Palms pressed against thighs. Usually sides, but often even fronts of thighs.
Dear sweet Lord, I have never in my life met anyone who “entertains” as much as the people who are on that show claim to. Apparently, the need to have a lovely open concept kitchen overlooking the living room or open to the rest of the house outweighs dozens of other, more important things, about the house. I don’t think I’d base THE HOUSE I BOUGHT on something like “whether or not the kitchen is open to the living room, so when I am having one of my weekly soirees, I can still see and talk to my guests while I slave away for them in the kitchen.” Who are these people? Master chefs? Professional party-throwers? I will never understand it.
I have also heard that HH International is almost entirely scripted, much more so than the American version.
Most of the ones I’ve seen have been Italy ones, where they’ll ooh and ahh over these really horrifying looking places where they have to get a kitchen or bathroom built in. But they like them because they’re old…
It’s the deck/balcony routine that always gets me. As soon as the couple checks out the deck or balcony one of them will inevitably say, “Oh, honey, wouldn’t it be lovely to have our morning coffee out here?”
Who does that?!! 
Who grabs their first cup of coffee in the morning and immediately staggers out to their balcony with bleary eyes and bedhead to regale the neighbors with their fuzzy pj’s and bunny slippers (or lack thereof!) :eek:
I have a lovely deck. I love coffee. But in seven years of living here, I have never had my morning coffee out on my lovely deck. Must be something wrong with me…
I don’t know about you, but I don’t grab my coffee or tea or whatever until after I’ve taken care of all the preparatory necessaries, including brushing teeth, showering, and shaving. By the time I’m drinking my cuppa, I’m the opposite of bleary-eyed and bedheaded. The idea of eating or drinking anything with gross, yucky night-mouth is revolting to me.
HHI in my opinion is far more annoying. “With a budget of one million dollars, can these two stinking rich assholes afford a vacation home in Turks and Caicos?” Gee! I hope so! ::bites nails::
HHI tends to be less melodramatic people you want to strangle but just as cookie cutter. Doesn’t matter if they’re in Madrid, London, Beijing, Sydney, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires or Ravenna, they’re always shown three houses:
-The really cool beautifully situated place in the old building with fantastic views of the historic square/beach/whatever the attraction to the place is but whose fixtures and appliances and kitchen haven’t been modernized since WW2 and which has no Air Conditioning
-The condo that’s a bit boxy but in their budget that has all the modern amenities (AC, W/D, Central Heating, etc.) they’re looking for and is modern and convenient to the attraction but not in walking distance
-The big nice place that would be perfect except it’s twelve miles away
They always go with the condo that has all the modern amenities. (Not faulting them- having lived in a couple of old places over the years there’s a lot to be said for not having to deal with FDR era wiring and appliances.)
I watched an episode of HHI today where the couple bought a ruin in (I assume) some Mediterranean area for $750,000 USD - it doesn’t even have a bathroom. You have to go up about the equivalent of 20 flights of stairs to get to it at all. It does have lovely views, though, which should be enough to get them through the three years it’s going to take to modernize the ruin. I don’t know what they’re going to do about the 20 flights of stairs - put in escalators?
ETA: I was just thinking about all the money they’re sinking into this place; for, say, $1000 per night, they could stay in the poshest of posh villas for 750 nights, plus all the money they’re going to pay for renovations (possibly another 750 nights). Unless they’re actually moving to the ruin, this doesn’t make a lot of economic sense.
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ETA: I was just thinking about all the money they’re sinking into this place; for, say, $1000 per night, they could stay in the poshest of posh villas for 750 nights, plus all the money they’re going to pay for renovations (possibly another 750 nights). Unless they’re actually moving to the ruin, this doesn’t make a lot of economic sense.
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I suppose it’s kind of like people who pay $100,000 for a RV: they could stay in the nicest hotels for a few weeks per year almost indefinitely for what they pay for the vehicle and the 9 mpg gas, but they like the RV experience.
Unless this couple plans to rent out the villa when they’re not using it, though if it’s really a walk up lots of flights of stairs they’ll need luck. (Americans hate walking so much that I stayed at a beach condo in Georgia once where the third floor units [accessed by an admittedly steep staircase] were slightly more than half the price of the bottom floor units.)
Off topic, but on the topic of stairs: Gore Vidal had a gorgeous home, La Rondinaia, an Art Deco era mansion built into the cliffs above the Amalfi coast. (Pics.) It had such a steep access that visitors had to park their cars in the village half a mile away and walk to the house, which was built on several levels.
Even though Vidal loved the home and was extremely wealthy and easily able to maintain the house monetarily he had to sell it a few years ago due to hip and leg problems that have left him dependant on crutches and wheelchairs. He simply couldn’t negotiate the place.
Mentioned here because it’s one of the most valid reasons for not choosing the really cool places on HHI: their impracticality as is and with a world of “what ifs”. Great atmosphere and views but 4 floors up means “a first order bitch to move anything into or out of” and “one broken ankle will make you curse life, the universe, and everything in it”. I’ll sacrifice atmosphere for convenience any day.
That looks very much like what they bought (the “before,” that is).
I’m watching right now. an engaged couple, looks very young. Currently in a 1-bedroom apartment, wanting to move into a 4 bedroom house. The woman has a bug up her butt to have stainless appliances and dark cabinets. All for $330K in So Cal. The have an under-budget foreclosure that needs a little work, a house at the top of their price range, but (oh no!!) had pale cabinets, and a mid-range house also with pale cabinets. Of course, the decision is left up to the 2lb purse-dog.
StG
It’s completely about people being able to feel superior to the idiots who complain about the drapes or the paint. If someone came in and said “Oh, we’d have to paint of course, but that’s no big deal”, they’d end up on the cutting room floor.