Celebrities hire Lewis on ‘Hollywood Houselift’
There has always been media catering to celebrities who want to brag about their homes — and catering to us plebeians who want to poke around — from the faux classy sheen offered by Architectural Digest, to the more down-market displays offered up by shows dating back to “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” or “MTV Cribs.” No matter the personal style — austere, expensive minimalism or over-thetop everything — all of it is ostentatious and fascinating and says so much about how the 1% spend their wealth. This is the primary appeal of “Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis” on Freevee, which doesn’t feature the super famous so much as the “merely” recognizable, including Wilmer Valderrama and Mira Sorvino. And boy, do they have money, which isn’t true of the vast majority of actors who are members of the Screen Actors Guild. But it’s still eye-opening to realize you don’t have to be an A-list actor in order to have hundreds of thousands of dollars at your disposal to plunk down on a room remodel.
Lewis is a familiar figure to anyone who listens to his radio show on Siriusxm or watched his longtime Bravo reality show “Flipping Out,” a title that was a play on words relating to his profession as a house-flipper, but also his tendency to blow up — sometimes with reason, sometimes not. The show ran for more than 10 seasons before it fizzled out in 2018, when the interpersonal dynamics became almost unwatchably ugly. Lewis has since parted ways with two people who garnered considerable camera time on that show: his longtime friend and
colleague, Jenni Pulos, as well as his partner of eight years, Gage Edward, with whom he shares a toddler daughter.
Lewis has parted ways with a lot of people he has employed. People magazine has an entire story listing 17 of them, some of whom have since come back into the fold. That’s the thing about Lewis; even though he sometimes oversteps boundaries, he’s pretty honest about both his strengths and his flaws, and he seems willing to mend fences where possible and readjust his relationships so they work for both parties involved.
Lewis is primarily an interior designer — his aesthetic is modern, clean and uncluttered — and his home office has now shrunk down to just one assistant: the easygoing Shane Douglas, who does not get on Lewis’ nerves.
That’s the first thing you notice about “Hollywood Houselift” — it’s less fraught and chaotic. Lewis tends to suck up the oxygen of any room he enters, but he’s also smart and self-deprecating, and he just wants to get things done. Anyone who has been through a home reno will appreciate this.
Ditching the nasty interpersonal drama that fueled much of the previous show, “Hollywood Houselift” centers on an element that always interested me more: The weirdness of working with high-end clientele. This time out, instead of non-famous moneyed somebody-or-others, we’re getting a look at how celebrities operate under these circumstances — even when they know cameras are there.
These aren’t minor projects, but they are limited projects: a pool house,
a front yard, redoing a bathroom or kitchen or bedroom. Presumably, the celebrities are getting some kind of financial compensation in exchange for appearing on the show, although that’s coyly left unsaid. Even so, many still balk at paying full price for anything.
The thing about LA is that no matter how rich you are, somebody else always has more. And in this rarefied bubble, wealth becomes relative. Either way, these are people — and that includes Lewis — entirely disconnected from the financial stresses the vast majority of Americans are facing at the moment, and it’s surreal to see the show’s participants act as if every price estimate is a personal offense.
Sorvino hires Lewis to redo her pool and deck area at her Malibu home, which suffered smoke damage
from wildfires. Melissa Rivers looks to redo the en suite bathroom to her primary bedroom. Valderrama, who stars on “NCIS,” and his fiancee, Amanda Pacheco, ask Lewis to redo a couple of rooms.
I was charmed by married couple Ashlee Simpson Ross and Evan Ross. She’s the younger sister of Jessica Simpson, he’s the son of Diana Ross. They really are darling and have funky, high-end tastes.
As for Lewis, I have no idea if things have evened out for him personally, or if careful editing means we’re just not seeing as much of that strife on camera. But we do still get a glimpse into his world. Now in his 50s, he’s raising a young daughter through a joint custody arrangement (she’s not part of the show), and he’s finally looking for a home to settle down in, not just flip. He’s said the same thing before (Lewis buys and sells the homes he lives in at a rate that would discombobulate most people) so who knows how serious he is — but he wasn’t a father until now, and he clearly wants some stability, and a yard, for his daughter.
It’s touching to see him want to take that a step further, with the intention of adding another child to his family. It’s just a matter of finding a gestational surrogate and hoping the implantation takes.
Nothing about this part of the show feels like a put-on or juiced for the cameras. Just a single gay dad, hoping to give his daughter a sibling. If the quest feels daunting to embark on alone, that’s never stopped Lewis before.