The Christmas tree in the corner of the room may not be the tallest, grandest or most elaborate, but for Melissa Peters and her daughter, Ashley, the five-foot pine is perfect. With its twinkling lights and gleaming ornaments, the tree symbolizes more than just the coming of the holidays; it also marks a new era of Christmas at the Peters's house.

Rather, make that the Peters's home.

"We're used to having the little Charlie Brown trees," says Ashley, a sophomore at the regional high school. "Really, they were that small. We never had the space for anything bigger."

When Christmas arrives tomorrow, the Peters will open gifts around their tree in their new house on Bennett Way in Edgartown - a house made possible through the work of Habitat for Humanity of Martha's Vineyard. After almost two years, the Peters are now, finally, in their own home for holidays.

"It's hard sometimes because I don't really feel like I own it yet," Ms. Peters says, her eyes scanning the living room. "We'll be sitting on the couch and I'll say to Ashley, ‘Wow, this is our home. We have a home now.'"

The Peters are one of two families to move into Habitat houses built in Edgartown this year. Just next door, Victoria Haeselbarth and her son, Wesley, are also settling into their new home built by Habitat volunteers. Another house is planned for next summer.

"We had over 40 people apply for housing through Habitat, both this last time around and the one before it, so there is certainly a need there," says Ron DiOrio, president of Habitat's Vineyard chapter. "This year was very rewarding, and the response from our volunteers has been wonderful."

The Island branch of Habitat for Humanity was formed in the fall of 1995, when Lillian Moorhead suggested forming a chapter. To qualify to purchase a home, families must have a steady income, 33 per cent of the Dukes County median income based on a family of four, and must be willing to partner with Habitat and work out a payment process.

Once a family is selected, they place a down payment through Habitat with zero interest on the loan. The houses are then sold to the family for about $65,000, and monthly payments average between $550 and $600, according to Mr. DiOrio. Once construction begins, each family is required to contribute 350 hours of work to the project - what Habitat calls sweat equity.

The houses cannot be sold in the conventional sense. Instead they are offered to whomever qualifies for the affordable housing program. Once built, Habitat houses stay in the program permanently.

The Peters property was awarded in January of 2003. Work on the house began the following March, but extremely cold weather forced several work stoppages, and construction did not conclude until this past summer.

"Waiting for it to be finished was hard," Ms. Peters admits. "I'd come back after a week and see the frames for a new wall and be ready to start decorating. You could see the floor layout and how things were going to look, and it starts to hit you. But then it would slow down or stop for awhile, and you just have to wait."

In July, finally, Ms. Peters and Ashley walked through their completed home for the first time during a dedication ceremony. The keys were handed over, the process was complete.

"It's pretty emotional," Mr. DiOrio says. "There's that realization that you have your own home. It's powerful when it hits you."

Ms. Peters agrees.

"Every now and then you really feel it," she says. "Especially when you think of what went into this place. All those people who helped, it's really incredible."

"You have an increasing amount of skilled people on the Island that give up their time and resources to make this work," Mr. DiOrio adds. He notes Hinckley & Sons Inc., Lumber Liquid-ators, Radiantec and Whirlpool, among others, for their generosity in providing supplies through reduced rates or donations. And, of course, the hundreds of volunteers who dedicated some of their Wednesdays and Saturdays to the projects.

The Peters's story is familiar to many families around the Island, and resonates loudly with single parents. Ms. Peters says she and Ashley bounced around various rental properties for years, shuffling between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown. For her, the idea of owning her own house was only that, an idea.

"I was always thinking about it, but at the same time, I never believed that I could ever afford to own a house here," she says. "Everything I looked at was always way out of my price range."

Ms. Peters remembers looking at a new, three-bedroom house in Oak Bluffs eight years ago that was selling for under $200,000 - the closest price to something she could afford - but it was still too much.

"But that seems like a bargain now, doesn't it?" she asks, laughing.

Ms. Peters, who works for a real estate company, had to move Ashley back and forth between the towns' elementary schools. After the lease ran out for a house she was renting in Edgartown, she was forced to move into a garage behind her father's house in Oak Bluffs, where the two lived until this summer.

The space was tight.

"I had to climb a ladder to get to my room, and the walls were also the ceiling," recalls Ashley, who lived in a loft above the living space. "It wasn't so bad, but it is nice now to not hit my head when I stand up in my bedroom."

These days, even when Ashley is told to clean her room, a broad smile emerges instead of the typical teenager pout.

"I'm glad I have a room to clean and a closet to put my clothes in," she says.

Both mother and daughter are excited about their first Christmas on Bennett Way, but they are really looking forward to tonight, when they host their first party in their new home.

"We've never had the space to have a party," Ashley says. "Every Christmas Eve we go to either my grandparents' or some other relatives' houses. This year, it's finally our turn."