American Py is on the air!

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

That wasn’t soon enough for a family that wandered into the family’s backyard during a pre-show barbecue. "We wanted to see [the] house," one of the trespassers said.

A member of the Py family showed them the door, or rather, the gate leading back outside the fence. "That’s been happening for two weeks," family members said of intrusions. In fact, one man walked in on grandpa Bill Py when he was putting his socks on in his bedroom, which replicates the family’s old shore house in Margate with washed knotty pine walls.

The Pys are a warm and welcoming family, but trespassers like that push expectations of hospitality to the extreme.

Young Joey was in the pool and the family was chatting about the intruders, when they got the 10-minute warning that the show was about to start. The Pys and their family and friends made a mad dash to the family room/kitchen/dining room so they wouldn’t miss a moment of the show.

The energy and excitement were contagious. The family’s new Jack Russell terrier pup, Franklin, donated to the family by a Thomas Jefferson University Hospital surgeon, did his duty on Bill Py’s sister Marie and threw up on the Channel 6 microphone.

Grandma Carole Py bounced on her heels nervously after seeing herself and her family in a television preview. She gave a big hug and kiss to her husband, who never did sit down during the two-hour episode, standing mostly behind his wife’s chair, his foot occasionally tapping.

The Pys were nominated for Extreme Makeover by family friend and Northeast resident Laura Cook. Her son John Merz is best friends with their daughter Danielle Py-Salas. Py-Salas said that when she asked Cook what she had written in the letter, she told her, "I wrote the truth."

The truth is the Pys have been raising their grandchildren, William, 14; Samantha, 11; and Joey, 10, since the death of their parents.

In July 1997, the couple’s son-in-law, Jose Rosario, 33, died in his sleep, leaving behind a widow, Sandra Py Rosario and their three small children. Sandra, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, then moved into her parents’ Haldeman Avenue home. In November 1998, the 28-year-old succumbed to the disease; grandmom and grandpop Py have raised the three Rosario children ever since.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the 3,300 square-foot home when the family shared their thoughts and grief with Extreme Makeover host Ty Pennington and the show’s designers.

There were several "ahs" when photos of the children and their parents were shown. "That’s the best picture," Sandra Py’s sisters said of her image on television.

After the loss of their daughter, the Pys had been concerned that asbestos and lead paint in the house could harm their grandchildren. "We love you Bill," his sisters shouted, when their brother got emotional on screen. "He looked out for us from the time we were teenagers, now thanks to Extreme Makeover, someone else was looking out for him," said sisters Pat Py-Coyle and Marie Py-Watson.

Family members laughed when they spied one another on TV and howled when they heard Carole Py scream when that big brown bus finally moved. "That came out of you, girl," Bill Py said. The first thing that struck Carole Py when she entered the home, she said, was the entryway with the cathedral ceiling and all the lights.

"The ceiling is never ending," her daughter Nicole Py said, adding that the home was more than any of her family could have ever imagined. "It’s very large but still very warm. It feels like we’re all in the same room."

Carole Py’s Jacuzzi tub, however, is her favorite spot in the house. "It’s so relaxing," she said.

Nicole Py hugged her niece, who was pretty in a turquoise sweater and wearing big star earrings, during the segment on Samantha’s renaissance princess room. The room was inspired by her aunt Nicole, who used to work at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair. Designer Paige Hennis went out to the fair and brought back a suit of armor for the 11-year-old’s lushly appointed room.

William, 14, was a man of few words during the airing. His take on the show: "Cool." Will’s 76ers-style bedroom featured a bed that rose from beneath a hardwood floor, making the room look like a basketball court, lots of 76ers memorabilia and a hand print and tracing of 76er forward Chris Webber on his wall. A virtual locker room pulls out from the wall to store Will’s clothes. The hydraulic arms that were to lift Will’s bed from the floor aren’t working any longer, but still looks great with the 76ers emblem that was on the floor, now is his headboard.

Joey sat with his aunt Karen Py during his segment, showing his Ben Franklin-inspired room, complete with a bifocal bed and blown-glass kite light fixture on the ceiling. "The light fixture was amazing. It’s kind of cool to see how they put it all together," Danielle Py-Salas said.

The family cheered when John and Ken Dewey were on the screen. Their Wayne-based Dewey Homes and more than 1,000 volunteers built the family’s home in five days and nine hours. The Deweys donated $25,000 to the Eagles Tackling Breast Cancer, to benefit the Jefferson Breast Care Center in the name of the Py/Rosario family. They were also responsible for the initial contact with Drexel University, which pledged scholarships for the children. Dewey’s great-grandfather Kenneth G. Matheson was president of Drexel, and their grandfather, Kenneth G. Matheson, was a professor of economics and dean of the LeBow College of Business. A sister also graduated from Drexel.

While John Dewey tallied the home’s cost at "priceless," the Harleysville Insurance Co., which donated a year’s free home insurance to the Pys, valued it at $800,000.

For Carole Py, every day is a new surprise in her home as she is still adjusting and figuring out how some things work, including the washers and dryers on both floors, so she doesn’t have to carry laundry. She just found out she has filtered water that comes out of the refrigerator.

Another adjustment that will have to be made is the removal of the sand pit under the backyard tiki hut, so the sand won’t damage the in-ground pool’s filter. The area will be landscaped instead.

After the broadcast, Bill Py said, "It was heartwarming. My only regret is that I only have half of my sisters and brothers here with me," he said.

Py’s sister Kathy Py-Wolanski spoke for all of the siblings and their families. "Bill and Carole took everyone to the other side of the rainbow," the Burholme resident said. Karen Py, who is a U.S. Navy dentist at Quantico, came up from Fredericksburg, Va., to be with her family for the broadcast. She was overwhelmed by the generosity and sheer numbers of volunteers who helped build her family’s new home.

"Mom, you should have seen it. You had to wait in line to volunteer, and seeing all those people lined up to help, my heart was just pounding," she said. Karen Py and her mother hope the episode will raise awareness of breast cancer and inspire more people to get mammograms.

At the end of the evening, Carole Py wanted to make sure everyone knew how grateful she is.
"I want to thank Dewey, Drexel, all the volunteers and the community for their cooperation and support, and even the food [vendors] that fed the volunteers," she said. ••

Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com

Overnight Nielsen ratings have the Py family’s episode rated at #4 for the 7 p.m. hour with 7.93 million viewers, and #2 in the 8 p.m. hour with 14.7 million viewers.

To see the Py family’s floor plan, visit http://www.deweyextreme.com/index.cfm?method=Floorplan

To check out the furniture and appliances, visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/featured/sears324.html