A Day as an HGTV Judge

A few weeks back, Bucks Happening posted about HGTV looking for local judges to participate in a pilot episode of their new show, which happened to be taped in Bucks County. Always ones to seek out interesting experience, the BH team immediately applied, and a few days later we were scheduled to shoot Sunday, September 19th.

We arrived “make-up ready” at the Heritage Homes in Furlong, PA where two re-designed town-homes awaited our reactions. We were part of a crowd of about fifty local judges brought in for the episode in charge of deciding which design best appeals to it's target-market. The task for us was simple- walk into each home, give our opinions on each design, & vote for a favorite. Of course we were not told anything about the designers until after the votes were cast, and in true HGTV fashion there were a few other surprises in store for us.

Fellow-judges from Bucks County's Black-eyed Susan in Holicong, PA

Cameras were stationed throughout the homes to catch the judges' many reactions; there was certainly no shortage of opinions from the Bucks County crowd. Both designers had worked hard to make their homes entirely unique (I could hardly believe the homes had previously been exactly the same) and many judges found themselves weighing the beauty vs. functionality of various features. With my admittedly limited design experience, I found each home a site to behold irrelevant of my personal tastes. While I do admit that the day was long, with many hours spent waiting around, I can honestly say that observing each design was a fascinating experience.

Unfortunately, I cannot reveal much more about the twists and turns, designs, or the big winner. Both HGTV-designed homes are now available for sale, ranging from $500,000- $550,000, marked up from the base home prices around $350,000-$400,000. We'll keep Bucks County posted about the show's progress so that everyone can tune in!