Habitat project becomes a home

By Kristin Palpini
Staff Writer

Published on February 01, 2008

Even when it was just a big water-filled hole in the ground, Kathy Perry felt that 24 Stanley St. was home.

On Jan. 24, Perry, 57, will move into the first of four planned Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity homes on Stanley Street.

Standing knee-deep in small boxes that she's already started moving into the house, Perry recalled the first time she laid eyes on the site of what would eventually be her first home.

In September 2006, after hearing the good news that she had been selected to buy the house, Perry and her then-11-year-old daughter Rachel took a quick drive to where their home would one day stand. Overlooking the hole that would hold her home's foundation, Perry watched Rachel climb to the top of a mud pile, pick up a handful of soggy earth and throw it into the pit.

"She said, 'Mom, I'm throwing mud balls in the living room,'" said Perry with a smile.

"It felt like my house since last September," Perry said. "My house. My yard. I get overwhelmed that people would do this," she said. "We want people to know that we really do appreciate what they've done and it means a lot to us."

The house at 24 Stanley St. was built over the course of two years by hundreds of volunteers, many of whom are students at Amherst College. Perry's house, along with the other three homes slated for construction in a three-acre corridor off Stanley Street, was made possible by a donation of land from the college.

Getting the OK

As the story goes, Amherst College was persuaded to donate the land by a former student, James Patchett. Patchett, who had been volunteering at Habitat sites in Northampton, was interested in building homes closer to his college and approached then-President Tom Gerety about donating some of the college's holdings.

In a turn of events that has been given an almost "mythical" slant, said local Habitat Director MJ Adams, Patchett impressed Gerety with his ideas, and the president asked the student to do some homework on which college plots would be suitable for houses. Patchett, who already had been researching the college's holdings with Habitat officials for weeks, then slid a piece of paper containing a list of appealing college lots across the table to the president - and the rest is history.

"Amherst College recognizes it's critical to have a solid stock in town of affordable housing," said James D. Brassord, director of facilities and associate treasurer of the college. "We saw this as clearly a partnership that could benefit the community as well as the college. It afforded a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in this process not just by swinging hammers, but by fundraising and promotions and dealing with issues around design of the homes. So it's been a very rich experience."

A second house is already under construction on the Stanley Street plot. Adams said the home would likely be ready for purchase early next year. Volunteers for home construction are being sought through the nonprofit's Web site, www.pioneervalleyhabitat.org.

"It's an extraordinary story," said Adams. "It's a partnership that just seemed to be the right thing at the right time. It was around the same time that (the college's) Center for Community Engagement effort got under way. It was almost fate. This was meant to be."

Giving a tour of the house for the Gazette Tuesday, Perry excitedly pointed out her favorite home features. Wearing socks and stepping gingerly across the cream-colored, carpeted living room, she quickly noted a gold-colored chandelier hung in the entrance of her home.

"I got that at the ReStore," she said, referring to the Springfield nonprofit that supplies building materials. "I love my chandelier."

Upstairs on the home's second floor, Perry showed off two bedrooms and another room she'll use as a study/guest room for her grandson. In between explaining how heat is circulated throughout the home, Perry listed her favorite home characteristics: lots of windows, energy-efficient appliances and heating, open space and a big front yard.

"You don't need a TV here, you can sit on your couch and watch the scenery," said Perry, surveying her land, a rural expanse of small, snow-covered hills. A farmer on a tractor drove by with a white-wrapped bundle of hay, as Perry watched.

Ten-year hunt

Perry had been searching in earnest for a house she could afford in Amherst for 10 years before she was chosen to purchase the Habitat house.

A Boulders apartments resident for over 30 years, Perry said that when she moved into her apartment, she knew she wouldn't leave until she found a house. With median home prices in Amherst now around $350,000, Perry, a social worker, said it was difficult to find a house in her price range.

"It was frustrating," she said. "Every time I'd get close (to buying a house), the mortgage rate would go up or the cost of the house would go up."

Then she heard about a Habitat for Humanity meeting for prospective home-buyers. Although she thought she didn't stand a chance of getting a Habitat house, Perry attended the meeting and quickly sent in her application.

"I was shocked," said Perry, recalling when she learned she had been chosen by the nonprofit's Family Selection Committee. "It was amazing. I didn't think I'd get in."

Habitat homes are built with the help of novice construction volunteers and professionals. Many professionals offer their services pro bono or provide materials and services at cost to the organization.

Once completed, a Habitat house is sold at cost to the preselected buyer. Perry is purchasing her home for about $122,000.

The buyer receives a no-interest 15- to 25-year loan. When the buyer is ready to leave the house, she or he must give Habitat for Humanity right of first refusal to purchase the house. The home also cannot be sold by the owner for a windfall, but must be sold at a price that is affordable for low-income families.

Perry has no intention of selling her home any time soon. She has already planted flower bulbs and plans to start a larger garden - complete with a pumpkin patch for her daughter - this spring.

"I've been thinking about this for 30 years," said Perry when asked if she had decided how she would arrange the furniture in her house. "It took 30 years, but it was worth it."

Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com.