Neighbors outraged after foster family sell mansion donated to them by Extreme Makeover and Jessica Alba as new owners announce plan to make it a clinic for addicts
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A house in a Houston suburb that was rebuild on the show Extreme Makeover in 2010 after being damaged by Hurricane Ike has been turned into drug rehabilitation facility - a move that is not sitting well with the neighbors.
Larry and Melissa Beach, who adopted and fostered 85 special needs children, were forced to sell the sprawling mansion in Kemah, Texas, gifted to them by the ABC reality show after upkeep costs and property taxes got out of hand.
Butch Woolfolk, a former running back for the Houston Oilers, purchased the eight-bedroom home last year for $500,000 and turned it into Kemah Palms Recovery - a high-end drug rehab center.
Dream home: A Kemah, Texas, home that was remodeled by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in 2010 for a family that fostered children has been sold to a group that plans on turning it into a drug treatment facility
Downsized: Larry and Melissa Beach pictured with their 13 children were forced to move into a trailer after Hurricane Ike damaged their Kemah home in 2008
Dawn and Berry Adams, whose house backs up the Beach family's old property, are worried that turning the mansion into a halfway home is going to hurt their property value.
Alicia Leone, whose mother lives in the 1000 block of Delesandri Lane in Kemah, told KHOU 11 she would not feel comfortable bringing her children to visit their grandmother with a drug treatment facility only a stone's throw away.
But Woolfolk was quick to reassure his new neighbors that his center will only house 'high net worth individuals.’
Kemah Palms Recovery, which is expected to open its doors early next month, will have 14 beds. Every patient will undergo a thorough background check, and no one with a criminal history will be admitted.
According to Woolfolk, his clients will pay $20,000-$40,000 for rehab stints lasting between 30 and 60 days.
Four years earlier, the story of the Beach family inspired ABC producers working on then-popular show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to come out to Kemah and build a dream home for them.
Celebrity volunteer: Jessica Alba swapped her glamorous outfits for a hardhat and hammer to help build a house for the Beach family
Hard at work: Alba helped with construction inside the house and worked in the backyard
On ABC's website, Larry and Melissa Beach were described as high school sweethearts who married young and had four children before opening their home to scores of adopted and foster kids, many of them suffering from disabilities.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike pummeled the Beaches' house, forcing them to move into a 35-foot mobile home along with their brood.
For the renovation, the reality show brought in actress Jessica Alba as a celebrity volunteer to help with construction and yard work.
'I'm totally humbled by everything you guys do,' the Fantastic Four star told the Beach family at the time.
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ShareThe finished home was described as palatial: the two-story house sitting on a one-acre plot had eight bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a game room and media room, as well as an elevator to help the Beaches' special-needs children get around, and a gourmet kitchen with two ovens.
‘Larry and Melissa cannot be more thankful,’ a webpage dedicated to the makeover project gushed. ‘Think of all the children they'll now be able to help in the future. Welcome home, Beach family. ‘
But as property taxes on the house climbed ever higher, the magic wore off.
In February 2013, the Beaches put their remodeled house on the market for $700,0000, but by the end of the year the price dropped down to $500,000.
Tailor-made home: The two-story house sitting on a one-acre plot had eight bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a game room and media room for the Beach brood
Generous gift: Local business donated building materials and time to construct the sprawling home for the Beaches
House was a handful: Three years after the show aired, the couple put the palatial property on the market because they could no longer afford to pay property taxes and upkeep costs
Mellissa and Larry said the upkeep of the house was too much for them to handle, and many of their children have grown up and left the nest
Not long after the show aired, the Beaches lost their 2-year-old daughter, Mercy, who died from a seizure. After the tragedy, the heartbroken couple decided to stop fostering children, which meant they no longer needed all that extra space.
Last December, the couple told Houston Chronicle that the decision to offload the home they had received as a gift was a difficult one.
‘We are torn. The community put a lot into this house and that's really the conflict we have struggled with,’ said Mr Beach. ‘A lot of people volunteered and gave for our house and family.
‘After months of talking about, it we made the decision that it doesn't really do any good to keep digging a hole for ourselves.’
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