‘Restored by the Fords’ makes return

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — For Leanne Ford and Steve Ford, sibling stars of HGTV’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Restored by the Fords,” there’s one big challenge when it comes to renovating Western Pennsylvania’s stock of 100-year-old homes: “the can of worms” they inevitably encounter.

“Like, if you open up that wall, now there’s five other situations happening,” said interior designer Leanne Ford during an HGTV panel at the Television Critics Association summer 2018 press tour. “We still open the wall up, though. We haven’t learned yet.”

HGTV president Allison Page called “Restored by the Fords” the network’s “newest hit series.” The show returns for its second season in January with 15 episodes.

Leanne, an interior designer, splits her time between a home in the woods outside Pittsburgh and Los Angeles; licensed contractor Steve is firmly ensconced in Western Pennsylvania.

When Leanne returned to her Pittsburgh “home base” in 2010 and bought alittle house in the woods, Steve helped rehab it. The pair got on HGTV’s radar through a friend who knew of their work, but it took five years before their TV series came to fruition.

For season two, Steve said “Restored by the Fords” is filming home makeovers in Sewickley, Tarentum,

Freeport, Mt. Lebanon, Sharpsburg and Upper St. Clair, where they grew up.

“We do it within an hour of the city,” Leanne said, noting it’s easier on the production if they don’t have to drive farther than that.

The Fords spend eight to 10 weeks on each property with multiple projects in the works at the same time; so far they have completed four renovations for season two.

“What’s nice about Pittsburgh is the architecture,” Steve said. “That has been really a lot of fun for Leanne to design, to stay in the goals of those architects while updating it and making it cooler.”

“I love that there are so many styles, so much history there,” Leanne continued. “I love about Pittsburgh that they don’t tear [homes] down; people fix it. In other cities, they’re like, ‘This is worth more as a lot.’ In Pittsburgh people respect the history of these homes.”

Steve said older Pittsburgh homes sometimes have “beautiful woodwork trims” that prove nearly impossible to re-create without heavy expense and time, so he tries to respect those trims and design around them.

Compared to working with Los Angeles homeowners, Pittsburghers are “more practical,” Leanne said. “Pittsburgh to L.A. is almost not comparable. They both have their lovely things and disadvantages.”

One distinct advantage: the Pittsburgh potty, those stand-alone basement toilets with no surrounding walls.

“It’s always available instead of a port-a-potty,” Leanne said. “That’s turned out to be really good for us because you have somewhere to go to the bathroom when you’re demoing the bathroom.”