TV Talk: Pittsburgh families renovate, go 'Home Again with the Fords' on HGTV

The Pittsburgh-set home renovation series “Restored by the Fords” morphs into “Home Again with the Fords” for a new season that premiered at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HGTV.

Pittsburgh natives and siblings Leanne (the designer) and Steve (the builder) Ford refer to it as “Season 3-1” since it’s their third season of a TV show but the first under a new title.

Loren Ruch, group senior vice president of programming and development for HGTV, said the network made the decision to change the title and focus of the Fords’ show to reflect the trend of people moving back to their hometowns.

“This series specifically features people who are moving back into their (Pittsburgh) childhood homes or neighborhoods,” Ruch said. “Leanne and Steve help them bring back some of the nostalgia they remember … while also bringing their homes to the present day.”

The decision to evolve the Fords’ show was made before Leanne’s own life reflected the new show’s concept as she went from living bicoastal, spending time in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, to moving back to Pittsburgh.

“We moved back during the quarantine,” she said. “We sold our house in Los Angeles and came back here and we’re fully living the plotline of our TV show.”

In addition to the new title, the format also changed. Like HGTV’s “Bargain Mansions,” which jumped from a half-hour to one-hour episodes in 2020, the Fords’ new show is one hour instead of 30 minutes. There’s a greater emphasis on the stories of those seeking renovation projects and even on the Fords themselves.

The siblings’ mom, Jackie Ford, makes another appearance on the show. One episode features Leanne and Steve renovating a home for a woman they went to high school with.

Viewers meet Leanne’s husband, Eric, founder of the men’s clothing brand Buck Mason, and daughter Ever. One of this season’s projects involves fixing up a guest house on Leanne’s property for her sister-in-law, Ali.

These changes are part of a network-wide HGTV effort to lean into more emotional storytelling and relationships.

Leanne said the new theme and longer episodes puts a greater emphasis on Pittsburgh, too.

“I can’t even tell you the amount of friends who texted me while they were watching (‘Restored by the Fords’) and they’d say, ‘Where is this? Is this the North Side? Is this Aspinwall?’ ” Leanne said. “Now the show talks about it and it goes into these towns and they highlight them.”

The seven-episode season includes home renovations in Fox Chapel, Squirrel Hill, Dorseyville, Franklin Park, Aspinwall and Carnegie, which gets the spotlight in the season premiere as Leanne and Steve renovate a portion of a farmhouse that’s been in the family of the owners of Forsythe Miniature Golf for more than 100 years. The home is on the same piece of property as the mini-golf course and snack stand. Kristi and Sam Spitzer hire the Fords to give the second floor a makeover for Kristi’s parents, who are moving back to town and plan to move into the home’s upstairs space.

The Squirrel Hill episode features a home near the former Beechwood Boulevard home of the late Fred Rogers (“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”), giving Steve a chance to channel his inner Mister Rogers.

In Aspinwall, Kevin and Jenna Kerr hire the Fords to restore the first floor of a rundown Victorian across the street from the house where Kevin’s cousins live.

Production on this new season started in July and the siblings ultimately ended up juggling multiple projects at the same time, often working with local company Williamson Construction to complete the jobs, which are paid for by the families that contract with the Fords.

“It’s their money, they’re doing it,” Leanne said. “We try to help, they’re supplemented because of the show, but we beg, borrow and steal.”

Finding a chicken coop full of old furniture and fixtures on the property of the Carnegie farmhouse proved a treasure trove for Leanne to pick through for decorating the redesigned farmhouse space.

“That comes in the steal category,” Leanne said with a laugh.

Families find their way to the Fords in multiple ways, including through the casting departments of HGTV and production company High Noon Entertainment but also through word of mouth. Leanne said the Kerrs reached out to her about their Aspinwall Victorian through her Instagram account a year ago.

“It’s very much the Pittsburgh connections,” Steve said.

While the siblings await a pickup for another season of “Home Again with the Fords” they’ll continue their design and construction work off-camera as more “boomerangers” return to Pittsburgh, buy homes and plan renovation projects.

“I remember when I moved out of Pittsburgh and I was like, I don’t think I’ll be coming back, waving goodbye in the rearview mirror,” Leanne said. “Yet here I am, back in town.”