April 5, 2023 • 28 mins
The Magnolia Network series "Restored" has returned for a seventh season with host Brett Waterman, who isn't doing just another cable-TV house-flipping show; this series is a serious look at the historic preservation of houses from a wide range of architectural styles.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in
which we speak with some of the brightest minds working
in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety.
Television is choc a block with home renovation shows, but
there's one that manages to stand apart from the pack. Restore,
which is about to begin its seventh season on the
(00:28):
Magnolian Network, is the one show that brings an appreciation
for architecture and history. And for that you can thank
my next guest, the host of Restored, Brett Waterman, who
stop by to explain his unique approach. We'll be back
with Brett in just a moment, and we are back
(00:52):
with Brett Waterman, hosted the unscripted series Restored, which just
returned for a new season on the Magnolia Network. You
could also find past episod streaming on the Discovery Plus
streaming service. Thanks for coming in right, Thanks Andrew, Thanks
for having me. So do you feel in the approach
that you have that is so sort of heavy on
(01:13):
architectural appreciation, that you're doing something that's a little different
from all those other kinds of shows out there, Because
that's what's always drawn me in as a viewer. I
appreciate you saying that, and I definitely think our approach
is unique, at least in regards to the television world,
because I really try to focus on restoration or renovation
(01:34):
really based on the intent of the original architecture. Because
I think in general, if you stick with the architectural
intent it's meanted to be, you really have a timeless product.
And I think that's where a lot of people get
lost when they're trying to update or stay with current trends.
They fail to recognize that the house they have has
an architectural style, and if you look closely, that style
(01:57):
can very often be timeless. Sure. I mean it seems
to me when I watch some of these other shows,
there isn't so much a respect for say, oh, let's
maintain that craftsman the way it is. It's just start like, hey,
let's do something nice, let's make something better. That's what
you know, that's what I see is different from you. Well,
thank you. I appreciate that, and I think it's true.
(02:17):
But I think it's also a kind of a fact
that has evolved because of let's be honest, mass media marketing.
Big box retailers in many ways. They want you to
change as much as they can so they can sell
as much product as they can. And sometimes when you're
in an architectural home or an older home, there is
(02:39):
so much material investment that has already been made. And
I have this problem with my general contractors often because
many general contractors don't do restoration and they want to
get in and get done right. They want to make
it quick, and restoration is not quick, and it takes
a little bit longer, but quite often it's more cost effective,
(03:00):
have a better quality of materials, and almost all the
time it's a better design quality that you're getting because
it's rooted in vintage, true architecture. And I think that's
lost in a lot of renovation because they just they
want in, they want out right, and they're not really
thinking and what's the long term investment and how that
(03:22):
affects the property in which they're working on. And so,
you know, you know, you call yourself a preservationist, and
I'm curious, do you feel that you're educating the public
on even what preservation means? Andrew, that's a great question.
I hope so, because I think it's one of the
things it's interesting and I'll step back for a second.
When we first started talking about the show on what
(03:46):
kind of show we were going to do, there was
a big focus on flipping and flipping houses, and I'm
not a flipper. In fact, I'm very much against flipping
in general because I think quite often it's all about
making a buck and it's not really about building investment
in your community and a place you're going to call home.
And I think most people when you think about building
(04:09):
a home, it's you're making an investment in yourself and
your family and your community. And I think it's really
important to kind of understand that a place that's been
there for at least thirty or forty years has an
overall impact on the greater community and it's architecturally supported
by other structures and memories for many people that are
(04:30):
already there. Does that make sense, Yeah, totally. I'm curious
actually to get your origin story in terms of how
you came to television in the first place. I know
you haven't been on Magnolia long. You were at a
sister network, dy Correct. How did you get there? It's
it's a really interesting story because I didn't I don't
(04:53):
come from the television world. I actually have a corporate background. Yeah,
I know. Everyone always says, do you not see the
corporate type. Well, all my corporate friends see me and
my construction. They go, this is shocking because many people
know me in the corporate world, suit and tie on.
I was in the auto industry for fifteen years. And
(05:16):
I guess I should back up and kind of tell
you how it happened. I've loved architecture since I was
a kid, probably because of my parents and my grandparents
love of architecture and history. I went to UCLA. I
was a history political science major. And when I came
out of college, and it's funny, I'll also tell you
that I didn't really want to go to college. My
(05:37):
parents pushed me through college because when I got out
of high school, all I wanted to do was go
work on houses. And my mom and dad said, if
you want to do that, you can do that, but
you have to go get an education first. And here
it was. You know, I kind of fought it for
many years. I got out of UCLA in eighty eight
and the market there was a big dip the housing market,
(06:01):
kind of an economic crisis. My two real loves are architecture,
nature in cars in the automotive industry, and so what
I did is there wasn't a lot going on in
the housing space when I got out of college, so
I got into the computer industry for about a year.
Wang Computers, you remember Wang. Yeah, Wang was in Boston,
(06:21):
so they recruited me to Boston. And I really didn't
love computers. But so I came back and the job
market was pretty tough, and I decided, if I'm going
to do something that I'm going to have to do
is make a living, I'm going to do something I love.
And I went around and knocked on a bunch of
company doors, and I decided was going to get in
(06:42):
the auto industry because there was nothing going on in
the housing industry at that time. And I ended up
getting hired by a company that was being started by
Toyota Motor Companies, which became Lexus. So all these years
of working in a corporate world, what I was doing
on the side, I was restoring properties. So evenings on
the weekends I would take on projects for myself and
(07:03):
neighbors and start doing restoration work. So I really had
two different channels of an income. I was working in
the corporate world, and I was doing restoration that eventually
led to a big project that I was doing actually
out in the desert in Palm Springs. It was a
historic property built in nineteen thirty. It was the old
Liberacci property and it was Easter weekend and one of
(07:28):
the neighbors had a friend in town in the entertainment
industry and they just wanted to see the house and
I said, sure, come over. I was in construction mode,
like crazy gentleman by the name of John Lavin, and
John really just said to me, he goes, is anyone
ever talked to you about doing a TV show? And
I said, no, I'm not an actor and I don't
really come from that industry. And he said, no, no,
(07:50):
I just would love to come out and follow you
with a camera one day and watch what you do
and talk to me a little about what the restoration
methodology was. And that is where it kind of started.
They put together a little sizzle reel. They sent it
to Lauren Rouche at HCTV. They looked at it, and
about two weeks later I got a call and they
(08:12):
said that they're flying out. They want to have dinner
with me, and they want to talk to me about
doing a show. So you never had any ambition to
do this. It's just sort of fell in your lap,
fell in my lap. It's one of the I think
often you know, that whole saying is life happens while
you're planning your future, you know, looking for doors, you know,
doors that are opened along the way because you never
(08:34):
know what an opportunity would be. And I remember having
some serious discussions with some of my corporate friends and
officers in my company about even doing a TV show,
and they're like, go, it's once in a life opportunity
to go have some fun with it. I thought it
was going to be a one and done thing and
the show wasn't. I wanted to do restoration, but at
(08:54):
the time, the network was really focusing on all these
flipping shows because that seemed to be where the market was.
So they came up with a concept called Backflip and
was their title, and they said, you're flipping it back
to what it was, So it was a restoration, but
they kind of posed as a flipping They we found
someone that was buying a house in nineteen seventies modern
in Palm Springs, and the whole concept was could I
(09:16):
take it back to the nineteen seventies and make it
valuable so that people would want it. And they did
a four part half hour series out of that and
it ran for a while on HGTV and d I
y and I got a call. I don't know. A
couple months later. I thought it was kind of done,
and Lauren had called me and said, he goes, well,
(09:38):
we got some interesting numbers back and we've been kind
of watching and they said the show wasn't rating as
well as we had hoped, and I go, okay, I
get it. They said, but you're rating higher than you know,
our typical and so we're interested in doing something with you.
And I was like, okay, well that's flattering, and what
does that mean. He goes, well, if you could do
any show, kind of show would you do and where
(10:01):
would you do it? And I said, well, if that's
the case, I really want to do true restoration, where
I can show people how any home can be beautifully
restored but still live for a modern day family and
meet the needs of everyday life today. And they thought
that was interesting, and he said where you want to
(10:22):
do it? And I said, well, you know, at the
time I was living in Los Angeles and he said, well,
we're doing a lot of shows in Los Angeles. He goes,
are there any communities outside of LA you would be
interested in doing. I said, there's this little town outside
of Los Angeles called Redlands. It's an incredible old town.
I've spent a lot of time there. It has an
(10:42):
incredible amount of history in great architecture, and it was
really kind of funny. That's where it kind of evolved
to the show title became restored, and we've been going
for golly, coming up on eight years. How many episodes
over that as a year, you know what, I'm embarrassed
to say. I don't know. It's got to be it's
(11:04):
well over sixty seventy episodes. It's kind of hard. There's
been a lot of shifts. During the COVID time, we
were doing some things I think they call them repacks,
where they were having us take a lot of different
footage from older shows and putting them together to tell
new stories. And so we did thirteen of those two
(11:26):
So if I think back twenty six thirty nine, probably Golly,
it's probably somewhere in the fifty to sixty range episodes
without the repacks. I think so do you. Is it
tough to find properties that you want to put on
the show or is it the opposite. There's only too
many options. Then you got to winnow it down Andrew,
(11:47):
you get it. It's it's the other way. Honestly, I
am a the proverbial kid in the candy store. There
are so many great homes and properties all over the
country that I'm dying to get my hands on. In fact,
it's usually the network in the production company that are
reigning me back. No, you can't work on that one. No,
you can't work on that one. No. Finding the properties.
(12:10):
There is a plethora of properties in need of restoration.
Because I think you asked me earlier. I call myself
a preservationist. And what makes us different. I think that
I have a love of architecture, regardless of style or period,
just pure architecture. So whether that's Victorian era, whether that's
(12:30):
American Colonial, Spanish, Colonial, English, Tutor, mid century, modern, seventies,
brutaliss I love it all. I really have a strong
love for architecture. So I like to work in a
broad range of architectural styles. And you know, from our
deco to you name it I'll work in it. I
am not an expert on everything anyone. The claims they
(12:53):
are I think is you know, false. There's just too
much out there to too much. But that's what makes
it fun because I'm always learning. I think that's the
best thing of what I get to do. And people
ask me, oh, golly, bread, we love you because you
know everything about the house. I don't. I am a
consummate student. I'm looking every time. I mean, I have
(13:14):
a lot of experience. I've been doing this since I
was a kid, so i have a strong sense of curiosity,
and I'm always looking at the details that support the
architectural story. So I think that provides a bit of
a framework for how I look at a property. So
if I'm looking at an Art Deco and that was
built in nineteen thirty, there's going to be certain queues
(13:36):
in the house that should be there to support that
architectural style. You can take that same kind of methodology
across every period, based on the materials, the way you
use the materials, and what the architect had intended. So
that's why I like working in a variety of house
and I think that's why there's so many homes out
there that I don't have as shortage of homes to
(13:58):
work on. We'll be back in just a moment with
Brett Waterman, host of Restore. And we are back with
the host of Magnolian Network TV show Restored, Brett Waterman.
(14:21):
Do you have a business in preservation independent of the show?
Are you just doing stuff separately that makes money or
is this all I'm just curious about the business of
Brett Waterman. I I don't promote it, to be honest
with you, because it's word of mouth. I will also
tell you that social media Instagram has just been a juggernaut.
(14:41):
I'm turning away more work than I can possibly take
right now. I have a lot of private clients. I
don't talk a lot about my private clients because they're
a little bit private, you know. They they've chosen not
to be on the television, and there are many people
that don't want. I don't post a lot on the
house and show that work because people want to be
(15:02):
a little bit out of the public purview on some
of the stuff. I think the biggest challenge I have
is meeting the needs of the amount of demand I have,
so at some point I have to make a decision
do I bring on more people to help me out,
which is another challenge because I, as you mentioned earlier,
I probably have a unique way of looking at preservation
(15:24):
renovation from an architectural perspective. So yes, short answer is
I do have quite a large business on the side,
and I would imagine the show helps build that business.
Right well, Andrew, I never thought that I would be
doing what I love every day. In fact, much the
chagrin of my family and friends, this is a seven
(15:45):
day a week job. I work a lot. But and
then in my age, many people are saying, golly bread,
don't you want to retire? And I go, well, why
would I want to retire. I'm doing what I love.
I don't think I will ever retire. And so the
fact that I'm working six seven days a week is
because I'm doing what I love. It's honestly, it's the
(16:05):
passion is there. I get excited every day when I
get to go meet a new client, see a property
I haven't seen before, and discover something new. I think.
I think that's basic human necessity or a need. Is
the sense of curiosity? Are you always learning new things
because new things are exciting? And in the world of architecture.
(16:26):
Every day there's something new, and I think the excitement
that you have comes across on TV. I think that's
the key to the appeal of the show. But I'm
also wonder is the Brett Waterman we see on TV,
the Brett Waterman we that might be working with private clients?
Do you know do you always have the stetson on?
Do you you know exuding? You know? I'm just curious,
(16:48):
do you have Is this a persona? I guess is
what I'm asking. No, it is funny, you know the hat.
So a lot of people ask me about the hat.
I wear it a lot. I wear it less now
because I I can't go out as much and get through.
So Lee she works with me. She's she's my right
(17:08):
hand she's my design partner. She gets frustrated. So if
we go out somewhere and we're on a client job
and we're trying to move, she will literally be like,
you're leaving the hat in the truck throwing a baseball cap,
because if you have a cowboy hat on, we're not
getting anywhere. So the hat's an interesting thing too, because
I've always worn a cowboy hat working outside. Now I
(17:28):
will tell you. Also, all of my family and friends
in Oklahoma and even in Washington and Idaho have schooled
me about you know, you're not supposed to be wearing
a cowboy hat inside. I know, but you tell the
people on TV that And it got to the point
almost where they don't want me to take the hat
off because it's a branding thing. Sure, and I word
(17:49):
a lot. It was interesting because when back when you
asked me early how it all started, I was wearing
a cowboy hat because I was working outside doing landscaping.
So a cowboy hat is great for protecting your head,
a sensibility around you from the sun, everything else. And
I had told him, I said, you want me to
take the hat off? When they were doing this is
when he goes, no, no, leave the hat on. He
goes I kind of like it. I'm like, okay, it's
(18:10):
never come off. And that's kind of the way it's been.
The other thing you asked me, is it a persona
or is this an act? I'm not an actor. And
this for time you and I are sitting down together
and talking, I mean, do I seem different to you
in person versus well, no, no, you seem exactly the same,
but that that doesn't still mean that there isn't a
bit of a persona. It makes me think of like
(18:32):
that Bob Ross, the guy who did the show that
The Painter Guy was on at midnight, right, and you
what what you learned I think in a recent documentary
that I saw was that there was a bit of
persona to him, even his like he permed his hair
as kind of like a yeah it wasn't really natural,
no no, no so and again nothing wrong with that, yeah,
(18:53):
just but you're telling me what you see is what
you get, and that's probably the best way to go.
I will tell you it is probably the one thing
I get all the time. I mean, and the network
and even the pression sometimes would be like Brett, you're
a little boisterous, You're a little loud. I'm a big kid.
I've been that way in my whole life. That's just
who I am most of time. When I meet people
(19:15):
in the street, the common question or common is you
really are the same guy? I'm like, yeah, I'm not
an actor. This is what I love to do, and
I just get to do it in front of a camera.
So it's a blessing for sure. It's also I could
tell you if someone who's met a lot of you know,
unscripted TV talent over the years, it's an aberration. Most
(19:35):
people are not what they're like on camera. I think
they kind of bring a little something different, and there's
nothing wrong with that, but it's just interesting to know,
you know, kind of where you stand with this. So
now that you do, you do you feel like you've
got multiple more seasons of this show in you or
there are other things you're looking to do. I'm just
curious to get a sense of the future of your
(19:57):
media career. Can you see the smile on this face now? Well,
I mean you could argue that your business is booming,
maybe you don't need to be doing the TV thing. Well,
I mean you asked Earliers. The TV driving. The TV's
absolutely driving the business. I mean they opened up so
many doors for me. I mean, TV honestly opened a
door that I never imagined would happen for me. I
(20:19):
thought I would just be doing projects for myself and
family and friends. But it really was a conduit to
open up an opportunity for me. And the other thing
about television is, forget the on camera stuff that you
see it's the behind camera stuff that's so fun. I
meet so many great people. I get to go to
(20:42):
new communities, see great architecture, meet great contractors and vendors.
We're all like a big family. I mean, Oh my goodness,
I can tell you how my large, our network of friends,
I mean, and most of the people I end up
doing their properties from for the show, they all become friends.
I mean, I just went to a retirement party for
one the other day, and then one of the other
(21:04):
homeowners from another show actually ended up knowing the other person,
so we all went together. Life is what you make it,
and quite often, if you're blessed enough to do something
you love and you're around a lot of other people
that love what they do, it's a really great environment
to be in. So, and your question was do I
see a future in television? Is it going to keep going?
(21:26):
And do I have the energy for it? The question,
or the answer I should say, is yes. In fact,
I think you're going to see an expansion of what
we've been doing, and that's kind of where I would
love to see some From a business perspective, yes, I mean,
I would be a poor businessman if I didn't realize
that I should be capitalizing on my successes now for
(21:50):
future growth. Absolutely, but I will also tell you that
it like any good business, you have to balance the
love of the work with the monetary gain, and to
some extent, you have to be able to put food
on the table. I'm fortunate that I've already had a
corporate career before i started doing this, so financially, I'm fine.
(22:12):
If television stop tomorrow, I'm going to be fine. But
I love doing what I do and I'm going to
do it as long as it will allow me to
do it. But it sounds sounds like if I heard
you're right that you've got sort of an expansion plan.
I do absolutely to share what you're thinking. Well, I
(22:33):
think there's a lot in development right now. But I
will pose a question, and that might be a little telling.
You said that you think Restored you told me this
personally earlier, and you mentioned this that you think Restored
is different than most other things you see on television
because the way we look at architecture and how we
try to frame our work and restoration and construction around
(22:57):
the original structures of the house and materials. What I
have found by doing this work, and I mentioned earlier
what I really love is the discovery. That's what a
lot of people have about the show. When I'm digging
into a wall and you don't know what you're going
to find, and there's always clues that are left behind,
you just have to know where you're looking. I think
(23:17):
that is something that can be very addictive. I think
a lot of people love the sense of curiosity and
finding things new. But there's new things all over this
country and North America in small towns and villages that
people don't think there's anything interesting there. I've always love
look when I travel. I've travel all over this country.
When I'm in new areas, I'm always looking for the
(23:40):
older communities and what's their architecturally, what's there in landscape,
park services, people, businesses. I think part of what I
do is linking history with a modern day relativity. So
how do you take what's in the past and make
it relevant today and exciting and fun so that people
can be very proud of their communities, proud of the
(24:02):
place they live in. And along the way I get
to meet some fun people and hear some new stories.
So I would like to take restored or version of
restored across the country and see new townships and sometimes
I even hate to use the term, but what many
people would call second or third tier cities or small towns,
(24:22):
Because if you have a town that has more than
ten thousand people in it, I will tell you there's
something there. There's something that drew those people there, be
that their churches, their synagogues, their temples, a business, a
natural setting. There's something that's holding people to that community,
and that's locked in history, and it's still relevant if
there's people still there. And sometimes you just have to
(24:45):
crack the window to let people see what the people
that live there are in love with and why they
love their town. You've traveled, right, What do you find
when you're out somewhere and you meet new people in
a remote village or somewhere else in the wor world.
Do you find people to be engaging and friendly? Oh? Absolutely.
I can think of a few different trips I've taken
(25:06):
over the years, Cuba, for instance, where it was all
about meeting the people and them sharing what their lives
were like in the places. You know, Cuba interesting architecturally
for sure, amazing. Yeah, So I know what you mean,
and I think that's I think that you can relate
that to any place in any location if you take
an interest in somebody in their town. And quite often
(25:27):
what I found, like, I worked in Saint Louis for
years and I love love that city. It's honestly one
of the most spectacular cities in North America. But what
I often found was when I was working in Saint
Louis and they found out that I was from Los Angeles,
They're like, oh, I'm sorry, you know, you must really
hate being here. I'm like, what are you talking about.
You have one of the most amazing cities I've ever seen,
and then you start getting excited and showing things. It's
(25:49):
like what I do with homeowners are in their houses.
Quite often they don't realize how special of a house
they have until you start showing them materials, details, workmanship,
and they're like, we didn't see that. So it's the
trained eye that opens up the world to the beauty
and things that make everything unique and special. I think
it's all over the country, it's all over the world.
(26:12):
Last question, I'm curious about your relationship with Magnolia the Network.
In other words, are they just like, hey, Brett, do
your thing or are they very hands on? Lots of
notes like just curious. It's it's really been amazing. I
mean I'm not just saying that it's funny because when
(26:32):
Chip and Joe came in forgive me sorry for the
few people on the planet who don't know them by
their first name, Chip and Joe Gaines, when they came
in to kind of reformulate their own brand and build
something special, and they took a lot from the day.
First off, I got to back up and see scripts
Networks who originally h ETV and discovering all it. We've
(26:55):
been a very tight knit group and it's like a
big family, and they've been phenomenal to work with. Friends.
I have a lot of friends in the network have
been great. Chip and Joe take it and Alison, I
gotta say Page they take it to another level because
it is like working with your neighbor. Literally, they're kind,
they're engaging, they listen to you, they want your opinion,
and they for the most part of giving me free
(27:16):
rein to do what I want. I think they tell
me all the time, Brett, we just want you to
be you, do what you love, and will support you.
It's really been incredible. Well, you can't ask for better
advice than that. Brett. Thanks for coming in and telling
me all about what you're doing. You've got one of
my favorite shows and I can't thank you enough for
the opportunity to pick your brain and hear more about
(27:39):
what you do. Thank you and thanks for having me.
This has been another episode of Strictly Business. Tune in
next week for another helping of scintillating conversation with media
movers and shakers, and please make sure you subscribe to
the podcast to hear future episodes. Also leave a review
(28:00):
an Apple podcast and let us know how we're doing.
M
Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in
which we speak with some of the brightest minds working
in the media business today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety.
Television is choc a block with home renovation shows, but
there's one that manages to stand apart from the pack. Restore,
which is about to begin its seventh season on the
(00:28):
Magnolian Network, is the one show that brings an appreciation
for architecture and history. And for that you can thank
my next guest, the host of Restored, Brett Waterman, who
stop by to explain his unique approach. We'll be back
with Brett in just a moment, and we are back
(00:52):
with Brett Waterman, hosted the unscripted series Restored, which just
returned for a new season on the Magnolia Network. You
could also find past episod streaming on the Discovery Plus
streaming service. Thanks for coming in right, Thanks Andrew, Thanks
for having me. So do you feel in the approach
that you have that is so sort of heavy on
(01:13):
architectural appreciation, that you're doing something that's a little different
from all those other kinds of shows out there, Because
that's what's always drawn me in as a viewer. I
appreciate you saying that, and I definitely think our approach
is unique, at least in regards to the television world,
because I really try to focus on restoration or renovation
(01:34):
really based on the intent of the original architecture. Because
I think in general, if you stick with the architectural
intent it's meanted to be, you really have a timeless product.
And I think that's where a lot of people get
lost when they're trying to update or stay with current trends.
They fail to recognize that the house they have has
an architectural style, and if you look closely, that style
(01:57):
can very often be timeless. Sure. I mean it seems
to me when I watch some of these other shows,
there isn't so much a respect for say, oh, let's
maintain that craftsman the way it is. It's just start like, hey,
let's do something nice, let's make something better. That's what
you know, that's what I see is different from you. Well,
thank you. I appreciate that, and I think it's true.
(02:17):
But I think it's also a kind of a fact
that has evolved because of let's be honest, mass media marketing.
Big box retailers in many ways. They want you to
change as much as they can so they can sell
as much product as they can. And sometimes when you're
in an architectural home or an older home, there is
(02:39):
so much material investment that has already been made. And
I have this problem with my general contractors often because
many general contractors don't do restoration and they want to
get in and get done right. They want to make
it quick, and restoration is not quick, and it takes
a little bit longer, but quite often it's more cost effective,
(03:00):
have a better quality of materials, and almost all the
time it's a better design quality that you're getting because
it's rooted in vintage, true architecture. And I think that's
lost in a lot of renovation because they just they
want in, they want out right, and they're not really
thinking and what's the long term investment and how that
(03:22):
affects the property in which they're working on. And so,
you know, you know, you call yourself a preservationist, and
I'm curious, do you feel that you're educating the public
on even what preservation means? Andrew, that's a great question.
I hope so, because I think it's one of the
things it's interesting and I'll step back for a second.
When we first started talking about the show on what
(03:46):
kind of show we were going to do, there was
a big focus on flipping and flipping houses, and I'm
not a flipper. In fact, I'm very much against flipping
in general because I think quite often it's all about
making a buck and it's not really about building investment
in your community and a place you're going to call home.
And I think most people when you think about building
(04:09):
a home, it's you're making an investment in yourself and
your family and your community. And I think it's really
important to kind of understand that a place that's been
there for at least thirty or forty years has an
overall impact on the greater community and it's architecturally supported
by other structures and memories for many people that are
(04:30):
already there. Does that make sense, Yeah, totally. I'm curious
actually to get your origin story in terms of how
you came to television in the first place. I know
you haven't been on Magnolia long. You were at a
sister network, dy Correct. How did you get there? It's
it's a really interesting story because I didn't I don't
(04:53):
come from the television world. I actually have a corporate background. Yeah,
I know. Everyone always says, do you not see the
corporate type. Well, all my corporate friends see me and
my construction. They go, this is shocking because many people
know me in the corporate world, suit and tie on.
I was in the auto industry for fifteen years. And
(05:16):
I guess I should back up and kind of tell
you how it happened. I've loved architecture since I was
a kid, probably because of my parents and my grandparents
love of architecture and history. I went to UCLA. I
was a history political science major. And when I came
out of college, and it's funny, I'll also tell you
that I didn't really want to go to college. My
(05:37):
parents pushed me through college because when I got out
of high school, all I wanted to do was go
work on houses. And my mom and dad said, if
you want to do that, you can do that, but
you have to go get an education first. And here
it was. You know, I kind of fought it for
many years. I got out of UCLA in eighty eight
and the market there was a big dip the housing market,
(06:01):
kind of an economic crisis. My two real loves are architecture,
nature in cars in the automotive industry, and so what
I did is there wasn't a lot going on in
the housing space when I got out of college, so
I got into the computer industry for about a year.
Wang Computers, you remember Wang. Yeah, Wang was in Boston,
(06:21):
so they recruited me to Boston. And I really didn't
love computers. But so I came back and the job
market was pretty tough, and I decided, if I'm going
to do something that I'm going to have to do
is make a living, I'm going to do something I love.
And I went around and knocked on a bunch of
company doors, and I decided was going to get in
(06:42):
the auto industry because there was nothing going on in
the housing industry at that time. And I ended up
getting hired by a company that was being started by
Toyota Motor Companies, which became Lexus. So all these years
of working in a corporate world, what I was doing
on the side, I was restoring properties. So evenings on
the weekends I would take on projects for myself and
(07:03):
neighbors and start doing restoration work. So I really had
two different channels of an income. I was working in
the corporate world, and I was doing restoration that eventually
led to a big project that I was doing actually
out in the desert in Palm Springs. It was a
historic property built in nineteen thirty. It was the old
Liberacci property and it was Easter weekend and one of
(07:28):
the neighbors had a friend in town in the entertainment
industry and they just wanted to see the house and
I said, sure, come over. I was in construction mode,
like crazy gentleman by the name of John Lavin, and
John really just said to me, he goes, is anyone
ever talked to you about doing a TV show? And
I said, no, I'm not an actor and I don't
really come from that industry. And he said, no, no,
(07:50):
I just would love to come out and follow you
with a camera one day and watch what you do
and talk to me a little about what the restoration
methodology was. And that is where it kind of started.
They put together a little sizzle reel. They sent it
to Lauren Rouche at HCTV. They looked at it, and
about two weeks later I got a call and they
(08:12):
said that they're flying out. They want to have dinner
with me, and they want to talk to me about
doing a show. So you never had any ambition to
do this. It's just sort of fell in your lap,
fell in my lap. It's one of the I think
often you know, that whole saying is life happens while
you're planning your future, you know, looking for doors, you know,
doors that are opened along the way because you never
(08:34):
know what an opportunity would be. And I remember having
some serious discussions with some of my corporate friends and
officers in my company about even doing a TV show,
and they're like, go, it's once in a life opportunity
to go have some fun with it. I thought it
was going to be a one and done thing and
the show wasn't. I wanted to do restoration, but at
(08:54):
the time, the network was really focusing on all these
flipping shows because that seemed to be where the market was.
So they came up with a concept called Backflip and
was their title, and they said, you're flipping it back
to what it was, So it was a restoration, but
they kind of posed as a flipping They we found
someone that was buying a house in nineteen seventies modern
in Palm Springs, and the whole concept was could I
(09:16):
take it back to the nineteen seventies and make it
valuable so that people would want it. And they did
a four part half hour series out of that and
it ran for a while on HGTV and d I
y and I got a call. I don't know. A
couple months later. I thought it was kind of done,
and Lauren had called me and said, he goes, well,
(09:38):
we got some interesting numbers back and we've been kind
of watching and they said the show wasn't rating as
well as we had hoped, and I go, okay, I
get it. They said, but you're rating higher than you know,
our typical and so we're interested in doing something with you.
And I was like, okay, well that's flattering, and what
does that mean. He goes, well, if you could do
any show, kind of show would you do and where
(10:01):
would you do it? And I said, well, if that's
the case, I really want to do true restoration, where
I can show people how any home can be beautifully
restored but still live for a modern day family and
meet the needs of everyday life today. And they thought
that was interesting, and he said where you want to
(10:22):
do it? And I said, well, you know, at the
time I was living in Los Angeles and he said, well,
we're doing a lot of shows in Los Angeles. He goes,
are there any communities outside of LA you would be
interested in doing. I said, there's this little town outside
of Los Angeles called Redlands. It's an incredible old town.
I've spent a lot of time there. It has an
(10:42):
incredible amount of history in great architecture, and it was
really kind of funny. That's where it kind of evolved
to the show title became restored, and we've been going
for golly, coming up on eight years. How many episodes
over that as a year, you know what, I'm embarrassed
to say. I don't know. It's got to be it's
(11:04):
well over sixty seventy episodes. It's kind of hard. There's
been a lot of shifts. During the COVID time, we
were doing some things I think they call them repacks,
where they were having us take a lot of different
footage from older shows and putting them together to tell
new stories. And so we did thirteen of those two
(11:26):
So if I think back twenty six thirty nine, probably Golly,
it's probably somewhere in the fifty to sixty range episodes
without the repacks. I think so do you. Is it
tough to find properties that you want to put on
the show or is it the opposite. There's only too
many options. Then you got to winnow it down Andrew,
(11:47):
you get it. It's it's the other way. Honestly, I
am a the proverbial kid in the candy store. There
are so many great homes and properties all over the
country that I'm dying to get my hands on. In fact,
it's usually the network in the production company that are
reigning me back. No, you can't work on that one. No,
you can't work on that one. No. Finding the properties.
(12:10):
There is a plethora of properties in need of restoration.
Because I think you asked me earlier. I call myself
a preservationist. And what makes us different. I think that
I have a love of architecture, regardless of style or period,
just pure architecture. So whether that's Victorian era, whether that's
(12:30):
American Colonial, Spanish, Colonial, English, Tutor, mid century, modern, seventies,
brutaliss I love it all. I really have a strong
love for architecture. So I like to work in a
broad range of architectural styles. And you know, from our
deco to you name it I'll work in it. I
am not an expert on everything anyone. The claims they
(12:53):
are I think is you know, false. There's just too
much out there to too much. But that's what makes
it fun because I'm always learning. I think that's the
best thing of what I get to do. And people
ask me, oh, golly, bread, we love you because you
know everything about the house. I don't. I am a
consummate student. I'm looking every time. I mean, I have
(13:14):
a lot of experience. I've been doing this since I
was a kid, so i have a strong sense of curiosity,
and I'm always looking at the details that support the
architectural story. So I think that provides a bit of
a framework for how I look at a property. So
if I'm looking at an Art Deco and that was
built in nineteen thirty, there's going to be certain queues
(13:36):
in the house that should be there to support that
architectural style. You can take that same kind of methodology
across every period, based on the materials, the way you
use the materials, and what the architect had intended. So
that's why I like working in a variety of house
and I think that's why there's so many homes out
there that I don't have as shortage of homes to
(13:58):
work on. We'll be back in just a moment with
Brett Waterman, host of Restore. And we are back with
the host of Magnolian Network TV show Restored, Brett Waterman.
(14:21):
Do you have a business in preservation independent of the show?
Are you just doing stuff separately that makes money or
is this all I'm just curious about the business of
Brett Waterman. I I don't promote it, to be honest
with you, because it's word of mouth. I will also
tell you that social media Instagram has just been a juggernaut.
(14:41):
I'm turning away more work than I can possibly take
right now. I have a lot of private clients. I
don't talk a lot about my private clients because they're
a little bit private, you know. They they've chosen not
to be on the television, and there are many people
that don't want. I don't post a lot on the
house and show that work because people want to be
(15:02):
a little bit out of the public purview on some
of the stuff. I think the biggest challenge I have
is meeting the needs of the amount of demand I have,
so at some point I have to make a decision
do I bring on more people to help me out,
which is another challenge because I, as you mentioned earlier,
I probably have a unique way of looking at preservation
(15:24):
renovation from an architectural perspective. So yes, short answer is
I do have quite a large business on the side,
and I would imagine the show helps build that business.
Right well, Andrew, I never thought that I would be
doing what I love every day. In fact, much the
chagrin of my family and friends, this is a seven
(15:45):
day a week job. I work a lot. But and
then in my age, many people are saying, golly bread,
don't you want to retire? And I go, well, why
would I want to retire. I'm doing what I love.
I don't think I will ever retire. And so the
fact that I'm working six seven days a week is
because I'm doing what I love. It's honestly, it's the
(16:05):
passion is there. I get excited every day when I
get to go meet a new client, see a property
I haven't seen before, and discover something new. I think.
I think that's basic human necessity or a need. Is
the sense of curiosity? Are you always learning new things
because new things are exciting? And in the world of architecture.
(16:26):
Every day there's something new, and I think the excitement
that you have comes across on TV. I think that's
the key to the appeal of the show. But I'm
also wonder is the Brett Waterman we see on TV,
the Brett Waterman we that might be working with private clients?
Do you know do you always have the stetson on?
Do you you know exuding? You know? I'm just curious,
(16:48):
do you have Is this a persona? I guess is
what I'm asking. No, it is funny, you know the hat.
So a lot of people ask me about the hat.
I wear it a lot. I wear it less now
because I I can't go out as much and get through.
So Lee she works with me. She's she's my right
(17:08):
hand she's my design partner. She gets frustrated. So if
we go out somewhere and we're on a client job
and we're trying to move, she will literally be like,
you're leaving the hat in the truck throwing a baseball cap,
because if you have a cowboy hat on, we're not
getting anywhere. So the hat's an interesting thing too, because
I've always worn a cowboy hat working outside. Now I
(17:28):
will tell you. Also, all of my family and friends
in Oklahoma and even in Washington and Idaho have schooled
me about you know, you're not supposed to be wearing
a cowboy hat inside. I know, but you tell the
people on TV that And it got to the point
almost where they don't want me to take the hat
off because it's a branding thing. Sure, and I word
(17:49):
a lot. It was interesting because when back when you
asked me early how it all started, I was wearing
a cowboy hat because I was working outside doing landscaping.
So a cowboy hat is great for protecting your head,
a sensibility around you from the sun, everything else. And
I had told him, I said, you want me to
take the hat off? When they were doing this is
when he goes, no, no, leave the hat on. He
goes I kind of like it. I'm like, okay, it's
(18:10):
never come off. And that's kind of the way it's been.
The other thing you asked me, is it a persona
or is this an act? I'm not an actor. And
this for time you and I are sitting down together
and talking, I mean, do I seem different to you
in person versus well, no, no, you seem exactly the same,
but that that doesn't still mean that there isn't a
bit of a persona. It makes me think of like
(18:32):
that Bob Ross, the guy who did the show that
The Painter Guy was on at midnight, right, and you
what what you learned I think in a recent documentary
that I saw was that there was a bit of
persona to him, even his like he permed his hair
as kind of like a yeah it wasn't really natural,
no no, no so and again nothing wrong with that, yeah,
(18:53):
just but you're telling me what you see is what
you get, and that's probably the best way to go.
I will tell you it is probably the one thing
I get all the time. I mean, and the network
and even the pression sometimes would be like Brett, you're
a little boisterous, You're a little loud. I'm a big kid.
I've been that way in my whole life. That's just
who I am most of time. When I meet people
(19:15):
in the street, the common question or common is you
really are the same guy? I'm like, yeah, I'm not
an actor. This is what I love to do, and
I just get to do it in front of a camera.
So it's a blessing for sure. It's also I could
tell you if someone who's met a lot of you know,
unscripted TV talent over the years, it's an aberration. Most
(19:35):
people are not what they're like on camera. I think
they kind of bring a little something different, and there's
nothing wrong with that, but it's just interesting to know,
you know, kind of where you stand with this. So
now that you do, you do you feel like you've
got multiple more seasons of this show in you or
there are other things you're looking to do. I'm just
curious to get a sense of the future of your
(19:57):
media career. Can you see the smile on this face now? Well,
I mean you could argue that your business is booming,
maybe you don't need to be doing the TV thing. Well,
I mean you asked Earliers. The TV driving. The TV's
absolutely driving the business. I mean they opened up so
many doors for me. I mean, TV honestly opened a
door that I never imagined would happen for me. I
(20:19):
thought I would just be doing projects for myself and
family and friends. But it really was a conduit to
open up an opportunity for me. And the other thing
about television is, forget the on camera stuff that you
see it's the behind camera stuff that's so fun. I
meet so many great people. I get to go to
(20:42):
new communities, see great architecture, meet great contractors and vendors.
We're all like a big family. I mean, Oh my goodness,
I can tell you how my large, our network of friends,
I mean, and most of the people I end up
doing their properties from for the show, they all become friends.
I mean, I just went to a retirement party for
one the other day, and then one of the other
(21:04):
homeowners from another show actually ended up knowing the other person,
so we all went together. Life is what you make it,
and quite often, if you're blessed enough to do something
you love and you're around a lot of other people
that love what they do, it's a really great environment
to be in. So, and your question was do I
see a future in television? Is it going to keep going?
(21:26):
And do I have the energy for it? The question,
or the answer I should say, is yes. In fact,
I think you're going to see an expansion of what
we've been doing, and that's kind of where I would
love to see some From a business perspective, yes, I mean,
I would be a poor businessman if I didn't realize
that I should be capitalizing on my successes now for
(21:50):
future growth. Absolutely, but I will also tell you that
it like any good business, you have to balance the
love of the work with the monetary gain, and to
some extent, you have to be able to put food
on the table. I'm fortunate that I've already had a
corporate career before i started doing this, so financially, I'm fine.
(22:12):
If television stop tomorrow, I'm going to be fine. But
I love doing what I do and I'm going to
do it as long as it will allow me to
do it. But it sounds sounds like if I heard
you're right that you've got sort of an expansion plan.
I do absolutely to share what you're thinking. Well, I
(22:33):
think there's a lot in development right now. But I
will pose a question, and that might be a little telling.
You said that you think Restored you told me this
personally earlier, and you mentioned this that you think Restored
is different than most other things you see on television
because the way we look at architecture and how we
try to frame our work and restoration and construction around
(22:57):
the original structures of the house and materials. What I
have found by doing this work, and I mentioned earlier
what I really love is the discovery. That's what a
lot of people have about the show. When I'm digging
into a wall and you don't know what you're going
to find, and there's always clues that are left behind,
you just have to know where you're looking. I think
(23:17):
that is something that can be very addictive. I think
a lot of people love the sense of curiosity and
finding things new. But there's new things all over this
country and North America in small towns and villages that
people don't think there's anything interesting there. I've always love
look when I travel. I've travel all over this country.
When I'm in new areas, I'm always looking for the
(23:40):
older communities and what's their architecturally, what's there in landscape,
park services, people, businesses. I think part of what I
do is linking history with a modern day relativity. So
how do you take what's in the past and make
it relevant today and exciting and fun so that people
can be very proud of their communities, proud of the
(24:02):
place they live in. And along the way I get
to meet some fun people and hear some new stories.
So I would like to take restored or version of
restored across the country and see new townships and sometimes
I even hate to use the term, but what many
people would call second or third tier cities or small towns,
(24:22):
Because if you have a town that has more than
ten thousand people in it, I will tell you there's
something there. There's something that drew those people there, be
that their churches, their synagogues, their temples, a business, a
natural setting. There's something that's holding people to that community,
and that's locked in history, and it's still relevant if
there's people still there. And sometimes you just have to
(24:45):
crack the window to let people see what the people
that live there are in love with and why they
love their town. You've traveled, right, What do you find
when you're out somewhere and you meet new people in
a remote village or somewhere else in the wor world.
Do you find people to be engaging and friendly? Oh? Absolutely.
I can think of a few different trips I've taken
(25:06):
over the years, Cuba, for instance, where it was all
about meeting the people and them sharing what their lives
were like in the places. You know, Cuba interesting architecturally
for sure, amazing. Yeah, So I know what you mean,
and I think that's I think that you can relate
that to any place in any location if you take
an interest in somebody in their town. And quite often
(25:27):
what I found, like, I worked in Saint Louis for
years and I love love that city. It's honestly one
of the most spectacular cities in North America. But what
I often found was when I was working in Saint
Louis and they found out that I was from Los Angeles,
They're like, oh, I'm sorry, you know, you must really
hate being here. I'm like, what are you talking about.
You have one of the most amazing cities I've ever seen,
and then you start getting excited and showing things. It's
(25:49):
like what I do with homeowners are in their houses.
Quite often they don't realize how special of a house
they have until you start showing them materials, details, workmanship,
and they're like, we didn't see that. So it's the
trained eye that opens up the world to the beauty
and things that make everything unique and special. I think
it's all over the country, it's all over the world.
(26:12):
Last question, I'm curious about your relationship with Magnolia the Network.
In other words, are they just like, hey, Brett, do
your thing or are they very hands on? Lots of
notes like just curious. It's it's really been amazing. I
mean I'm not just saying that it's funny because when
(26:32):
Chip and Joe came in forgive me sorry for the
few people on the planet who don't know them by
their first name, Chip and Joe Gaines, when they came
in to kind of reformulate their own brand and build
something special, and they took a lot from the day.
First off, I got to back up and see scripts
Networks who originally h ETV and discovering all it. We've
(26:55):
been a very tight knit group and it's like a
big family, and they've been phenomenal to work with. Friends.
I have a lot of friends in the network have
been great. Chip and Joe take it and Alison, I
gotta say Page they take it to another level because
it is like working with your neighbor. Literally, they're kind,
they're engaging, they listen to you, they want your opinion,
and they for the most part of giving me free
(27:16):
rein to do what I want. I think they tell
me all the time, Brett, we just want you to
be you, do what you love, and will support you.
It's really been incredible. Well, you can't ask for better
advice than that. Brett. Thanks for coming in and telling
me all about what you're doing. You've got one of
my favorite shows and I can't thank you enough for
the opportunity to pick your brain and hear more about
(27:39):
what you do. Thank you and thanks for having me.
This has been another episode of Strictly Business. Tune in
next week for another helping of scintillating conversation with media
movers and shakers, and please make sure you subscribe to
the podcast to hear future episodes. Also leave a review
(28:00):
an Apple podcast and let us know how we're doing.
M
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com