There are many broad reasons the new Habitat for Humanity home in Marana is special.
It's the first Arizona Habitat house largely funded by the Catholic Daughters of the Americas; this year is the 30th anniversary of Habitat for Humanity; and the house is right next door to Marana's first Habitat home, which was dedicated in November.
But perhaps more special is the family who will move in and call this house their home when it's finished.
Harumi Pottenger, 48, is still mothering the six children - ages 9 to 19 - she had with her husband James, who died unexpectedly in 2008.
The Pottengers now share a three-bedroom apartment in Oro Valley.
Her husband always wanted the family to have its own house, Pottenger said, so the Habitat home is like a dream come true.
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Pottenger will repay a no-interest mortgage of about $100,000 over 25 years.
That's pretty standard for Habitat families, said Danny Knee, deputy director of Habitat for Humanity Tucson. "It's what's affordable," he said.
A typical Habitat family pays between $500 and $750 a month, including taxes and insurance, on mortgages that run between 15 and 25 years.
The idea is to limit the payments to no more than 30 percent of the family's income, Knee said.
Pottenger works 40 hours a week as a caregiver in an assisted-living home.
She will also work for 200 hours helping to build her new home or helping at other Habitat sites.
The cost of building this Habitat house is a little higher than most because it has one more bedroom than usual, due to the family's size.
The typical build is 1,100 to 1,200 square feet, but the Pottengers' house will be 1,460 square feet, with four bedrooms.
Habitat homes have also gone up in cost in recent years because of all the environmentally friendly features they have, including extra insulation, dual-pane windows, a gray-water system, a solar water heater and wiring that is ready for solar electricity.
A version of this story also ran in Thursday's Northwest Star. Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at 807-8464 or sshelton@azstarnet.com