MILBRIDGE – Workers and volunteers scrambled Sunday to put on the finishing touches, but with loud chants of “Move that bus” from hundreds of spectators – and a little patience – the Ray-Smith family saw their new home for the first time courtesy of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Brittany Ray, Ron Smith and their three children returned home Sunday from Walt Disney World in Florida to find that their former homestead had been replaced by an all-new two-story house.

While members of the media weren’t allowed to speak with the family because ABC still had cameras rolling for “Extreme Makeover,” the Ray-Smiths’ smiles said it all as the bus rolled out of the way.

“I’m pleased we were able to get it done,” Mike Wight, owner of Broughman Builders Inc. of Ellsworth, said Sunday after the house was revealed.

Throughout the week, Wight was responsible for the entire build and making sure everything stayed on schedule, but more than four days of rain made the task difficult.

“To keep everything on schedule was impossible,” he said. “Halfway through the build, we didn’t know if we would even get it done.”

But with a lot of help from volunteers and local businesses, the job was completed on time.

“The house was really nice,” Ashten Smith, 21, a student at the University of Maine at Machias, said Sunday.

Smith and her friend Amber Reed, 19, members of the UMM volleyball team, said several of the fall sports teams came to the site to volunteer.

“It’s amazing,” Smith said of the house. She said her favorite part was the jungle room that was designed for one of the Ray-Smith children.

More than 600 people turned out throughout the week to help complete the Ray-Smith home on time and give the family a fresh start.

In addition to the struggles the Ray-Smiths faced with their aging home, medical bills have piled up and keep coming.

Thomas Ray-Smith, 8, has autism, and doctors say that, although it’s too early to tell for sure, Joseph “Jo-Jo” Ray-Smith, 3, likely is autistic as well.

Representative of the impact autism has on the family, the building project has been named “Actions Speak Louder.” Ribbons covered in puzzle pieces, a symbol for autism awareness, were handed out Sunday to spectators.

Brittany Ray’s mother, Paula Ray, listed several of the organizations and community activities the Ray-Smith family is involved with. She said her daughter is an active member of the Autism Society of Maine.

Paula Ray said she hadn’t spoken to her daughter since ABC sent the family on vacation Tuesday, but she said the whole family was excited to see the new building.

Tearing down the Ray-Smiths’ former home was somewhat bittersweet as it was built by Brittany Ray’s great-great-grandparents, Gus and Nana.

“We were able to take some great pictures,” Paula Ray said. “Brittany and Ron [also] were able to designate some favorite mementos, and I saw that stuff being carried in this morning.”

Some of the designers reportedly used wood from the original home in special projects they created for the family.

“Extreme Makeover” episodes typically have multiple story lines about the featured family and their home, and this one was no different.

The Ray homestead was built in the early 1900s and is believed to be haunted by Gus and Nana. But contrary to what author Marcus LiBrizzi wrote in his recent book, which contains a chapter about the house, the resident spirits didn’t have a strained relationship and aren’t trying to hurt anyone with their ghostly behavior, according to family members.

Members of the Ray-Smith family reportedly have returned home to find scissors standing upright on a counter and shirt pins or a threaded needle balanced on their points. Brittany Ray once was awakened in the night to find the thermostat needle on high, the furnace racing out of control.

Family members who believe in the Ray ghosts say they view Gus and Nana as protectors.

“Everybody in the world is open to their own interpretation of a story or whatever research they’ve done. On the other hand, we view them as guardian angels,” Jeremy Ray, Brittany Ray’s brother, said in a recent interview. “That was a sign of Nana’s fear of sharp objects around children. She was looking out for their safety.”

In looking through a box of old books this week, Paula Ray said she found one of Brittany’s childhood favorites – “Gus Was a Friendly Ghost.”

“It was a childhood book that she used to read,” Paula Ray said.

The Ray-Smith family won’t be able to stay in the new house for a few days while ABC wraps up its work at the site, but they received a full tour upon arrival Sunday afternoon.

The show is expected to air early in 2008.