Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna is overseeing the building of its third house in Bel Air, a house that is slated to become a home for a family of four.
Demolition of the old house on the lot in the 200 block of Franklin Street got under way last week. The Habitat house will be built in its place for the Deriemaeker family.
"It's going to be a beautiful house that we had custom designed to fit that lot and conform with the neighborhood, but it's still going to be an affordable house for the neighborhood," Caroline Adolph, director of development for the Bel Air-based Habitat affiliate, said.
The three-bedroom house, the third Habitat Susquehanna has built in Bel Air since 2013, will be two stories high, while most Habitat houses built in Harford and Cecil counties have been one-story bungalow-style structures, Adolph said.
"It's going to be uniform with the [neighborhood]," she explained.
Habitat Susquehanna is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, which is based in Americus, Ga. The faith-based, nonprofit organization oversees the construction of affordable houses for families throughout the United States and the world.
Habitat Susquehanna is partnering with the Harford County government, the Town of Bel Air, 84 Lumber, Architectural Design Works, the Bel Air United Methodist Church, Rosedale Federal Savings & Loan Association, Mountain Christian Church, of Joppa, and Circa Ltd., a Darlington-based surveying firm, to build the house and raise money.
"I think there's nothing but positives from what Habitat's done so far," Kevin Small, Bel Air's planning director, said. "We really want to work with them on this house and on future houses."
Habitat built a house on Giles Street in Bel Air in 2013, and an existing house on Archer Street was rehabilitated in 2014. Small praised Habitat for taking "underutilized properties" in town and either rehabilitating them or demolishing the old structure and building a new one.
Small said the town has provided "in-kind" contributions to prior Habitat projects, such as rebuilding the apron portion of the driveway for the Archer Street house, helping to haul debris away and providing volunteer groups made up of town staffers.
"We'll help them out as much as we can," he said.
Adolph said Habitat's motto is "simple, decent and affordable houses," and the Franklin Street home "will still be in that model of affordable house."
The existing house was owned by the Cowan family, who sold the property to Habitat. Demolition began last Friday and the building had been razed by Monday. As of Wednesday, workers with Central Maryland Contracting, of Baltimore, just needed to finish cleaning off the
"The house is completely down," she said. "We expect to start rebuilding within the next month."
The Deriemaeker family includes a mother and father and their two sons, ages 10 and 14.
Adolph said they live about four blocks from where their new house will be built.
"They are in a very small townhouse in Bel Air, so they are almost in walking distance," she said.
The total cost of the project is $268,545, according to Adolph. Habitat is raising money, and $134,661, or about 50 percent of the cost, must still be raised.
She said 90 percent of funding must be available or committed to the project before a build can proceed.
Adolph said Habitat officials expect the funds to be committed by next month, and then construction can begin.
The houses are built with volunteer labor, although subcontractors will handle aspects of construction such as electrical, HVAC, plumbing and roofing.
Each homeowner applicant must put in 250 hours of "sweat equity" on building the house, and the Deriemaekers will put in 500 for each adult.
The families must also demonstrate their ability to pay a mortgage from Habitat, show they have the "greatest need" for affordable housing, have lived in Harford or Cecil for at least one year and have an income no less than $19,888, according to the Habitat Susquehanna website.
Adolph said "everyone is welcome" to volunteer for a Habitat build. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Brianne Young at either byoung@habitatsusq.org or 410-638-4434 Ext. 6 for more information.