American Idol's Kree Harrison Wants to Rebuild Her Late Parents' Home

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By Tim Nudd and Patrick Gomez

UPDATED 05/09/2013 at 04:20 PM EDT • Originally published 05/09/2013 at 03:30 PM EDT

Kree Harrison's personal history is among saddest of any contestant in American Idol history. But for everything that fell apart in her life, she is planning to put some of the pieces back together – quite literally.

The singer, who turns 23 next week, lost her father in a plane crash a decade ago, and her mother in a car accident a few years after that.

But now she is planning a project that will help her reconnect with her parents – rebuilding the Texas house she grew up in, which she visited during this week's hometown trips.

"My grandpa built that house, so that house is special for so many reasons – not just because it was the last place we were with our parents but it has a long history," Harrison told reporters after Wednesday's show.

"It was actually a deer camp," she said. "People would come in and hunt, and my grandma would cook gumbo for them. Ray Price, the singer, was one of the guys who would come in and hunt. He's a country-music legend. We will rebuild that house one day. It's hard, though."

Asked if she will restore or rebuild the house from scratch, she replied: "It depends on how bad it is, the foundations and stuff. But I think it's pretty good, and I might just move right back in."

Angie and Candice's Hometown Visits

All three finalists remarked on how emotional their hometown visits were. Angie Miller called her trip to Massachusetts "so overwhelming – not an 'Oh my gosh, this is so scary" overwhelming but like a 'Wow, I cant believe this is actually really happening right now.' "

And Candice Glover said that watching her hometown visit during Wednesday's show made her tear up, and left her a little shaky, but also motivated as well.

"That just gives you the boost that you need," she said, "because all those people at home want you do to a good job and they're supporting you."

On Thursday show, the three finalists will be seen embarking on their latest in a series of Ford missions – events where they drive 2014 Ford Fiestas and complete fun challenges in areas like music, fashion, philanthropy and art.

For this week, the top three women went undercover and visited the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts to surprise the vocal choir, who recently performed at the 56th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival.