THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604110231
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY ELLEN MILES, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 165 lines
In June 1994, the lives of Marc and Eileen Freitag, a Virginia Beach couple, were changed forever. Marc, a Navy SEAL, was accidentally shot during a training exercise and left paralyzed from the waist down. Eileen, a registered nurse, was five months pregnant with their first child.
Eileen had been very ill during her pregnancy and had just begun to feel better when the accident occurred. The Freitags have responded to their situation with maturity, wisdom and grace; in return, they received an outpouring of love and support from local real estate agents and builders.
``We got on the ball right away, after the accident'' Eileen says, and began discussing new living arrangements. They'd been in their two-story Landstown Meadows home for only three years, with little equity built up. Marc's stepmother, Linda Freitag, in California, an agent with Coldwell Banker, called a Coldwell Banker Helfant in Virginia Beach for a local referral.
Bill and Elaine Mainker, local agents, were picked for the assignment. Elaine had experience working with physically challenged children and knew about some of the requirements.
Life continued to be rocky. Shortly after their baby, Dillon, was born, he needed stomach surgery. Another Navy family who rented a condo was interested in buying the Freitag's house, but didn't have much money and needed to qualify for a loan. The Mainkers decided to sell the condo and the house for no commission.
Near the end of his hospital stay, Marc was able to return home on a few weekends. ``I thank God all the time that I'm a nurse,'' says Eileen. She understood her husband's condition and needs.
``We're very lucky,'' says Marc. ``Eileen is really the unsung hero in this whole situation; she's been beside me from start to finish.'' Marc was released from the hospital early because of his excellent physical condition.
However, at home, the situation was ``very hard and frustrating,'' says Eileen. ``It really made us realize we couldn't live in that home. Marc had to `bump up and down' the stairs. He couldn't fit in the bathrooms or closets with his wheelchair.''
The Mainkers started thinking about designs for a wheelchair accessible home, and Elaine remembered a ranch house with an open layout that she'd seen a couple years before. The owners agreed to allow the Freitags and the agents to look around the house while they were out of town.
``They were so gracious,'' Marc says. So, on one of his weekend visits, they went to view the house. Marc had to have his wheelchair lifted inside, but once inside, he ``knew this was the one.'' The layout could work for them with relatively minor changes.
Marc has always been a determined, optimistic kind of guy, ready to meet challenges that came his way. He not only got through a 30-week intensive BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL) training course formulated to ``progress through what you thought were your limits,'' he was the recipient of the ``Fire In The Gut'' award, for the SEAL who ``most persevered against all odds.''.
The couple wanted their new home to look just like everyone else's, not like a physically challenged person lived within. From the front of the house, it does look the same. One difference is a ramp on the rear side of the house, which leads to a large deck and connects to a garage ramp. Also, the house was built on a raised slab, instead of a crawl space, allowing for shorter ramps.
And, ``we wanted to be on the water,'' said Marc. However, after choosing the floor plan and location for the house, they were not able to live on such a lot because of the large area of the house; there were no waterfront lots that size.
Eileen's parents lived in the nearby Christopher Farms, so when the Freitags heard a new phase was being built there, they decided that would be a perfect location for their house. They wouldn't have far to move, and they'd be near her parents.
The Mainkers asked Larry Hill, the house's original builder, for the blueprints to the house. He gave the blueprints to them on a one shot deal.
Changes in the blueprints included hallways and doors being widened, pocket doors being installed, a step inside the front hall removed, lower light switches and thermostats, and other electrical and plumbing adjustments. ``It was my step mom's idea that we move the front of the house out four feet,'' says Marc. ``It allowed for extra space in the foyer, dining and living rooms.''
``Elaine (Mainker) had the great idea that we eliminate the half-bath in the laundry room,'' said Eileen. That way we were able to have a large, open laundry room, with an open pantry, and the kitchen had much more space. We had a third bathroom installed in the guest room over the garage, the only part of the house that is not wheelchair accessible.''
It was also decided that the bathroom linen closets could be moved into a hall closet, allowing for necessary extra bathroom space. Marc also wanted to hall bathroom to be wheelchair accessible, since they frequently have guests, some of them wheelchair confined. This way, those guests do not have to use the master bath facilities.
The shower is prefabricated with rails attached to allow transfer from wheelchair to shower seat. The bathroom door was moved to accommodate the change in the room's structure. Overnight guests can bring their portable bathroom accessories for the toilet and tub, or use Marc's, and will have plenty of room to be comfortable. The master bath is equipped with a walk in shower and seat, and a rise on the floor, for adequate drainage.
The lot is almost 17,000 square feet, the second largest in the neighborhood. Inside, the 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bath ranch is brilliantly lit from different angles with a myriad of spacious windows and skylights.
Also, the cathedral ceiling in the den and vaulted ceiling in the master bedroom adds to the light and spacious effect. While the house was being built, Marc says, people stopped by and asked the builders if it was for sale. It's the only ranch and only brick-front house on the cul-de-sac.
The kitchen and entryway floors are made of Pergo, a Swedish product that looks like wood, but is more durable and feasible for wheelchair travel. Durable low pile Berber carpet covers the rest of the house. Entrances and Exits from the house onto the deck allow for safety, in case of emergency. A phone in the master bath is also a safety feature.
``I really want to emphasize Bill and Elaine's role,'' Marc says about the realty agents. ``They found the house, got the plans, and found Michael Newsome, of Michael Lee Co., a very flexible builder.''
``Not every builder would work like this,'' said Bill Mainker. ``We sat down to talk many a time with the builder.'' It was quite a group effort.
``The building company had never built a wheelchair accessible house; they were just as baffled as we all were,'' Eileen says. So, everyone threw in suggestions. Many items cost more just because they're labeled ``handicapped,'' says Bill. ``It's ridiculous.''
Newsome ended up absorbing a lot of the cost, ``out of the goodness of his heart,'' Marc says. ``He didn't make money on this project. If builders would build homes with four-feet-wide hallways and three-feet wide doorways, which wouldn't cost that much extra, that would at least make the home accessible to a certain extent.
``When they have to go back into a house and make it accessible it's so expensive.''
One lesson learned before the building phase was that no sink water pipes could be exposed. Marc and Eileen learned the hard way.
They were staying in a hotel and Marc ended up badly burning his leg while using the bathroom sink. So, while the downstairs sinks are open underneath, accessible to Marc, the pipes have been covered with angled wood.
Every area is at least somewhat accessible to Marc. He wanted to be able to care for their rambunctious son, vacuum, wash dishes and clothes, use the stove, and get to his car on his own. Therefore, all surfaces were built accessible to his wheelchair, including lowering the washing machine into the floor and separating the stove area from the oven and the garbage disposal from the specialty sink.
To accommodate a garage ramp, a 2 1/2-car garage was built. A central vacuum system was installed. Some added conveniences include pullout refrigerator shelves, an electric garage door opener, gas fireplace and a gas outlet onto the deck connected to the outside grill so propane tanks do not need to be filled. A sprinkler system will be added soon. ``I'm totally independent,'' says Marc.
Fortunately, everything's turned out terrifically, says Marc, with only minor problems, as any new house has. ``You don't realize all the little things that people take for granted until you have to build a wheelchair accessible house.''
Moving around, using appliances, turning on light switches, washing hands and bathing, and getting things from the closets and shelves, all become very difficult tasks. Everything had to be considered before building.
``For the first time building our own house from the ground up, let alone an accessibility house, I couldn't have asked for better,'' he says as he moves with ease and confidence throughout their home. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY C. KNAPP
[Color cover photo, A special house]
Marc Freitag wanted his home to look like a normal house. His
special accommodations are subtly designed into and around the
building.
Freitag sunk his washing machine into the floor for easier access
from a wheelhchair.
KEYWORDS: HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBLE HOUSE by CNB