Griswold - Dawne Landa knew she was home as soon as the van she was riding in started to back down the long driveway of her Bethel Road property.

"They had to stop the van. I had to get out. I lost it," she told a friend after exiting the van at the base of her new driveway.

Landa's family hasn't lived at the property since a fire destroyed their home in June. After five months of living in a hotel and then a rental unit in Jewett City, the Landas came home Friday afternoon to a new, 3,600-square-foot Cape Cod-style house.

"Do you like it?" was all Dawne could say as she hugged her husband, David, around his neck after seeing it for the first time.

"Yes," he answered, staring at the new house.

Within days of the fire, a team of volunteers, many of whom worked on the December 2008 "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" house in Voluntown and who had created their own nonprofit called Extreme Home 615 Foundation to help other families, began working to build the family their new house.

The Landas received some money from their insurance company, but not enough to build a house that would accommodate David's medical equipment and needs.

When the Landas were about to see their new home for the first time Friday, it was a precious moment for family friend Norm Eccleston Jr.

"All the hours, all the time away from our own families and our own businesses, it gives you chills," Eccleston said as he waited for the Landas to arrive.

"I'm on an emotional high," added Mike Roberts, a local contractor and high school teacher who helped organize the build.

More than 100 people, including family, friends, First Selectman Philip Anthony Jr. and volunteers greeted the Landas shortly before 4 p.m. Friday to welcome them home. The group wanted to surprise the family and blocked their view of the house with a rented U-Haul truck.

One of the lead builders, Bruno Hayn of Home Designs by Bruno, who created the foundation that helped to fund some of the project and oversaw the work, quipped that the group was made up of "simple folks" who can't afford a tour bus like the one used last year to reveal the Voluntown house, which was built for the Girard family.

Carol Girard, who attended the ceremony and worked on the Landa house alongside her children, laughed at the comment.

The June fire was just one of a series of unfortunate events the Landa family encountered in the past two years.

The previous summer, David Landa was severely injured in a swimming accident in the family's above-ground pool that left him a quadriplegic. The couple's son, Kyle, then 19, saved his father from drowning.

Kyle again helped save his father's life during the fire in June by dragging him from his medical bed in the living room and out of the house. Daughter Bethany Landa, now 17, was not at home at the time.

Kyle was not with his parents and sister Friday - he's working a job in Florida and is expected home next week.

Awestruck

On Friday, the family wandered through the spacious 2,200-square-foot first floor - the hallways, doorframes and furniture aisles are wide enough to accommodate David's wheelchair, and the color scheme includes earth tones - in awe.

They had been part of the planning process, approving the floor plan, shopping for furniture, selecting cabinetry and paint colors. But the finished product took their breath away and rendered Bethany speechless, something she admitted does not happen often.

"In my imagination it was never this good," she said later of the house.

Bethany sobbed and squealed as she swiftly moved from room to room before going to the second floor to see her bedroom, bathroom and a large family room.

David slowly wheeled through the space and up to the dining-room table, built tall enough so that he can sit with the family at mealtime and so that it would be easier for Dawne to assist him with his food.

Dawne veered off on her own to inspect the master bedroom; a space that includes David's medical bed, a queen-size bed for Dawne, and an adjoining bathroom with a tiled shower that David can maneuver into on his own.

Returning to the living room, Dawne paused when she noticed the rear patio through the sliding-glass doors, and just beyond that a new deck and above-ground pool.

"When I saw the pool, that pool … even all the bad things that have happened in the pool, we still have so many good memories," Dawne said, crying again as she spoke to reporters after touring the house.

"We're still gonna go in it," David said, making his wife smile.

The house is still under construction. Drilling for the geothermal unit's wells stopped temporarily for the short ceremony. A track that will be secured to the ceiling to allow David more freedom to move about the house on his own is on order, and the glass shower doors will be installed in the coming days.

But to the family, who spent the night there Friday, it was perfect.

"We're home," Dawne Landa said. "I knew we were home when we were backing down the driveway and I saw the house across the street. I'd stare at that house every time I took the kids up the driveway to wait for the school bus.

"That view, it reminded me that we're home," she added, smiling at her husband and giving his arm a squeeze.

m.bard@theday.com