway from the new home will be Morton's new digs, with his own bedroom and bathroom. The space will provide him independence while keeping him close to family.

No house built in the pattern of the "Extreme Makeover" show would be complete without a spacious master bedroom. Gail Reynolds' eyes light up when she talks about the jetted tub and walk-in closet designed to be linked to the room she will share with Alan. The couple grew up in Eugene and were childhood sweethearts before marrying in 1983.

The Home Builders Association had originally hoped to partner with ABC on the Reynolds home-makeover project. That plan changed when network officials informed them that it would be at least a year before the family's application packet would be considered for the popular Sunday night show.

"We knew that the family needed help now," McMahon said. "So we decided to do it ourselves."

The construction project has been running smoothly since ground was broken last month. Most of the labor and materials have been donated, but contributions are being collected, too, via an account at SELCO credit union.

"When (HBA officials) first rolled out the blueprints for the house, we were just astonished," Reynolds said. "We are so grateful that people wanted to get together and do this for us. We consider ourselves to be really lucky, and really blessed."

HOME MAKEOVER SELCO Community Credit Union is accepting donations to help finishbuilding a new home for the Reynolds family. Visit a credit union branch to contribute to the "Reynolds Family Home Makeover Community Donation Account." Or visit www.reynoldsmakeover.com.