Two years after the celebrated completion of the first Habitat for Humanity home built in Naples, a second home was recently dedicated in the adjacent lot.

The lucky family this time is the Engstroms, consisting of parents Kirk and EdnaKay and children Rebecca, 12, Christina, 10, and Jessica, 6.

The Engstroms were chosen from a pool of about a dozen other families and since last August have worked non-stop to make this new home a reality. The family worked more than 500 hours constructing other homes as well as their own, attended multiple fundraisers and, to top it all off, welcomed everyone involved with the project to their home last Thursday for a formal dedication ceremony.

The late-August ceremony for the home, located on Tingley Brook Circle across from the Lake Region High School, was attended by Habitat officials, volunteers who helped build the home, financial contributors and local business officials.

The road to the dedication was a long one and didn’t come without sacrifice on the part of the Engstrom family. As part of the arrangement Habitat makes with its prospective homeowners, the Engstroms had to donate “sweat equity” to help build the home. They do not receive the house for free, as many mistakenly believe, said Amy Dowler, assistant executive director for Habitat of Greater Portland. The Engstroms have a monthly mortgage through Gorham Savings Bank of about $650 to $750, which includes taxes, mortgage insurance and the cost of building materials.

In return, they receive a beautiful new home, which the family is most ecstatic about.

“This is our first house. We’ve always rented. We always wanted a house, but could never get ahead enough to afford one,” Kirk Engstrom said.

Asked what she considered the best feature of the new home, EdnaKay Engstrom quickly replied, “It’s mine!”

The goal of Habitat is to provide “simple, decent and affordable” homes to people who need them. The Naples home is the 45th house Habitat has built over its 20-year history in Greater Portland.

According to Daniel Wallace, construction manager for Habitat, the Naples ranch-style home features a truss roof, poured foundation, two small porches, vinyl siding and stick-built construction.

Inside are three bedrooms, a kitchen with breakfast nook, and a large living room. The basement can easily be finished, something Kirk Engstrom plans to do soon.

“One of the benefits of a ranch is it’s tremendously flexible. They can add a second floor, add a deck. Whatever they want to do, they can do,” said Wallace.

Wallace said the home “went up really easily; it was a great house.” With a groundbreaking ceremony held on Aug. 23, 2006, Wallace said the foundation was dug and all the walls, siding, roof, decks and framing completed by October. From there, volunteers, including the Engstrom family, spent until early summer working inside the home.

While the construction work can be credited to the dozens of volunteers and contractors, nothing would have been built without the fund-raising efforts of the steering committee headed by Russell and Kathy Sweet of Naples. The Sweets, along with other committee members, held numerous drives for the past several years raising more than $200,000, which made both Naples Habitat homes a reality.

“We raised the money $5, $10, $15 at a time. It’s been really amazing,” Russell Sweet said during the dedication ceremony.

During the dedication service, Kirk Engstrom addressed all those who made the project a success for his family.

“What you guys did is amazing,” he said. “We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This is OUR house!”