By Jon Nielsen
Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — Carlton Marshall can finally tuck his children into bed.
In the two years since the Dallas police officer suffered disabling injuries after being shot during a 2007 raid, he couldn’t get around in his rural Lancaster home. The narrow doorways kept him out of his children’s room.
In less than a week, crews and volunteers from the ABC reality television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built a spacious, wheelchair-accessible house for the family of four.
On Friday, when the Marshall family was expected to begin the move-in, crews packed up the final cargo trailers while sprinklers watered the fresh sod and flowers.
“It’s very humbling,” Carlton Marshall said. “I love the independence it’s going to give me.”
Styled like a Texas Hill Country ranch home with masonry and wood exterior, the rustic-looking home on Hash Street near Lancaster rose up from a field in a matter of days.
About 2,000 volunteers worked round-the-clock to build the house. Last Saturday, a Dallas police SWAT crew demolished the old home. By Wednesday, the Marshalls were getting their first glimpse of their new home.
“It’s the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen,” said Susan Marshall, an Irving police homicide detective. “Every time I walk through that door I’m going to think about all the love that went into building this home.”
The extreme makeover has been extremely secret. Even volunteers involved in the project won’t say what the interior looks like. They’re saving that for when the episode airs on WFAA-TV (Channel 8). The show’s makers haven’t revealed when the Marshalls’ episode will air.
Carlton Marshall’s injury also kept him from riding the horses in his backyard. Now there’s a concrete pathway that leads to the barn. There’s also a physical therapy room that he hopes will help him condition himself to return to the police force.
Outside the home Friday, Carlton Marshall was still in awe.
“This house ... it’s more than I ever could imagine getting,” he said. “If we were rich, this is the house we’d get.”
Copyright 2009 Dallas Morning News