5 minute read
Luke Caldwell and Clint Robertson Are the "Dads of HGTV"
PHOTO COURTESY HGTV
BY APRIL NEALE
Helping Local Families in New Series, Outgrown
HGTV has reimagined their “network dads,” Luke Caldwell and Clint Robertson, known as “The Boise Boys,” in a compelling new format. Their series, Outgrown, is a natural progression from being yet another house-flipping show into something that reflects the current real estate market zeitgeist.
“Outgrown is all about making what you have work better for you,” says Clint Robertson. “HGTV executives are wonderful, and we’re fortunate that they bought into us and (we hope) more good stuff to come.”
Caldwell and Robertson help Treasure Valley families take their existing homes and renovate them with a better design and flow for additions or subtractions. “We weren’t the ones to envision it,” Luke Caldwell says. “The HGTV executive said, ‘You guys are the dads of HGTV, the family men with amazing families. It’d be so cool to see your families helping other families figure out how to make their houses work for them because you two have been doing that all your lives.’”
Luke was happy to see what Outgrown delivers to viewers. “There’s a lot of people who are in Boise who love their homes and don’t want to move, but their spaces are not working for them because families are always changing,” he says. “So how do you make your house layout work for you? Especially now, there’s not a better time to make the home you have work better for you.”
Observers see the Boise real estate market still riding a tidal wave of percentage gains. Yet many people find themselves in fluctuating family dynamics and cannot afford a bigger new home in their desired Boise neighborhoods. Clint and Luke found themselves in a similar spot and downsized slightly. Robertson has two sons, Jake and Eli, enrolled in medical school, and the youngest son, Daniel, heading that way soon.
“I will never live anywhere in Boise other than the East End,” Robertson says. “We’ve got a new little place where you can spread out. We are empty-nesters now, so we wanted a place that worked better for when the boys come back home.”
And Caldwell is looking to design a custom home near the Boise River next to the house he sold. As he explains, “I downsized, shockingly enough. My wife and I had a baby seven months ago. We have eight kids now. And four bedrooms seems like a lot at the time, but with got ten people living under one roof, we truly have outgrown our house. So our goal is to build a home. I’m working on designing it right now. Still, financially, we’re saving up to build a home that will cater to our family long-term, especially with our kids who have special needs. We bought an acre and a half, one house away from our previous house. So we have a spot right near the Greenbelt.”
The two men have a profound commonality in their values of fatherhood, family, and tireless hard work. Still, their personalities and skill sets diverge in ways that make them the perfect HGTV partners to bring the aesthetic and the practical together in ways that define a Caldwell and Robertson eye-catching collaboration. Along with Robertson’s crack construction skills, Caldwell’s eclectic design ethos marries each family’s heirlooms with vintage treasures to create an updated, modern, and functional space, often with new architectural bones.
Caldwell says, “I love clean and simple, and I love it always to feel warm and inviting. I think that you’ve got to have that soul to whatever [design] you’re doing. I’m very intentional with design. I think curating unique items, understanding how they can play with textures and organic materials, and meshing them together takes a lot of thought and intention. That’s how I love to design because it gives it meaning.”
The catch-22 for many homeowners is where to go next in a hot real estate market that is the right location and affordable.As Robertson says, “I think Outgrown is so timely as prices on housing, in general, are going up and people are trying to make the most of where they are, knowing that if they just sell their house, they don’t always know where they going to go next.”
Of course, not everyone has deep pockets to add a luxury kitchen or bath. Robertson notes how to add a tremendous value to a home with a bit of clean-up and landscaping effort. “I think that the first impressions are everything. I thought my wife was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen when we first met, and then I realized, ‘Wow, she’s got an even more beautiful heart than her beauty on the outside,’ but that first impression reeled me in. Making a home’s entry warm and inviting, even the front yard landscaping, is key. If those aren’t where they need to be, it’s hard to get excited about the inside of a house. So do some flower boxes, get inexpensive mulch, cover the beds, repair that front door, or put some shutters on windows. Those are simple things that don’t cost a lot of money and can make a big difference in the home’s value.”
The future for HGTV stars Caldwell and Robertson is on a solid footing, but will their names be as recognizable as Chip and Joanna? The Timber & Love brand that birthed “The Boise Boys” series concept has some big plans here in Boise that Caldwell shares. He says, “I’m always looking to expand and to grow Timber & Love. It’s not just a flipping company. I do design consultations, even with a subdivision this year. I’m working with people who want to create different lines and things with me, and I am curating and repurposing vintage one-of-a-kind items. I’ve got a lot of ideas for growing the company and here down at our headquarters. There are going to be some exciting things coming down the line. I’ve got a coffee shop in the works, located on the Boise River, that I will do with my family. We will continue to expand. We also have the realty office in the North End. Boise is my community; having grown up here and being here my whole life, it is amazing to see what’s happening. We’re super grateful. And I’m thankful to play a small part in investing in people’s lives and in their homes.”
