'Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge': We went inside HGTV's wildest house yet

Table Of Content

• Ashley Graham reveals favorite part of 'Barbie Dreamhouse'
• It’s Official: Toronto Is Now Less Affordable Than New York...
• HGTV Superstars Team Up For the Most Epic Life-Size Barbie Dreamhouse Renovation
• Is James Bender Married? The Truth About Christinas Work-Husband
• Celebrity Guests, Contestants, and Judges
• Stagecoach 2024: Post Malone, Miranda Lambert and the best, the worst and the weird of Day 2

And yes, those "toyetic" features showed off in the series actually do work. At the press of a button, a secret compartment rises out of the island countertop in the kitchen, containing a blender with pink bananas. Another secret compartment has a toaster already loaded with bread. Not only did designers have to work around the house's existing structure; they had to work in front of nosy neighbors. Evan Thomas, who designed the roof and front yard with his "Bargain Block" co-host Keith Bynum, recalls seeing people walk by the house every day of filming, with "What's going on?" looks on their faces.

Ashley Graham reveals favorite part of 'Barbie Dreamhouse'

The Times’ Mikael Wood and Vanessa Franko are at the festival, notebooks in hand and bandanas in place. James Bender is a talented designer who works with Christina Hall on HGTV shows. He has a strong bond with Christina but they are not romantically involved. He is happy with his personal and professional life and shares it with his fans on social media.

It’s Official: Toronto Is Now Less Affordable Than New York...

Following a drumroll from Liu and Rae, Robbie revealed that the winners of the Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge were... Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt, known for their previous work on the HGTV series 100 Day Dream Home. They designed the backyard of the Dreamhouse, which was voted the best part of the collective design. "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge will deliver a unique, visually stunning payoff for millions of fans who want to see their favorite HGTV stars bring a treasured childhood icon to life," Loren Ruch, HGTV's head of content, says in a press release. The celebrity appearances just don’t stop in Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, with HGTV hosts, influencers, and other stars appearing as visitors and guest judges throughout. It’s a new surprise at every turn, all culminating in a season finale that pins the top four teams against each other in a red carpet event—with influencers and Barbie fans in attendance.

HGTV Superstars Team Up For the Most Epic Life-Size Barbie Dreamhouse Renovation

Post Malone’s special set of country covers at the Indio festival included some big names in the genre, including Brad Paisley. Winning an HGTV Dream Home is like winning the lottery − the odds are slim, and only a handful of people have won in the history of the sweepstakes contest. Below is information about the HGTV Dream Home on Anastasia Island and what to expect if you get the keys to this TV-genic Florida oasis. Products recommended by At Home In Hollywood are selected by our editorial team.

Inside HGTV's 'Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge': Get a Look at the 'Unreal' Space - Better Homes & Gardens

Inside HGTV's 'Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge': Get a Look at the 'Unreal' Space.

Posted: Sat, 15 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

He is close to his family and has a sister who has two children, Gracie and Noah. His father, James Franklin Dender, was a former Navy officer who passed away in 2015 at the age of 84. James loves to travel with his husband and friends and enjoys spending time with his niece and nephew. James Bender and Christina Hall have been working together since 2021, when he joined the show Christina on the Coast as a designer and project manager. He has also collaborated with her on another show, Christina in the Country, where they renovate homes in rural areas.

Can You Stay at HGTV's Barbie Dreamhouse? Tiffany Brooks Teases New Show (EXCLUSIVE) - Distractify

Can You Stay at HGTV's Barbie Dreamhouse? Tiffany Brooks Teases New Show (EXCLUSIVE).

Posted: Mon, 17 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In the first episode, Barbie’s First Floor Face-Off, Jasmine Roth from the network’s Help! I Wrecked My House and Antonia Lofaso, the host of Food Network’s Beachside Brawl, face off against Married to Real Estate stars Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson. "I mean, how often do you get to put a handle on a house?" Bynum says. That is, until you see the massive white house with three flamingo fountain statues, a hot-pink triple-decker fountain and a 900-pound, 12-foot-tall steel handle on the roof, emblazoned with the iconic Barbie "B."

Is James Bender Married? The Truth About Christinas Work-Husband

Over the course of the show, eight teams will completely make over a beautiful house in Southern California to be Barbie’s real-life Dreamhouse. The series is hosted by world-famous model Ashley Graham and judged by designer Jonathan Adler and HGTV’s Barbie Dreamhouse expert Tiffany Brooks, with the help of a new celebrity judge each episode. Walking through the house with Valencia, I'm immediately struck by the attention to detail as she explains the intention behind every design element. The colors are overwhelming but purposeful, with a spiral staircase in the living room painted the same shades of bright pink and green as the accents on Margot Robbie's and Ryan Gosling's roller-skating outfits from the "Barbie" movie. A palm tree by the stairs bears black-and-white stripes on its trunk, a nod to the zebra-striped swimsuit of the first Barbie released in 1959. He has appeared on several other shows on the network, such as House Hunters Renovation, where he was a part of the cast from 2012 to 2017.

Celebrity Guests, Contestants, and Judges

He has also participated in Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, a competition series where eight teams have to create a fully-functioning house inspired by Barbie fantasies. James has over a decade of experience in interior design and owns his own company based in West Hollywood, CA. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home is about 3,300 square feet with views of the Matanzas River and the St. Augustine Lighthouse. The four-part event series Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge saw designers from a variety of HGTV shows competing to design different aspects of the Dreamhouse, inspired by the decades-long history of the Barbie brand. The first episode of Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge is all about ’60s and ’90s inspiration, with each team transforming their assigned rooms into Barbie Dreamhouse-inspired visions from their respective decades.

Stagecoach 2024: Post Malone, Miranda Lambert and the best, the worst and the weird of Day 2

If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission or other compensation. Once they found the right house in Canyon Country, CA, HGTV closed on the property on Jan. 3, paying $1,750,000. Roberts was also on set, and on air, for much of the series. In sum, no one is as intimately familiar with the Barbie Dreamhouse backstory as she is, and she’s also graciously agreed to share all the details with me in an exclusive interview. In the new episode of Barbie's Dreamhouse Challenge, Brian and Mika are up against Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas (Bargain Block), who must transform the front exterior of the house.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. "Barbie is part of a universal language — everyone around the world knows who she is," Brian Kleinschmidt said in an interview on HGTV's website. "The feedback we've received so far when it comes to this show has been amazing. So many people have told us, 'I would live in that house in a heartbeat,' because it takes them back to their childhood."

Inside, they purged most of the “toyetic” touches like the purple plastic dog elevator and repainted most of the pink features—like the spiral staircase and waterslide outside—a more stately gray. Once filming on the “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” wrapped, it didn’t take long for execs to order the removal of the most ostentatious Barbie features. They removed the handle on the roof, the pink faux turf, and the big letter B near the pool. The next episode of Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge will premiere Sunday, July 30, at 8 p.m.

In the first episode, Sherrod and Jackson are incredibly inventive, creating an elevator made to carry Barbie’s pet dog from the entryway to a balcony-enclosed second level. When not in use, the elevator doubles as a phone booth, adding to the playful decor of the space. "What's so special about the HGTV Barbie Dreamhouse is that it's not a set," Valencia, the design director of the project, says while giving a quick tour of the property, less than an hour before cameras roll to tape the final episode. "Everything is real, so we really had to work with the architecture." Competing against each other, each design team had one week to complete their area of the house, which had to include a "toyetic" feature − a component that could be found in a toy dollhouse, like a mini-elevator. Each team also competed on behalf of a Barbie superfan, and at the end of the series, the winning team's fan won a four-day, three-night stay inside the house.

From what we've seen so far, it's nothing short of any Barbie lover's dream, but we expected nothing less from our favorite HGTV stars. In the living room, the major features that the designers installed remain, like the two-story fireplace and the updated circular staircase. The fluorescent color scheme was changed to neutral grays, whites, and blacks. Each team is required to incorporate a “toyetic” design element in their rooms, mimicking the whimsical features found throughout Barbie’s Dreamhouse.

Barbie stars Margot Robbie, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, and Issa Rae stopped by via video chat to reveal the final result. To make this show even better, one Barbie megafan will receive the chance to stay at the completed home. While the channel hasn't disclosed how fans can apply for the once-in-a-lifetime sleepover, we'll report back as soon as they do.

Valencia estimates that nine to 12 different shades of pink went into the design, which includes a stunning Barbie-pink spiral water slide in the Y2K-themed backyard. HGTV researched more than 300 houses online, and 40 to 50 in person, before landing on this one, selected for its views, pool, a two-story frame and potential for a "Ken's Den" space.

Several past winners of HGTV's popular sweepstakes have done just that. From there, filming began on Feb. 14 and concluded on April 15. Roberts was on hand for the shooting of the first episode and the last, when she was absolutely gobsmacked by how much the house had changed.