In two weeks or less, Alex and MaryKae Blair plan to move into the historic George Taylor Jr. house in Provo and call it home.

“I’m so excited to move in,” MaryKae said as she greeted neighbors and friends before a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday.

For more than a year, the couple has worked with Habitat for Humanity of Utah County to restore the home to an updated version of its best self.

After hours of renovations, the two-story home now stands proud, painted an eggshell white with green trim and a red door. It is one of Utah’s few remaining cross-wing, Gothic Revival-style homes.

It was built in 1885, and over the years has made it on the lists of both Provo’s Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

It has taken more than 900 community volunteers who have put in 3,742 hours to make the home what it is today, according to a bulletin passed around at the ribbon cutting.

According to Kevin Tippetts, the construction manager for Habitat for Humanity of Utah County, multiple replacements and upgrades had to be made in order for the home to be livable and up to code. Among those to-do items were replacing about 800 bricks, rotten wooden window frames, all five exterior doors, both chimneys and the entire roof.

Curious neighbors, community members and even descendants of George Taylor Jr. himself attended the ceremony and open house to see the changes and meet the lucky family who bought the home.

Among them was Marilyn Daniels, an 82-year-old neighbor who has lived in the neighborhood for years. She said she’s enjoyed watching the home through the stages of remodel and is happy to welcome the Blair family to the community.

“I was so excited they painted the door red,” she said, almost like she had a secret.

Gleaming, Daniels said her own home — a 91-year-old house across the street — also sports a red door, and she said she thinks everyone in the neighborhood should have one.

While the exterior is beautiful, MaryKae said she’s also excited about the extra space. Currently she, Alex and their five kids live in a two-bedroom duplex in Lehi, and at 800 square feet, quarters are a bit tight.

Six-year-old Lorin said she’s excited to have “so much space.” She and one of her sisters will share a room upstairs with her brothers occupying the room next door. Downstairs another sister will have her own room near the master bedroom.

The home has two bathrooms — one upstairs and one downstairs — a living room, formal dining room and kitchen with pantry. Earlier in the day, employees of Five Star Painting filled the family’s pantry with canned goods, bottles of ketchup and other dry foods.

Kena Jo Mathews, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Utah County, called the finished home an accomplishment.

“I don’t think anyone thought we could do this,” Mathews said, laughing. “I don’t think I thought we could do it.”

The home marks not only the nonprofit’s 57th home built or renovated, but it brings together the nonprofit’s mission of revitalizing neighborhoods and providing affordable housing options to local families.

The home isn’t given free of charge, nor did the family sit idle while others did work on the home, Mathews said. In addition to putting in sweat equity, the family’s monthly mortgage payments will help fund the nonprofit’s mission of building and renovating home with other local families in need.

On Friday the home will be open for a public viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 187 N 400 West in Provo. Find Habitat for Humanity of Utah County on Facebook for more information.