An Outsider's View of Extreme Makeover: Letterpress Edition

I can tell you that it was definitely a unique experience, and I was fully immersed in it.

I had planned to meet Chris at the house Tuesday around 5pm, which was going to be tight, as I had class until 3:20 and then about an hour and a half of travel time. He said that would be fine, and that if I wanted I could take my time, as they were a "little" behind. I arrived in Kingston around 6:00 pm. Chris, however, was in Seattle at that time getting miscellaneous items for the show, though he told me to go to the house and ask for a few specific people who would let me know what was happening, when. Off to the house! There were four check points I had to pass through to get to the site. The place looked like a fairground -- white tents everywhere, campers/motor homes, VIP tents with heaters, oooo the heaters!

The house they built is gorgeous. Unbelievable that they can build a house in five days and furnish it in two. With that many people, though, I guess you could do just about anything. I waited around for a while after arriving and started organizing all of the wonderful things the Letpress list members donated. I must say that Aariel's collection of printing and typography books was making me jealous! She now has a wonderful set-up. The letterpress stuff was being stored in semi-truck containers with all of the other items for the house a few hundred feet down the driveway.

Aariel's room was being decorated and designed by Preston - kind of a hipster, cool-guy attitude. He didn't seem to be in the room working as much as I thought he would have been - but that's another story. When I got to the room, several women were preparing to repaint the room -- "Preston wants flat finish, not eggshell-- it HAS TO BE REPAINTED NOW!"

To at least make an attempt at brevity I will try to reduce the rest of the evening to a list:

Layout letters (letters have been made from all sorts of material for decorating wall) for hanging on Aariel's wall. I though they should look as though they were falling from the ceiling.

Undo layout as Preston has different idea (he and the two young assistants are going to work on that)

Draw and cut more letters.

Check on the construction of the desk.

Carry boxes into the house -- with the hundred others carrying and sorting boxes.

Hang out with the Executive Producer and several of the Design Producers, talking about what it's like to work in the environment they do -- tres interesting!

Assemble bed-frame

3:30 am Wednesday:  Still not time to set up the letterpress, and the last ferry ran at 1:00 am

By this time most people had gone home, and the crew had gone to sleep in their trailers. Some people were still building bookshelves, sawing wood, landscaping etc. Even at this time of the morning they had the place lit like a football field. The producer I had been talking with said I could crash in any room I wanted, as I did not have a place to stay.

6:00 am Wednesday: Move more stuff. Putty and sand desk. Help hang letters on wall (they didn't get very far the previous evening.) Move furniture into the house.

11:00 am Wednesday:  It's time to set up the letterpress studio. We carry the press up to the house. I spend some time adjusting rollers, inking etc. I love the Boxcar Base, it is better than magnetic bases in all ways! Having never used a table-top platen before I was unsure of what to expect from the Pilot. I was surprised, it is a great little press. I now see why they are so coveted. I set it up with the "Extreme Home Makeover" logo that David and Harold had created, but everyone was so busy trying to finish the house that most of the cameras were not allowed in- - they got in the way. So the press was not filmed during set up.

The family was supposed to be home at 12 noon-- so we scrambled to put the room together. Just imagine total chaos, multiply it by three, add a shot of Tabasco sauce and you wouldn't even be close to how crazy it is inside that house with 20 minutes to go!

I got the press set up nicely on the desk, laid out the gift certificate and notes that everyone had made for Aariel, and put out some quoins and a key. Preston didn't like the look of ink cans and roller wash so those items were hidden in the closet. The last I saw of the press it was inked up, with paper next to it, ready to print. At this point it was probably 1:00 pm. They were holding the family back as the house refused to be finished on time. I rushed out of the house as soon as we got the room cleaned up. No one asked me to stick around to demo the press, so I waited until I saw the family see the house and then I headed for the ferry.

While I don't know if the use of the press got filmed, it will definitely have a presence in the room, and I am amazed at all of the generous contributions. Aariel has a letterpress setup that would make many swoon-- a Pilot, Boxcar base, lead type, furniture, ink, a full set of supplies and a wonderful collection of books.

I think all of you have a made a significant impact on this girl's life.

Thank you!

Daniel Petrzelka

Sorry that this is a little unorganized- If there seems to be something I missed, just shoot me an email for clarification. I should also add that Chris Goettsche, the design producer who initially contacted David Rose, is an unbelievably honest and nice guy. One of the most respectable people on that set.

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