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The HomeMakers House
Charlotte, North Carolina

Deep in the heart of NoDa (that�s North Davidson) in Charlotte, there was a gorgeous old house with a wide-hipped roof and generous front porch. More than a century old, this beautiful building fell into disrepair after being chopped up into awkward apartments and suffering years of neglect. A fire not too long ago sealed the deal: this gracious dwelling needed help.

In 2005, Cecil Stokes — a local producer and owner of Tentmakers Entertainment — had a new idea for a TV show: a group of women — and only women — would work together to renovate a house and create something wonderful. The women would cover all the building trade bases: contractors, builders, architects, designers, etc. The show would be called "HomeMakers," and it would air on TurnerSouth.

Once Cecil saw the old house in NoDa, his big idea came to life. The women got to work on the house, ripping down walls, tearing up burned floors and making big plans for the structure.

Given the history and integrity behind the house, the production company wanted to use only the best building materials, and preferably ones that were architecturally correct. As with so many old homes, Southern Pine played a large part in the construction of the original house. A few rooms were spared fire damage and were salvageable. Once the old flooring was pulled up, the house yielded a beautiful secret: original heart pine floors.

Cecil contacted the Southern Pine Awareness Network, and a partnership was born. Southern Pine-producing companies across the area provided an enormous amount of product for the house: interior flooring, framing, moulding (decorative and crown), exterior porch flooring, beadboard and pressure-treated decking.

To accentuate the character of the house, the HomeMakers hosts got creative in their use of Southern Pine: the entry hall flooring was stained in a harlequin pattern for a truly dramatic entrance. The floors in the downstairs office were stained/painted with a map of the world. Paneling 3/4 of the way up the dining room wall added depth and color to a small room, while custom-cut moulding brightened up the blank wall on the side of the staircase.

The house was bookended with Southern Pine products as well: a welcoming front porch was topped off with the unexpected: a beadboard ceiling painted barn red. Out the back door, a large pressure-treated Southern Pine deck not only provided the perfect transition to the backyard, but offered a peaceful place to sit and relax after a long day.

"HomeMakers" aired for a full season on the cable network TurnerSouth, now owned by FOX. You might catch a show or two in reruns � and you can pick up some gorgeous Southern Pine for yourself and your neighborhood lumber dealer or home center store!

For more information:
www.tentmakersentertainment.com