Home Town - General Discussion

[RoxiP]

Native Texan here.  I say pray-leen but I do not say pee-can.

I didn't have an objection to the solid backsplash but instead to the headboard/tombstone shape.  I would have preferred something a little more conventional in shape...but then again she didn't design it for me!  (I would also never want wallpaper but that's a whole 'nother thread.)

[3 is enough]

Putting a solid piece of granite behind the cooktop is not a bad idea.  But it really has to go all the way up to the edge of the hood, otherwise it defeats the purpose. That's the dirtiest part of the kitchen, and I would want the whole area covered.

Full tile backsplashes are pretty common today, but 20-30 years ago they were considered an upgrade and many builders just ran one row of 4 x 4 tiles along the back end of the counter.  I always thought that looked silly and wondered why they even bothered.

[suebee12]

Really liked tonight's show! Knowing that Ben(and Jesse) knew quite a bit about how minister's moves worked made the show fun! I loved how they put the planters in front of the addition so that it wasn't as apparent an add-on as an enclosed carport usually is. I am guessing they didn't realize how large the pew was and how much work it was going to take to finally manage to get it inside...whew! Loved the headboards that Ben created...they looked great and even though the space would have more room if they had used bunk beds, I think most girls would prefer a single bed. I hope someday they go back and redo the house in Laurel....I loved that they were going to leave the large screened-in porch!

[LittleIggy]

The Church House: I liked the idea of putting the tiles around the stove hood. 
I’m Episcopalian, but from what I understand, the Methodists move ministers around every few years. Is this true? 

[suebee12]

3 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I’m Episcopalian, but from what I understand, the Methodists move ministers around every few years. Is this true? 

Yes, this is true. Usually 3 or 4 years but one minister requested to stay one more year so that his daughter could stay for her senior year of high school and this was granted. We had a really lovely  parsonage on a very nice lot. Close to the church and it had 3 or 4 bedrooms so there was plenty of room.

[3 is enough]

The minister on this episode was Presbyterian.  Ben's father  is a Methodist minister- they are known for moving around a lot.

I thought they did a nice job, especially with the addition, but it was a bit basic. Then again, no sense going all out when the family would only be there for a short while. The pew benches looked really uncomfortable. 

I really like Ben but the whole "Ben has a cowboy hat " shtick was a bit corny.  I hope they aren't trying to dumb him up a la Chip Gaines.

Edited February 4, 2020 by 3 is enough

[suebee12]

1 hour ago, 3 is enough said:

I really like Ben but the whole "Ben has a cowboy hat " shtick was a bit corny.  I hope they aren't trying to dumb him up a la Chip Gaines.

I hope the same thing....please we do not need another Chip Gaines! And I also hope they don't run Home Town over and over again..., HGTV don't overdo the number of times you show each episode so that we know the script word for word!

[chessiegal]

5 hours ago, suebee12 said:

And I also hope they don't run Home Town over and over again..., HGTV don't overdo the number of times you show each episode so that we know the script word for word!

Too late. They're already doing it. I see hours of marathons of reruns weekdays, probably more than once a week.

[3 is enough]

How hot was it in Mississippi last summer?  Ben was just soaked in all the episodes so far- and not just in the scenes when he was working.  I'm afraid the poor guy will have a heat stroke.

They are going a bit overboard with the marathons- and they keep showing the same handful of episodes over and over.  I think the first 3 seasons total 35 episodes- I know there are some that have not been rerun recently.

[chessiegal]

Shoot - HGTV is still running marathons of Fixer Upper and that show isn't even in production anymore.

[suebee12]

10 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

How hot was it in Mississippi last summer?

HOT! But the strange thing was that my electric bills were lower than usual because it rained, and rained, and rained.

[RoxiP]

13 minutes ago, suebee12 said:

HOT! But the strange thing was that my electric bills were lower than usual because it rained, and rained, and rained.

Isn't it always hot and humid in Mississippi in the summer?

[3 is enough]

53 minutes ago, RoxiP said:

Isn't it always hot and humid in Mississippi in the summer?

@ RoxiP: I only asked because Ben has been exceptionally sweaty in the new episodes. Much more than in previous seasons.  Not just when he is working, but even just doing headshots or walking through the houses.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

So since it's the church furnished home that they remodeled last night, then I hope the next family likes it too.     I would prefer to have covered parking in Mississippi, summer or winter.  I don't know how long the Presbyterian ministers stay at a church, but I guess fixing up the Manse, or whatever they called the church house, made sense.   

Why didn't Ben dry fit the pews/benches, and take them over, and  join it together at the house?    

They turn all heat and AC off for filming, and I bet a lot of the construction time doesn't have that going either, so it is always hot.  

Edited February 4, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, RoxiP said:

Isn't it always hot and humid in Mississippi in the summer?

Yes!

[Vivigirl10]

Quote

My new feel-good show.  I happened on to this show as Ben's truck caught my attention - then when I saw the house they were working on (LOVE old houses) I decided to stay with it.  Now I'm catching up with the prior seasons and loving each episode. 

Me tooooo 🙂  I don't know how I avoided this show for so long.  Erin and Ben are what my husband and I refer to as "throwbacks".  Younger people of today who seem better suited for days gone by.  Adore them. 

I may not always totally love Erin's designs, but I greatly appreciate the fact that she takes into consideration the style of the home and specifically, what she thinks the home owners will like.  She is not a cookie cutter designer.  Love it or List It and Property Brothers may be more splashy with their reveals, but they pretty much all look the same.  Erin's designs are thoughtful.  Forget about Joanna, who doesn't give a thought to destroying a home's uniqueness in favor of her one note style.  Ugh.      

I thought her decorating in the Church House episode was particularly on point.  It was such an interesting mix.  Maybe I read her wrong but I thought the wife's reaction was a bit subdued - almost like she wasn't really pleased?  She did light up in the girls room, but it didn't match the way she was during the rest of the tour.  Did I misread her?

The lady with the very limited budget who bought the last remaining building of an old farm.....I wondered if they had moved the house there?  It was such a prime spot on that little lake! 

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't know how long the Presbyterian ministers stay at a church, but I guess fixing up the Manse, or whatever they called the church house, made sense.   

The 2 Presbyterian churches I went to had ministers that had been there for years when I started and were there for years after I moved.

Edited February 4, 2020 by chessiegal

[RoxiP]

41 minutes ago, Kiki620 said:

Me tooooo 🙂  I don't know how I avoided this show for so long.  Erin and Ben are what my husband and I refer to as "throwbacks".  Younger people of today who seem better suited for days gone by.  Adore them. 

I may not always totally love Erin's designs, but I greatly appreciate the fact that she takes into consideration the style of the home and specifically, what she thinks the home owners will like.  She is not a cookie cutter designer.  Love it or List It and Property Brothers may be more splashy with their reveals, but they pretty much all look the same.  Erin's designs are thoughtful.  Forget about Joanna, who doesn't give a thought to destroying a home's uniqueness in favor of her one note style.  Ugh.      

I thought her decorating in the Church House episode was particularly on point.  It was such an interesting mix.  Maybe I read her wrong but I thought the wife's reaction was a bit subdued - almost like she wasn't really pleased?  She did light up in the girls room, but it didn't match the way she was during the rest of the tour.  Did I misread her?

The lady with the very limited budget who bought the last remaining building of an old farm.....I wondered if they had moved the house there?  It was such a prime spot on that little lake! 

I don't think the house was moved...I think they said that there used to be more outbuildings but they were all gone.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

With the dairy farm house, it had been an employees house, and then abandoned.   The old dairy was long gone, and the rest of the land might have been sold, but the old dairy buildings were long gone.    

I think maybe the lady on last night's show was overwhelmed at the cameras, and she was trying to keep calm.       I wonder if she realized that in addition to her family of seven, those benches would hold at least that many more, and with chairs, even more.   That's a lot of meals for visitors.    Or maybe there will be things she'll change later, but I like what Ben and Erin did with that home. 

I hope the second house is redone this season, it could be so nice, without the jungle that's grown up around it.   However, I looked at houses for sale in Laurel, and that house's driveway is an easement, that not good in my book, unless it deeded easement.    

Edited February 5, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Lovecat]

On 1/28/2020 at 12:57 PM, 3 is enough said:

The woman's name was Rena- which I would pronounce Ree-nah, but evidently it was pronounced Renee.  Is this a Southern thing?  I have never seen that spelling before.

 

On 1/28/2020 at 1:21 PM, RoxiP said:

No, I'm from the south and the spelling was weird to me (yes, your pronunciation is how I would say it also).  

As a "Renée" who sniffs disdainfully at the "René" spelling for a woman (one e is masculine, two e's are feminine; standard French grammar rules, people)..."Rena" just 'bout gave me apoplexy.  Lovely lady with an adorable new house, though.  I loved the wallpaper in the bathroom.

I'm always amazed at the difference in price in real estate between eastern PA, where I live, and Laurel.  I mean, even a beater house like Ben and Erin generally start with would run me over 100K, and they manage to buy the house *and* do the renovations for that.  Then again, this Yankee would die of heat prostration and/or blood loss from all those mosquitoes, so I'd never be able to live in Laurel.

[kimberussell]

Quote

 Maybe I read her wrong but I thought the wife's reaction was a bit subdued - almost like she wasn't really pleased?  She did light up in the girls room, but it didn't match the way she was during the rest of the tour.  Did I misread her?

I don't think so. When we saw her reaction to the pew bench seating my husband and I said, "she does NOT like that" at the same time.

[3 is enough]

2 minutes ago, kimberussell said:

I don't think so. When we saw her reaction to the pew bench seating my husband and I said, "she does NOT like that" at the same time.

I didn't pick up on that, but as a preacher's wife, maybe she craves a home that doesn't look anything like a church?  You know, leave work at work?

Or she had visions of how difficult it would be to have to clean up after every meal.  

She did really like the table though.

[pasdetrois]

I agree that the wife was a bit disappointed. It is an unusual situation, given that they don't own the home and will live there temporarily. The situation reminds me of what military families experience.

I wonder if they really preferred the other house, but felt pressure to choose the church house, which is customary, and which would bring much-needed repairs to the property for future residents. I listened to her explanation that the cost was being provided by donations and the church - it wasn't clear to me whether the family provided any funds at all.

My in-law's father is a preacher, and he and his wife didn't own their own home until their 60s. They raised their kids in a couple of shabby small houses provided by their church, at which they served an entire ministry career. On the other hand, I used to go to parties at a beautiful old Presbyterian manse that is located in an 18th century Quaker village. The minister loved living there.

 

 

 

[LittleIggy]

I wouldn’t have been disappointed. I would have been grateful.

[3 is enough]

I know banquette seating is very popular among HGTV designers, but I can see where a mom of a lot of kids might find it impractical.  If they are messy eaters you have a mess after every meal.  If the table moves out easily, no problem, but a lot of the designs have a fixed table, which would make cleaning difficult.  Plus, in this case, the vinyl floor might take a beating if the heavy table is continually moved back and forth to access the benches for cleaning.

I honestly did not notice the lukewarm reaction to the bench, but I did notice that she loved the table, the girls' room, and the pull-out garbage bins in the kitchen.  It's not surprising that the homeowners might not like every single aspect of the renovation.

[buttersister]

I thought she wasn't playing along with the TV-style reactions--OMG, Oh, My Word (a big one in Miss. apparently), Ack, etc. over and over. But frankly, I'd agree about that bench in a mighty tight area--and the chaos of everyone sliding all the way down and out. Also, as 3 is enough illuminates, clean up under there, how?

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Starting this Sunday, Home Town will have new episodes, Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central.  

Lots of interesting programming choices in ratings sweeps month. Sweeps months are November, February, and May.     

Edited February 7, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[3 is enough]

That is very odd.  I saw a tweet from Erin but I assumed it was just for one week. But I checked  TV Guide online and there is another new episode airing on Sunday the 16th. Why are they blowing through all the episodes?  I assume they are splitting the season in two parts, because Erin had said that for the first time they were still filming when the season premiered.  

Evidently they have not picked a town for the Home Town Rescue Series yet, and that is not scheduled to air until 2021.  

[buttersister]

Oh good. Less time on TV, more for me. Because some of the incoming shows (I'm looking at you, Unsellable Houses, but only for 10 minutes and never again) ain't much.

[3 is enough]

The new episode on Sunday night will be on at the same time as the Oscars. I realize that not everyone watches the Oscars but I have to wonder at the logic behind that decision. What is HGTV thinking?

[RoxiP]

2 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

The new episode on Sunday night will be on at the same time as the Oscars. I realize that not everyone watches the Oscars but I have to wonder at the logic behind that decision. What is HGTV thinking?

That people like me who refuse to watch a show where there will be a lot of negative speak towards conservative values could care less about watching a bunch of self-aggrandizing privileged hypocrites?

[3 is enough]

@RoxiP :   I do realize that not everyone watches the Oscars, for various reasons. But the fact remains that it always gets very high ratings and typically the other networks show reruns that night, much like they do on Super Bowl Sunday.   It will be interesting to see the ratings compared to the usual Monday airing.  

I am still kind of baffled as to why they would put new episodes on 2 nights a week when it does so well in the ratings.  I would think they would prefer to have 16 weeks of high ratings on Mondays instead of blowing through the episodes in less time.  But I am not a tv executive, and if they want to give me 2 episodes a week I will watch.

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, RoxiP said:

That people like me who refuse to watch a show where there will be a lot of negative speak towards conservative values could care less about watching a bunch of self-aggrandizing privileged hypocrites?

I love lots of negative speak about conservative “values,” but I don’t watch award shows.

[RoxiP]

I also think that sometimes people who choose not to watch the Oscars (and hey, to each his, her or their own) look for something new so maybe that's why they are running new episodes - hoping to catch the person looking for something different to watch.  I just hope they are truly new episodes and not "supersized" episodes, which is just a fancy way to say they are running repeats with little comments added in (which I usually can't read because I am too lazy to put on my glasses...LOL!).

[LittleIggy]

I loved what they did with that girl’s family home. The mahogany doors Ben and his brother made were awesome.

[3 is enough]

That was one of my favourite renovations. 

[Grrarrggh]

I'm behind an episode, and I'm sure some people will completely disagree with me but..... was 85k for people who already had a perfectly good house the right way to spend the money? 

[absolutelyido]

9 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

That was one of my favourite renovations. 

Me too. (The inherited house.) I liked the combination of the client's clean Scandinavian design aesthetic with Erin's more 'collected' style. Usually they show a brief minute of the clients' telling Erin what their style is, but from this episode it was evident that she must spend a lot more time with them to get an understanding of their style.

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

I'm behind an episode, and I'm sure some people will completely disagree with me but..... was 85k for people who already had a perfectly good house the right way to spend the money? 

What episode are you talking about?

[sheetmoss]

For those interested - the Jan/Feb issue of Southern Living has a nice spread  on the town of Laurel/Ben & Erin

[hookedontv]

So.... I'd never watched this show before, but caught a couple of repeats over the weekend. I have to say, I like it! Ben and Erin seem down to earth and like other posters have said, really take their client's tastes and style into consideration. 

Am I the only one who noticed that Ben's voice sounds like the main character's voice on "King of the Hill?" I don't even watch that animated program but have seen enough clips to recognize his voice. I must have watched 2 episodes of Home Town trying to figure out who he sounded like. Then it hit me. And I can't "unsee" it. 

But I truly do like this show and will be watching more of it!

[izabella]

I love that they were able to save that house!  It had so many interesting architectural features, like that double-sided fireplace and the different porches, plus the original wood floors, bookshelves and transom windows. 

They did a great job giving them both an art room and a music room, plus that bathroom and kitchen were huge!  I didn't love the green backsplash, but the homeowner did, so ok.  And at least it went with the green doors and armoire,  so it wasn't like the backsplash came out of  nowhere.  They made that kitchen so light and bright where it didn't even have windows before - it was a great transformation.

[Gam2]

When our kids were little, we had a similar table/banquette set up in our breakfast room where we ate almost all of our meals. I had a broom and dustpan that worked like a charm. I don’t understand the quandary this would be for that family. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved the renovation on the young woman's family home last night.

For those that missed the announcement, at least for this week and next Sunday, there is a new episode on Sunday evening, and the regular Monday premiere episode.   However, on the 23rd, they're having two hours of Extreme Home Makeover instead.  

Edited February 10, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

What episode are you talking about?

The church house. Certainly a family with NO house could have used that 85k. 

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

The church house. Certainly a family with NO house could have used that 85k. 

It is the rectory, so I guess the church wanted it fixed up for the current minister and his family as well as future ministers/families. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

[Grrarrggh]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

It is the rectory, so I guess the church wanted it fixed up for the current minister and his family as well as future ministers/families. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

But the minister and his wife said it was outside donations. 

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

But the minister and his wife said it was outside donations. 

Maybe that’s how that church does things. I’m Episcopalian, so I don’t know. In any case, future ministers and families will benefit.

[LittleIggy]

I loved that woven headboard Ben and that lady made. As for Erin’s sticks and ripped up flag wall hanging, I would be like, “Oh, that’s nice” and mentally figuring how long I would need to keep it up to be polite before moving it. 😏

They said the house had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Wonder where the other bedroom and bath were. I thought that stairway to the unfinished attic was an odd feature. Seemed like a waste of space.

[izabella]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

They said the house had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Wonder where the other bedroom and bath were. I thought that stairway to the unfinished attic was an odd feature. Seemed like a waste of space.

It's very weird that it would have such a nice staircase in the living room right by the front door without it going to an actual room.  You can probably store stuff up there, and maybe even make a small bedroom or playroom, if they could finish it out in the future.