New HGTV Show Features Redlands Homes

REDLANDS >> The history of the Inland Empire is receiving widespread attention through the new television home improvement show “Restored,” whose pilot episode aired in March on the HGTV/DIY Network. The episode focused on a 1920s-style home, located in the heart of the Redlands’ historic neighborhood district. Its owner, Bobby Whitmore, had bought the home for its historical significance and attractive location—and with the knowledge that it needed some restoration. His listing agent, Jody Bell, had heard about the new series, featuring host Brett Waterman, produced by Camille Hardman. They knew about the house and knew Whitmore’s interest in restoring it. “It was kind of a whirlwind from there,” Whitmore said. His words were an apt description, as the one-story historical house underwent renovation for the filming of the show. According to Waterman, part of the process of restoring a home is doing research on its historical background. What they found was the original design of the house, which included an open porch with an entrance to the house on the south side of the property. After looking through some old photographs and using a lot of the original stonework of the yard and foundation, they created a front garden courtyard for the house to give it a “much broader approach.” “Not only did we think about how the house looked originally, but how do we update it today and how do we make it a little bit more functional in today’s living, so creating more garden spaces and patio spaces throughout the house was really key and important to how we would use it today,” Waterman said. The porch, which was once a hotbox because of the previous owners’ cats, was opened up to make it more functional and enjoyable for Whitmore. “This neighborhood is one of the most beautiful in Redlands, and I want to be able to see the whole neighborhood from the porch, so opening this up was one of the most important things,” Whitmore said. “Brett did a wonderful job doing it, so I can sit here and just enjoy beautiful Redlands.” Another improved feature can be found in the living room area of the house. There was a façade over the original fireplace, which was removed so the original could be restored. Throughout the house, in the kitchen and the dining hall, some original cabinetry was replaced, along with placing a box beam between the dining room and the kitchen, to pay homage to the original architectural separation. “It’s not needed, not structurally, but it was critically important to have to find the difference between the two spaces,” Waterman said. He added that it was important for them to keep the history of the home intact. “The city is very cognizant of preserving their heritage, and that’s critical for me—that’s what Bobby wanted, too,” he said. “Everything we did was very respectful of the architecture. I think, in fact, we can probably all say the house has probably looked better than it ever has, and even when it was original.” The ultimate goal of the project, Waterman said, was to do as the title of the TV show says—restore the house. “The house, at one point like many homes go through multiple iterations of homeowners, and everybody wants to put their own personal stamp on,” he said. “This house was built in 1913, so almost a little over 100 years later, we’re taking the house back to as it was envisioned when it was originally built.” Waterman was able to find the chain title of the property and then link it over 100 years to today, where it resides in Whitman’s ownership. “So we can kind of say this is the family tree: this house,” Waterman said. Casting has been approved by DIY Network for possible new episodes of “Restored,” and while Waterman went with Redlands because of the rich history of its most historic neighborhoods, it is possible the show will extend to other areas of the Inland Empire, most specifically Riverside. Waterman and Hardman are looking to select more homes for the show by mid-June for casting. If approved, the show will start production in August.