In 2001, Sophia Bentley and her husband Marc Penha were searching for a decent home under $300,000 and a good school district to send their daughter to. In January of 2002 they closed on a home at 2 Daisy Lane in Levittown.

After closing on the house, Sophia and Marc sought home improvement projects to make the home more to their liking. Instead they inherited what can only be described as any homeowner's worst nightmare.

"We had an engineering report completed just like everyone else does and the house was in pretty good shape."

However, the engineering report could not state what couldn't be seen. They began construction on an extension of the front portion of the house, leaving the existing house intact. This initial project opened a can of worms for these first-time homeowners.

"There were termites everywhere," Bentley explained. "They actually covered up sheet rock with more sheet rock, that's why we couldn't see them initially."

After coming to the realization that their home had to be completely overhauled, Sophia and Marc decided to set up camp in one of their back rooms. They sent their daughter to live with family members in Canada for the duration of the renovation, which lasted almost four months. Bentley said the contractors, Hicksville-based Westville Contracting, helped them out a great deal.

"I had no idea it would go to the extent that it did," Bentley said. "When I called this guy that we bought the house from I said 'you must have known about all of this. He said 'no, you must have just gotten them,' but that's impossible. He is a realtor and is supposed to have integrity."

However, Bentley didn't know the history of the home extended to a greater depth.

Town Councilman Gary Hudes, a Levittowner himself, said he passes Daisy Lane several times a week on his way to and from his home. Before Bentley and the previous owner occupied the house, Hudes said "it was in total disrepair."

"It had gaping holes in the roof with tarps stapled to it," Hudes said. It was the home to raccoons and all types of animals. Each time the residents would come to us, we would have sanitation go down there, clean the property and bill the homeowner."

Hudes went on to say that other homeowners on Daisy Lane had tried for years to have the house and property cleaned up.

"It really was a blight in the neighborhood," Hudes said. "Daisy Lane happens to be a short street, but a beautiful street. The residents have really spent a lot of money updating their homes and really improving their homes and they take a tremendous amount of pride in their property."

The elderly woman living in a senior housing development at the time sold the house when it was in disrepair to another man who in turned fixed it up a bit. After the home had transferred ownership "it was like day and night," Hudes said.

Hudes went on to use an automobile metaphor stating "from a junker, he took it to a Buick and she [Bentley] took it to a Lamborghini."

Hudes said he often stops by to chat with Bentley and most often finds her working outside in the yard.

"She is very attentive to detail," Hudes said. "They didn't just do the house, they did the fence, they did the backyard. It is just a tremendous complement to the neighborhood."

Bentley is not alone in the home renovation arena on Daisy Lane. Hudes said that almost every house on that street has done significant improvements as well as in other areas of Levittown.

Daisy Lane was supposed to be a stopover for resident Gina Interdonato and her family. After becoming involved with the community and building friendships in the area, they decided to renovate their home rather than moving.

"When we did our house over, Sophia came over and she met my contractor and architect and she spoke with him about the possibility of redoing her house," Interdonato said.

She expressed that Town Councilman Gary Hudes was instrumental in the fight to clean up the corner property that has caused so much grief for residents over a course of about 15 years.

"We had fought with every agency you can imagine," Interdonato said. "It was like out of a horror movie. We went from living with unbearable conditions to having a beautiful home on the corner," Interdonato said.

Laura Licul, who also lives on Daisy Lane, said the house is quite grand, but that wasn't always the case.

"My sons and I used to walk down to the house at around 9 p.m. on summer nights and watch an entire family of raccoons crawl out of a hole in the house, onto the roof," Licul said.

Bentley says her neighbors are amazed at her home's transformation. With many making improvements to their homes as well, Daisy Lane residents seem to have an common appreciation of the area.

"Obviously each one of them felt that Levittown is well worth it to put the money into your homes, because it does come back to you," Hudes said.