What was going through their minds?

Comedian Retta returns to the small screen as the host of Ugliest House in America, with the new season launching on January 7 on HGTV. The popular series follows the Parks and Recreation star as she travels across the nation, uncovering peculiar design decisions, baffling layouts, and, at times, dangerously unattractive home features.

Why people love HGTV’s ‘Ugliest House in America’ 

This seventh season marks a significant milestone as Retta explores her 100th ugly home—an achievement she never anticipated. Although she was aware of the abundance of unsightly houses throughout the United States, she admits she didn’t foresee such a high level of viewer fascination with the topic.

“It certainly appeals to people’s curiosity, that’s for sure,” she remarked.

The upcoming season kicks off in the Great Plains, where Retta encounters a trio of architectural nightmares. Among them is an off-grid castle featuring a peculiar room that seems to belong on a second floor, yet lacks a staircase, instead offering a carpeted incline. Another property includes a carpeted bathroom (a surprisingly common find on the show), an array of puzzling light switches, and a master bedroom sporting a massive pit, a relic from an old hot tub. Lastly, there’s a metal monstrosity devoid of straight lines, with the previous owner’s ashes sealed within the floor.

How do people end up in such bizarre homes? 

“I think generally it’s a bad decision in that they know they’re getting a deal on the house and they think, ‘We’ll do the work,’” Retta said. “A lot of times they think they’re going to do the work themselves and they don’t know what it entails.” 

In other cases, the homes themselves are in remote locations, which makes hiring contractors and bringing in equipment more difficult than people expect. 

Homeowners want their house to be the worst Retta has ever seen

Whatever leads to someone living in an ugly house, by the time people call HGTV, they’re desperate for help. (Each season, one fortunate homeowner gets a massive renovation from Windy City Rehab star Alison Victoria.) Any embarrassment they might feel over the state of the home is usually overridden by their desire to fix the problems.

“They want the renovation, so they need it to be the worst thing I’ve seen,” Retta said. “You know what I mean? They’ll try to pump it up. I feel like I’ve only had one house where everything that I commented on was the thing they had worked on and changed. And I was like, ‘You guys, I’m going to need a heads up on stuff like that.’”

Fortunately, most homeowners have a sense of humor about their situation. One of Retta’s favorite experiences filming the show involved visiting a home she dubbed the “Victorian Dollhouse.”

“Trevor was the homeowner and Trevor was just the sweetest, kindest person who just did not look like he fit that house. I was like, ‘This is like a Victorian dollhouse.’ And he’s like, ‘I just knew it could be something.’ Trevor just had high hopes … his demeanor was like, ‘I know it’s crazy, but isn’t it interesting?’” 

“Most of the reason why I love the house is because the owner is hilarious,” she added. “There was a house in North Carolina and [the owner] was so scared of her own home … she said when she moved in there, she probably called the police two, three times a week to the point where the neighbors said, ‘Stop calling the police, call us. We’ll come help you.’ Because every sound she heard she was scared of.” 

How can homeowners avoid getting stuck with an ugly house of their own? Don’t be too eager to snap up a seemingly good deal, Retta warned. 

“Like I said, some places they’re hard to get equipment to,” she said. “Some places demo alone is going to take up their whole budget. So they really need to know what things are going to cost. Ask your realtor, ‘What do you think it would be to fix this, this, this, this, and this?’ … And if they give you a number that you’re like, that’s my whole budget, don’t buy it.” 

Ugliest House in America airs Wednesdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. Episodes also stream on HBO Max.

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