Steamboat Springs — Amanda and Levi Archuleta weren’t sure what they were going to do when they lost their trailer lot.

The Hayden couple’s landlords told them last year that they were going to develop the trailer lot, Amanda Archuleta said. The landlords bought the Archuletas’ trailer, and the couple and their three daughters moved in to Levi’s parents’ home outside of town.

Now, their new Habitat for Humanity home is in the works.

“My mother-in-law happened to see in the bulletin at church that they were taking applications for the first Habitat house in Hayden,” Amanda Archuleta said.

The family applied, and Routt County Habitat for Humanity approved them. They found out in fall 2007.

“I started jumping and screaming,” Archuleta said.

Their girls, 9-year-old Brisha, 7-year-old Shelby and 3-year-old Hailey, did the same, Amanda Archuleta said.

Their new three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is being built on Shady Lane near Hayden Valley Elementary School.

The Archuletas don’t have concrete plans for the house yet, Amanda said.

“We know that we’re going to put a yard and a fence,” she said. “Nothing too spectacular, but it’s exciting we’re right behind the elementary school. The girls can go right out the back door and be at school.”

Volunteers who want to help build are welcome, Habitat Executive Director Tommi Weeden said, and anyone interested is asked to call Habitat. Construction is just starting.

“We broke ground about a month ago, a little over a month ago and have poured the foundation, and we’re framing now,” Weeden said.

The Archuletas are required to help with the house. Levi and Amanda must log 300 hours each, Amanda Archuleta said. The family also helped with Habitat’s recently completed townhouse in West End Village in Steamboat Springs, she said.

“We were supposed to put in 75 (hours), and I would say we put in a good 200,” Amanda Archuleta said.

The family now rents a trailer in town, and they aren’t sure when the house will be completed, she said. The Hayden community has been supportive and plans to help build, Archuleta said.

“We have a lot of people that are set up and ready to go once it gets framed,” she said.

Without the house, Archuleta said, her family could not afford to stay in the county. Levi Archuleta is a fifth-generation Routt County resident. He works for Orkin, and Amanda Archuleta stays home with the children.

Her family plans to continue helping Habitat after their home is done, she said.

Archuleta had one message for the community and for Routt County Habitat for Humanity.

“Thanks,” she said. “Just a big, huge ‘thank you’ for the opportunity to stay in Routt County, because with rent and everything else, it was impossible for us to stay here.”

– To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234 or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com