The Best Historic Home Renovations from HGTV Stars

There’s a special kind of thrill in watching a seasoned pro restore a home’s faded glory for a new generation of occupants. Brand-spanking-new conveniences are nice, but when you can retell a classic story in a thrilling way? That’s peak renovation satisfaction. (Case in point: This spectacular Chicago kitchen that Alison Victoria of Windy City Rehab revived with a 13-foot island, bold blue color and a pine-cabinet-turned-wine-bar that’s original to the Civil-War-era home.) Take a spin through HGTV stars’ very best historic before-and-afters.

Nicole Curtis of Rehab Addict got to this abandoned, neglected North Minneapolis bungalow just in time. Though the original woodwork was in comparatively good shape, other portions of the home were crumbling — and the whole property was due to be demolished by the city.

Behold the power of paint and a little TLC. Nicole covered the dining room’s lackluster blue walls with a coat of creamy white paint that complements the restored quarter-sawn oak’s rich color. Believe it or not, the previously-woeful floors simply needed sanding and refinishing to glow against the built-in cabinets and trim. With little more than a handful of lush house plants and a dining set, this space is now ready to welcome another century’s worth of guests.

Built in the Venetian Gothic style for a dry goods merchant, Detroit’s Ransom Gillis House is a landmark that had been unoccupied since the 1960s. When HGTV and Nicole Curtis stepped in to revive it, once-grand areas like this foyer were skeletal spaces in need of floor-to-ceiling reconstruction.