Craven Street home to star on HGTV episode
Anne Lamm was sitting on the front porch of her family's newly renovated Craven Street home on the Fourth of July when she turned to her husband, Bill.
"I think we live on the prettiest street in America," she told him.
A national cable audience will get a look at the street -- and more specifically at 508 Craven -- later this month. HGTV filmed the home's transformation for its show "Vacation House for Free," in which prospective owners choose a home and update it, with the idea of renting out to cover the second mortgage.
The episode is scheduled to air Aug. 23 at noon.
Beaufort's Live Oak Builders landed the job out of a handful of contractors the New York-based network contacted for the work.
The project opened up the floor plan, removing a fireplace to reveal a new kitchen with custom cabinets and quartz countertops.
The house also got new or refinished heart of pine flooring, refaced fireplaces, new paint inside and out and fans and lighting.
A gas lantern flickers on the front porch to go with a new porch swing, wicker furniture, landscaping and a brick walkway.
"It changed a chopped-up old 1870s house to a modern look on the inside, with keeping it traditional on the outside," Live Oak owner Todd Bradley said.
The city's Historic Review Board approved the work. The board was primarily concerned with the exterior look, Bradley said.
The old Victorian has some history.
During World War II, the upstairs was converted to apartments for Marines stationed in Beaufort, according to a release. The house was built along with two adjacent ones by merchant George Holmes, who came to Beaufort as an abolitionist.
The Lamms, who also live in Florida, are planning more work that won't be included on the show -- updating a bathroom and a possible carriage house behind the main home. The carriage house would be an oversized, one-car garage with space upstairs for guests, including their five children.
They didn't see the house during the renovation. HGTV also filmed around Beaufort and on Dataw Island.
"We have a great traffic flow throughout the house now-- a lot of open areas and still some real traditional formal spaces," Anne Lamm said.
She first reached out to the show through a link on the HGTV website. Live Oak was chosen for the work in March and the project started in April. The work lasted eight weeks.
The $60,000 budget was kept in check by companies providing discounts in exchange for their name being included in the show's credits, Bradley said.
Count the Lamms as another family drawn to Beaufort after the city was on another list of the country's top small towns.
Once settled in their Old Point neighborhood, they found themselves within walking distance to everything downtown, a stroll shaded by large live oaks.
"I didn't know much about the town," Anne Lamm said. "And we've subsequently fallen in love with the town, too."
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
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- Beaufort Marine couple to be featured on 'House Hunters' , Aug. 22, 2014
This story was originally published August 3, 2015 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Craven Street home to star on HGTV episode."