Bernard McFarland, who last week was given the keys to a brand new, beautiful house to replace his old house on Oxford Street, said the entire experience is exhilarating yet overwhelming, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

"All of this was explained to me, but you don't understand a lot of it until you're involved in it," he said.

McFarland asked that people allow him to adjust to his new surroundings because the move was stressful for him and his three sons and he wants to make the house a home.

"We have to make this property work for us as a family. A lot of this shrubbery, a lot of this stuff that you see, it won't be like this for my family," he said. "It worked for what the show needed to do, but we have to make it work for our family."

McFarland said he wants the community to know that Pack House, the building constructed next door to his home, is filled with donated books but isn't a library. It will be a center where children from the area can sit back and do their homework.

"I'm not trying to revolutionize the world from the Pack House that they developed for me," he said. "I'm just doing the same programming that we've been doing."

With all of the crews and volunteers gone for about a week, McFarland said neighbors are coming to him with questions about some of the community enhancements, including wireless Internet access, the community center -- many questions that he doesn't have answers to.

"I guess the efforts in the 'Extreme Makeover' and me being out front kind of associated me with them," he said. "I don't have all of the answers."

Oxford Street has been busy with people driving by to see the house. McFarland said he's trying to work with the show, the homebuilder – Estridge -- and the city to come up with a plan so traffic will be less intrusive for him and his neighbors as the May 17 show date approaches.

"I'm not the complaint department. I'm a father and I'm a resident, just like anybody else in this community," he said.

Estridge is working on things in the home that need attention, which is standard for a new home construction, especially one that went up so quickly.

"The house is pretty when you look at it, but it was built in seven days and they know it needs work to get it right," McFarland said.