Despite not being finished, our beach house made a surprise television appearance on HGTV this past Sunday night. If you watched, you might have spotted it on the right side of the screen — our deteriorating siding ended up taking up a solid chunk of screen time.
We had no idea the episode would include our block, so Sherry immediately cranked up the excitement on her Instagram Stories that night for anyone watching. For those who missed it, we grabbed a few screenshots and clips.
The episode was part of the show Beachfront Bargain Hunt. The house immediately next door was one of three properties the featured couple toured (the show follows a House Hunters-style format). Spoiler: they didn’t pick that house, so those aren’t our neighbors in the episode, and the agent they worked with wasn’t ours either. Still, it was thrilling to see our little row of houses on TV.
When we bought our house last fall, our realtor mentioned that Cape Charles had been featured on the show several times and that another episode was in the pipeline. She reminded us to keep an eye out when it aired. None of us knew that the neighboring house had been filmed — the shoot happened before its current owners bought it — so when the episode finally aired there were a lot of excited texts exchanged.
Honestly, we found the whole thing hilarious. We imagined the film crew discovering our shabby siding and realizing they couldn’t easily crop it out, so they filmed it from multiple angles — even aerial shots — likely hoping quick pans would minimize its appearance. A number of readers recognized the janky siding despite the fast shots, so it clearly made an impression.
We don’t know exactly when filming happened, only that it was before the neighboring house changed hands. Judging by the hydrangeas, we suspect the footage was shot last summer. So although our house wasn’t ready for close-ups, the greenery helped distract from the exterior flaws.
I’m sharing this mostly because I took a bunch of photos of the screen like a weirdo, but the episode also gave viewers a clear look at the potential we saw when we bought our house. The featured property is one of the four nearly identical homes on our street and, in fact, is the exact house our realtor showed us before we committed to ours — the one we often mention that later sold for a much higher price. Thanks to HGTV, you can now see inside one of the sister houses.
The kitchen and dining area in that house highlight a few layout differences. For example, that home still had the original chimney column, which they used to anchor a kitchen peninsula with the stove and hood on the other side. Our chimney had been removed by a previous owner, but it would have been positioned where their column sits.
They also kept a back staircase but replaced a back door with a window, allowing them to run more of their kitchen along the back wall. Our home retains the back door for direct backyard and deck access, so it’s fun to see these “alternate realities” of similar floor plans.
Their back staircase gives a sense of how our stairs might look once finished. In their layout the stairs lead to an open living area with a daybed and an attached bathroom, whereas ours will open directly into the main bedroom.
That upstairs bathroom in their house sits on the opposite side from ours, which made for a funny observation: when the camera showed their bathroom window, you could actually see our bathroom window outside of it. Thank goodness for curtains.
The interior of the featured house was nicely finished. From what the couple said, their reasons for passing on it were primarily size — they wanted an extra bedroom — and proximity to the beach. The house they chose was about a block from the water; the one on our street is about three blocks away. The show didn’t point out the condition of the neighboring house, but that may have influenced their decision.
If you catch a rerun, the episode also serves as a nice introduction to Cape Charles, complete with some aerial shots and scenes that highlight what drew us to the town. You might also spot clues about our exterior paint decision. Watching it, we even learned a bit about the town — now we want to take the kids to the train museum.
And the good news is that if HGTV or anyone else decides to film our house again, it will look a lot more presentable. We’re getting crisp white trim installed this week, which should replace the yellow-tan that currently reads a bit sickly against the pink siding. Either way, this TV debut will be a memorable one.
We’re actually headed back this week to check on the new trim — can’t wait to see it in person.