Ugliest House In America - General Discussion

[letusprocrastinate]

3 hours ago, Shermie said:

Don’t understand what’s so ugly or weird about a pirate ship play structure. Those are a standard, although expensive and exclusive, play structure available for parks and backyards. A place near me sells them and my son worked there for a summer, assembling them for buyers. 

I'm sure that @LittleIggy and I weren't the only grown adults who saw the pirate ship and thought, "I'll take it!"

[letusprocrastinate]

During the recap show there was a commercial for the renovation episode which is coming up and if you watched carefully they gave away the big winner.  I won't say which one it is, but I'm not surprised.

Edited January 8, 2022 by letusprocrastinate

[Cetacean]

Color me surprised.  Not at all what I thought.

I will tape the remodel and fast forward to the end so I don't have to watch that horrible designer.

Edited January 8, 2022 by Cetacean

[Shermie]

Well, the renovation episode is airing right now. I think the creepy glitter and camera house was the easiest to renovate within that budget. The house’s bones were good, just had to strip it down to bare walls and floors and start anew. And I hate that I’m using those words for this house, because it really creeps me out what that house was used for before.

I can just imagine what is all in that pool. God only knows what is living or died in the bottom of it.

I kinda liked the black and white checked kitchen floor; a room that big can handle a bold pattern like that. But I get why they didn’t want to preserve anything original. 

[Dehumidifier]

Reveal of the front facade -- even uglier now.

[Shermie]

I liked the renovation overall, didn’t mind the black brick. I thought it looked good with the wooden accents and the greenery. 

Liked the green kitchen but I don’t understand the notion that bigger is better with islands. In what universe will that girl ever need an island that seats six? I’d have preferred a shorter island and a table centred in the dining area instead of the nook-style. And the island countertop didn’t have an overhang, so the stools were just sitting against the cabinets. To eat there, a person would have to lean in and down, not practical. I’ve seen this recently in a Property Brothers house too, don’t understand the design choice.

Loved the sunroom, such a great space. But why did she place the furniture facing in? Isn’t the point to sit there and look at the view? Otherwise, I could see that being a fun party space for the homeowner. Although I found the homeowner to be kind of bland and personality-free, considering she was getting this fab new home.

The living room was fine; I’m not a fan of mid-century modern but it’s a thing now, and the homeowner liked it. It’s popular with that generation. The bedroom was lovely, but that bathroom was absurdly large. Was there a bathroom for guests? I also wondered about all the other bedrooms in the house, were they left as is? I guess any houseguests have to stay in the “ew”. 

Overall, a fun little show that came and went quickly. I’m okay with that; I don’t need to invest weeks and weeks into everything I watch.

[Grizzly]

Mitchell for MVP. That was a nice desk and Sir Lancelot was hilarious. Thought AV was going to die. Obviously the house was an improvement. Be hard not to be.

Are green kitchen cabinets the new white? I've seen several HGTV shows that did those green cabinets. 

[Dehumidifier]

Aside from what it looked like, that house is huge for one person. Did her family just hoodwink HGTV into doing a flip reno for them?

[CruiseDiva]

18 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

Aside from what it looked like, that house is huge for one person. Did her family just hoodwink HGTV into doing a flip reno for them?

That's the impression I got. It's gonna be on the market in 3-2-1!

[LittleIggy]

Mitchell was a hoot. Hate to admit that Alison did a pretty good job. I knew she was going to paint the outside black but it didn’t turn out to be too horrible. Loved the outdoor lighting fixture above the front door. The oven hood was not over the top. I beat Retta to the “hood” joke!
I too wondered about all those other customer guest rooms. Were they left stripped to the framing or just left as is? 
Were the furnishings left or were they just staging?
Loved Retta’s clothes.
I felt sorry for the now homeless frogs! 🐸

Edited January 8, 2022 by LittleIggy

[letusprocrastinate]

A few thoughts: 

I also was not a fan of the front facade.  Besides the black paint, having such a small front porch in proportion to the size of the house looks weird, IMO.  Maybe I should say "off-balance" instead? 

I noticed that with the exception of the wide-angle exterior shots of the front facade, none (I think it was none) of the windows had window treatments nor, by the looks of it, hardware to hang window treatments.  I suppose those exterior shots were done while work was still going on inside.  That's some money the homeowner is going to have to fork out.

I hope the homeowner is into pool maintenance, otherwise she'll be hiring someone to do it (the company that overhauled it, maybe?).  I wonder how much more could have been done inside the house with the money that had to be spent on the pool.  I'd also like to know the depth of the pool since they installed a diving board.

One final thing and then I'll stop:  Before they started taking it down, AV described the glitter ceiling in the living room as being a "popcorn" ceiling.  From what I understand if it was a true popcorn ceiling it probably would have needed asbestos abatement first.

 

[buttersister]

Quote

I will tape the remodel and fast forward to the end so I don't have to watch that horrible designer.

Works like a charm.

Although when you get there, meh. So much meh.

Green is big, albeit, not that green. The island was insane and without the overhang, uncomfortable at best--but before I saw the shot with the chairs, it was obvious there wasn't enough space to put an overhang and chairs. Because the island was too fucking big.

2 hours ago, letusprocrastinate said:

the glitter ceiling in the living room as being a "popcorn" ceiling.  From what I understand if it was a true popcorn ceiling it probably would have needed asbestos abatement first.

Of course it would. And, in true AV-style, What, your honor, that was his fault! (Sadly, there's now probably a clause in any HGTV-homeowner contract having to do with AV stipulating that the network can't be sued.)

When the Scott bros run a fake wood floor throughout a house, they usually point out it's for either budgetary reasons or the pack of kids running around. 👀

[Dehumidifier]

10 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

That's the impression I got. It's gonna be on the market in 3-2-1!

It explains why the daughters was so whatever when making her decisions. Certainly didn't seem emotionally involved.

3 hours ago, letusprocrastinate said:

A few thoughts: 

I also was not a fan of the front facade.  Besides the black paint, having such a small front porch in proportion to the size of the house looks weird, IMO.  Maybe I should say "off-balance" instead? 

 

The huge wooden beam across the front too. Ugh.

[FormerMod-a1]

I did not like most of the reno.  I mean of course it was better than before, so there is that.  But black brick?  Won't that just show the dirt and dust all the time?  And that front porch, it was driving me batty that the lighting fixture was just off center.  Either center it or have 2 or something.  And the house was so huge and all the rooms were so huge they didn't need to open it up so much - cooling costs are going to be horrendous in that huge open space.  And was there no place for a TV in that giant front room?  The kitchen seemed unbalanced, too - with all the appliances and giant (and agree with others useless/less fuctional) island to one side and the smaller dining area WAY off to the other. 

I did like what they did with the landscaping and pool.  And the sun room was fine too, but I agree I'd orient the seating differently.    The master bedroom and bath were also fine, if gigantic.  Did they show a closet? 

I, too, wonder about the state of the other bedrooms - do they still have cameras and gross carpeting, etc or were they at least stripped down?  I know those will be much easier to reno than what HGTV did for them and they can do it on their own time now.  I'm just curious. 

[Chit Chat]

12 hours ago, Shermie said:

I think the creepy glitter and camera house was the easiest to renovate within that budget.

I figured that's why it was chosen.  The other 3 homes needed some extensive repairs, especially the Poseidon home with all of those features that were cemented into place. 

12 hours ago, Shermie said:

And I hate that I’m using those words for this house, because it really creeps me out what that house was used for before.

It creeps me out because with all of the interior doors that locked on both sides, I'm concerned that it wasn't just a "bunny" house where you have consenting adults, but rather a sex trafficking house that might've involved people held against their will.  I'm kind of surprised that Retta didn't think about it that way.  She laughed her way through that house, but it was more than a house of ill-repute.  

I was seriously underwhelmed with the remodel.  I absolutely hated the brick being painted black.  Talk about absorbing heat in the summertime.  Yikes!!    I would've kept the "wing" walls attached to the fireplace.  I don't like such an open floor plan.  It still would've been open with them left intact.  I didn't like the landscaping in the front yard.  The fountain didn't seem to quite fit in.   The show's premise was good, but the end result was quite lackluster.  

[Chit Chat]

11 hours ago, Shermie said:

I also wondered about all the other bedrooms in the house, were they left as is? I guess any houseguests have to stay in the “ew”. 

Hopefully they were able to update those with minimum expense.  They were probably easy to update.  I wonder what the other bathroom looked like (assuming it had at least one other bathroom).   

[LittleIggy]

It was a given that Alison was going to paint the house exterior black. I was surprised she didn’t paint that huge wall unit black too. I still remember with horror on WCR when she painted an antique Chinese chest black.

[Welshman in Ca]

As soon as I heard "we'll do the exterior black" I turned off. I'm obviously too old for this sort of thing because I just don't get it.

[CruiseDiva]

20 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

It was a given that Alison was going to paint the house exterior black. I was surprised she didn’t paint that huge wall unit black too. I still remember with horror on WCR when she painted an antique Chinese chest black.

She's so predictable. 

[spunky]

I'm just catching up. All I can say about the very first house is  "What in the world?!"

[For Cereals]

I wish they would turn this into a series, at least for inherited/gifted houses.  I’m sure HGTV has the money.  They get my D+ streaming payment every month. The others, that’s on them for buying money pits.  I mean, the one in CA near the beach wasn’t so bad.  Most of it was their own furnishings (drapes) and choices.  I just kept yelling at the TV, “YOU bought this! YOU chose this!”  If my spouse did that behind my back, divorce would be in order.

I agree that money wouldn’t have gone very far at all in a couple of those houses and I too LOVED the pirate ship, but I did think tetanus shots…

For the winner, I thought the bathroom was way too large.  I’m curious to see what her closet looked like too and hoping they did all the rooms even if just new drywall, paint, and floors.  I wonder how well the accent wall is going to hold up in a wet setting.  For the kitchen, I know limited budget, but with so much space, I would go for a much larger range or cooktop and extra ovens.  That 36” range and custom hood just looked dinky amongst all that cabinetry.  The desk the dad did was nice, but just like everything else, I’m sure he was “guided” in what to make.  Loved Rhetta.

[BTK]

I can't say that I agree with the choices. I kind of like the poseidon house and the jungle house. I think the barnhouse and those 2 kids should have been contenders as well as the mourge house.  Why are they going to give a $150000 to people that's probably spent a million to 2 million their houses. I don't like that at all.

[Dehumidifier]

It just occurred to me. Allison Victoria should design restaurants, not private homes. I think her esthetic would be more comfortable there. 

[CruiseDiva]

I know that many of y'all find Retta talented and funny, but for the most part I was less than amused by her. I just had to mute the sound whenever she came into view during the renovation finale. As a show host she got on my nerves almost as bad as Chip Gaines and the Property Brothers. Just my opinion so please don't throw things at me. 🤣

[Cetacean]

Did a fast forward to the big reveal so I missed as much of that Chicago woman as possible.  And I agree with everything said.  Horrible, just horrible.  And what does a 20 something single woman need with that nuch space?  The bathroom alone was the same size as my entire first floor.  And how many unseen bedrooms were there? 

I agree that was a human trafficking situation (based on the locks on the doors) and no way could I live in a place with that history.

Dollars to donuts that place is already on the market.

[Blergh]

On 1/6/2022 at 3:31 PM, Grrarrggh said:

I did think the dad had "heard" about it through, ahem, an internet search. 

 

I wonder if the Tennessee graduate's mother is buying that? Failing not having found and dismantled every single one of those cameras upon the acquisition of the  former house of ill-repuke (as Popeye would have put it), I'm surprised that Miss Retta didn't insist on making a beeline to wherever the 'command' room may have been! 

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Allison Victoria should design restaurants, not private homes. I think her esthetic would be more comfortable there. 

I had never heard of her.  She should know better than to paint the exterior of a house black.  I wonder how much that adds to the heat load on the house.   The dark bricks with the dark wood looked terrible.  YMMV. 

[letusprocrastinate]

1 hour ago, CruiseDiva said:

I know that many of y'all find Retta talented and funny, but for the most part I was less than amused by her. I just had to mute the sound whenever she came into view during the renovation finale. As a show host she got on my nerves almost as bad as Chip Gaines and the Property Brothers. Just my opinion so please don't throw things at me. 🤣

I thought that she was out of her element during the renovation show.

[CrazyInAlabama]

7 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I had never heard of her.  She should know better than to paint the exterior of a house black.  I wonder how much that adds to the heat load on the house.   The dark bricks with the dark wood looked terrible.  YMMV. 

She paints everything flat black, including antique pieces, the exterior of brick homes that should have been left alone.   She's also putting giant, ugly vent hoods in the homes too.    

Edited January 9, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, ChitChat said:

I had never heard of her.

She's on Windy City Rehab and destroys beautiful old homes in Chicago.

[RJm]

The winner of the ugliest house appeared to be a brothel at one time 

 

anyone else agree? 

[LittleIggy]

Sex-trafficking could also explain all those surveillance cameras.

[Wazootyman]

Just so we're clear, there's no way that was a $150K renovation, right?

I realize even with people offering cut rates for the publicity they'd get... there's no way that's $150K

[Shermie]

Quote

Before they started taking it down, AV described the glitter ceiling in the living room as being a "popcorn" ceiling.  From what I understand if it was a true popcorn ceiling it probably would have needed asbestos abatement first.

Not necessarily. Our house was built in the ‘80s and has popcorn ceilings and we’ve had some removed without abatement. Not sure why popcorn=asbestos is an assumption. I also don’t understand why popcorn ceilings are considered so heinous. Ours are so nondescript and I honestly couldn’t tell you what most people’s ceilings look like.

In retrospect, I think painting the exterior a charcoal grey would have been better than solid black. I’ve seen houses in that colour and it looks really good. 

Also noticed that some of the theme houses, like the pyramid, were filled with knick-knacks in the theme. That’s not the fault of the house’s structure being ugly; that’s on the homeowners. It’s pretty rich to fill your house with Egyptian bric-a-brac and then complain to a renovation show that your house is filled with Egyptian bric-a-brac.

[Chit Chat]

5 hours ago, Shermie said:

I also don’t understand why popcorn ceilings are considered so heinous. Ours are so nondescript and I honestly couldn’t tell you what most people’s ceilings look like.

We have popcorn ceilings too.  It wasn't a dealbreaker when we bought the house a few years ago.  Honestly, I love ceilings with a pretty swirl-type of pattern to them, but I don't have a problem with the ceilings I have.   I think some people are worried that a popcorn ceiling will show dirt easily, but I don't have an issue with that.  

[CruiseDiva]

2 hours ago, ChitChat said:

We have popcorn ceilings too.  It wasn't a dealbreaker when we bought the house a few years ago.  Honestly, I love ceilings with a pretty swirl-type of pattern to them, but I don't have a problem with the ceilings I have.   I think some people are worried that a popcorn ceiling will show dirt easily, but I don't have an issue with that.  

My house was built in 1987 and has popcorn ceilings. I don't mind them a bit. Nearly all the homes in our area have them and not too many people have had them scraped to remove the texture. My ceilings throughout the house have been painted, which actually makes them look a bit smoother. When I had my bathroom remodeled the exhaust fan in the ceiling was removed and replaced with a combo can light/fan in a slightly different spot. The guy who repaired the ceiling did such a good job that you can't tell where the old fan was.

[pep4]

We only watched maybe the last half hour of the last show, and thus were thinking, "That house was tacky, but no way was that anywhere close to the ugliest house in America.  What's the deal?"  Reading the comments here cleared that up.

The mom struck me as...uh, off. 

Was wondering what the new owner would repaint or replace as soon as HGTV drove away.  But now knowing some of the back story of that house....

'The Most Commercials in America' would be a more accurate show title.  Beyond ridiculous, even for HGTV.  More ads than actual content time.

 

[ChicksDigScars]

On 1/8/2022 at 12:37 PM, LittleIggy said:

It was a given that Alison was going to paint the house exterior black. I was surprised she didn’t paint that huge wall unit black too. I still remember with horror on WCR when she painted an antique Chinese chest black.

I still can't get past the Chinese cabinet. It was the last straw in taking any show that AV does with any amount of enjoyment. And SHOCKING that she painted the exterior of the Bunny Ranch Brothel black. Eyeroll. That may be more suited to the city, but a southern country home?

My guess is that renovations for several of those homes would have exceeded the $150,000 budget. They funeral home and the school were large structures. The home that looked like a bank, with all the levels and indoor windows, would have also been expensive. And the home with the spray insulation ceiling that looked like dirt? Maybe that, as well, even though it's fairly tiny. I would love HGTV to tackle those homes, anyway. Maybe give them to other designers, though. One AV monstrosity is enough. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by ChicksDigScars

[Kristi800]

Just watching the countdown to the homes and I missed the brothel home in a review but it seems like I'll be seeing it during the reno. The Poseidon home should have won hands down (and maybe the hangar home). The fish on the wall, the  Mayan temple in the basement, gargoyles, etc. So many others are like "why did you buy this?" or just rip up the carpeting from the pool area, or take down the disco ball and get rid of the gold crap! I sorta liked the jungle house and the "catwalk" house. Just put in a wall with a real door and put up a wall to make a real closet! SMH.

I liked the family with the former pre-school, but they should have figured it was going to take a lot of work to redo. 

OK the toilet in the shower is HORRID.

[MagicEyes]

I completely disagree with Retta on gargoyles—they are awesome! My dream in life is to have a house with a gargoyle. And a pirate ship playground in the back yard. 😎

I can’t believe the Poseidon house cost almost half a million dollars. That’s a lot of money for a house that would take a lot of money and hard work to remove all of the heavy concrete things. There are some things I wouldn’t change (especially the jungle room). 

The people in the cat condo house don’t deserve any help. They’ve been living in the house for 8 years, and it looks like they haven’t done anything to the house. It shouldn’t be that hard to replace a bathroom door. 

Have the people in the bank house not ever heard of curtains? They can cover those windows so no one can see into the bedroom. Or use that film that covers up the window but lets some light through.

I was really disappointed with the winner. It wasn’t the ugliest, and there weren’t any special challenges with remodeling it. The problems were mostly cosmetic, except for the history of the house. I would not live in that house. I’m on board with the theory that they bought this house to flip. 

[disconnected]

I just watched the episode "From ugly to unbelievable". Like most everyone else, I was disappointed with AV's choice to paint the exterior brick black. I didn't like hood in the kitchen but I like the butcher block waterfall island, although I'm not sure butcher block is mid-century. I liked the tub but not the dark wood surrounding it. The backyard was the greatest improvement. This is the only episode I've seen so I gotta catch up.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, MagicEyes said:

I was really disappointed with the winner. It wasn’t the ugliest, and there weren’t any special challenges with remodeling it. The problems were mostly cosmetic, except for the history of the house.

Exactly.  It wasn't ugly, it was weird and had a horrible back story but it didn't require anthing other than a typical remodel.

[Leeds]

On 1/4/2022 at 6:38 AM, jacksgirl said:

Retta played Donna Meagle on Parks and Recreation. Part of a great ensemble cast. She's funny and can sing. If I were in an ugly house and she showed up, I'd take a day with her and "Treat Yo'self".

She was also on another sitcom recently for several years I think. Don't know the name.

Always dresses fabulously!

Sorry to disagree, but by her third or fourth shapeless, puffy-sleeved dress, all I could think was that she needed someone to help her dress for her body type.  I did like the final trousers and blouse look.  (And I enjoyed her as a host,)

 

On 1/4/2022 at 5:38 AM, Dehumidifier said:

I don't know who she is but I do know who Allison Victoria is and if I wanted to de-uglify my house she'd be the last one I'd pick. Get ready for a giant, gaudy oven hood!

 

On 1/4/2022 at 2:17 PM, jacksgirl said:

Ok... now I have to research who this Victoria Allison is. Sounds like her designs are awful! Into the web I go. 

I had never heard of her either.  What is her obsession with cheap, tacky, faux gold fixtures everywhere?

 

[Chit Chat]

4 hours ago, MagicEyes said:

My dream in life is to have a house with a gargoyle. And a pirate ship playground in the back yard. 😎

I couldn't understand Retta's shock about seeing a pirate ship playground in the backyard.  The first time I saw one for sale at a place that sold those and gazebos, we stopped and I got out and oohed and aahed over it!!   I would've loved to have had one of those for my son when he was growing up.  Of course, we're Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, so obviously we would love a pirate ship!!  

[Del Boca Vista]

My daughter and I binged this show yesterday to try and get our minds off a very stressful and sad family situation we are going through. We really enjoyed watching and think Retta is great. When we saw which house was picked for the renovation we were kind of puzzled. Besides the "history" of what that house was used for and thinking what kind of father would buy a house like that for his daughter this situation was just not on the level. My daughter searched the internet and found the father is a contractor and flips houses. The house was put on the market just a few days after the series conclusion aired. The house is under contract for $600 thousand plus. The father purchased the house for $255 thousand. So the whole story was fake. Not sure if HGTV was a part of or aware of the deception. 

www.estately.com/listings/info/8314-gann-rd--1

I have no idea how to insert a link to the listing but above is my attempt.  

You can always search by the property address 8314 Gann Rd, Soddy Daisy, TN.

 

[Cetacean]

13 minutes ago, Del Boca Vista said:

So the whole story was fake.

Well, that certainly sucks but is not surprising.  I probably won't watch again if they do another series.  This kind of stuff is just so annoying - you know HGTV knew this, surely they vet the applicants.

[pep4]

7 hours ago, Del Boca Vista said:

My daughter searched the internet and found the father is a contractor and flips houses. The house was put on the market just a few days after the series conclusion aired. The house is under contract for $600 thousand plus. The father purchased the house for $255 thousand. So the whole story was fake. Not sure if HGTV was a part of or aware of the deception. 

www.estately.com/listings/info/8314-gann-rd--1

From the listing:

Quote

Pride of ownership is abundant including interior designer touches and updates . 

Pride of the Smoky Mountain cathouse owner or of the flipper trying to get rid of it as soon as contractually allowed?

Found some more info.   Ho Lee Crap!  Lots of nuggets there...

Excerpt:

Quote

...Im a designer for the staging company (Elevate Home Staging & Design) that did all the furniture and accessories for the house. From what I know, yes, the dad bought the daughter the house and it was a “sex house” whatever that means, years before. The girl posted something online about the ugly house and HGTV contacted her, she didn’t contact them about doing her house but she did live there by herself before all this got started so they don’t make that up. They don’t renovate the entire house for the $150K, it would take much more. They left some of the house the exact same way it was...

There's a link to the previous owner's obituary.  I probably shouldn't link directly, but will use one relevant quote.  Though it's worth going to that thread and finding the link, the obit is an impressive spin job, given what we've learned.
 

Quote

She used to decorate her home for Christmas in a huge way. It was not uncommon for hundreds of people to drive by her Soddy Daisy home to see the lights and donate dollars that Ann would give to local charities.

Were lots of people dropping by year round to see the Christmas lights? That's why they kept shouting Ho Ho Ho?

(Perhaps her actual home was elsewhere in town, as this one looks to be on a dead end narrow lane.  But not gonna pass up a snark opportunity.  Then again, there's a link to a lawsuit involving a strip club in Kentucky that was registered at this Soddy-Daisy house.)

And about that lawsuit:

Quote

It was definitely a sex club, and the cameras were put up to appease the army because soldiers were frequenting it (that’s from a different article) and the owner had a lawsuit filed because sex clubs are not legal in Soddy daisy apparently

And there's a link to a newspaper article about the trial of her strip club owning ex threatening to blow up a Memphis strip club.  If that flipper getting the house on HGTV ends up stirring up a lot of her old buried dirt, dude might end up getting a visit from the hillbilly Sopranos....

Edited January 19, 2022 by pep4

[Cetacean]

Wow, thanks for the detective work!   I still think it was way more evil than just a sex club - why the need to lock people inside the rooms?

[Chit Chat]

15 hours ago, Del Boca Vista said:

My daughter and I binged this show yesterday to try and get our minds off a very stressful and sad family situation we are going through.

I'm sorry that you're going through a difficult time.  I hope things will be better soon.  

Thanks for the info on the renovated house.  I'm surprised that the producers didn't think that this info would come out (or they don't care).  I won't be watching any future seasons.  I did like Retta though.  

[Del Boca Vista]

10 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I'm sorry that you're going through a difficult time.  I hope things will be better soon.  

Thanks for the info on the renovated house.  I'm surprised that the producers didn't think that this info would come out (or they don't care).  I won't be watching any future seasons.  I did like Retta though.  

Thank you for the kind words. We are caring for my husband on home hospice. This is the strongest I've ever had to be.