Despite not being finished, our beach house made an unexpected television appearance on HGTV this past Sunday. If you spotted it on the right side of the screen, you saw our sad, rotting siding — which somehow earned about 5% of the episode’s airtime.
We had no idea it was going to air, so Sherry went all-in on Insta-stories that night for anyone watching (for those who missed it, we saved a clip below):
The segment was part of Beachfront Bargain Hunt, since the house directly next door was one of the three properties the featured couple toured (the show follows a House Hunters-style format). Spoiler: they didn’t choose that house, so the people shown aren’t our neighbors — and the agent on camera wasn’t ours either. Still, it was thrilling to see our little row of houses get screen time.
When we bought the house last fall, our realtor mentioned that Cape Charles had been featured on that show several times and that another episode filmed in the area would eventually air. A few weeks ago she texted to remind us to look for the Cape Charles episode on DVR. None of us realized that the house had been filmed (the filming happened before her clients bought it), so when the episode aired we all exchanged a lot of excited messages. It was a small, giddy moment of local fame.
We found the whole thing pretty funny. You have to imagine the production crew shrugging and saying, “well, we can’t really crop that out,” and then filming our shabby siding from multiple angles — some shots even looked like they involved a crane or drone. They used quick pans, but several readers still recognized the janky siding and messaged us, so a fast sweep wasn’t enough.
We’re not exactly sure when the episode was filmed — likely last summer based on the hydrangeas — but the greenery helped distract from our unpolished exterior. Big blue flowers do wonders for first impressions.
One cool thing about the episode is that it lets viewers see the potential we saw when we bought our place. The house featured on the show is one of the four near-identical homes on our street — in fact, it’s the exact one our realtor let us tour before we bought ours. That’s the property we often mention that sold for a lot more than ours, so it was fun to get an inside look thanks to HGTV.
The kitchen and dining area highlight how two identical floor plans can feel different. Their layout retained an original chimney column that anchors a kitchen peninsula, with the stove and hood on the other side. Our chimney had been removed by a previous owner, so on our house that spot is an open column in the wall.
They kept a back staircase but removed a back door, replacing it with a window so they could use that entire wall for kitchen cabinets and counters.
By contrast, we retained the back door for easier access to our yard and deck. It’s interesting to see these “alternate realities” for houses that share the same blueprint.
Their back stair shot gives a sense of how our upstairs might eventually look. Our stairs will open into the main bedroom, while theirs lead to an open living area with a daybed and an attached bathroom.
The upstairs bathroom in their layout sits opposite ours, which means the bathroom window you see outside theirs actually belongs to our house. Curtains, thank goodness.
The home is nicely finished inside; the couple on the show cited size — they wanted an extra bedroom — and proximity to the beach as reasons they passed on it. Their final pick was closer to the shore. The episode also included some attractive aerial shots of Cape Charles and showcased many of the town’s charms that drew us in. Watching it, we even learned about places we hadn’t visited yet — time to take the kids to that train museum.
Good news: if TV crews return, the house will be looking a lot more presentable. We’re having the trim repainted crisp white soon because the current yellow-tan trim looks a little sickly next to the pink siding. Can’t wait to see it looking refreshed before its next cameo.
In fact, we’re headed there this week to check on the fresh white trim. It can’t happen soon enough — but hey, our house’s first TV debut beat a lot of people’s, even if it was a little embarrassing.