A Naperville family is questioning their decision to allow a film crew from a popular HGTV show to use their house four days before Christmas for a segment that might not air for a year.
Stephen and Shirley Brockman say the star value of having their home featured on “House Hunters” quickly lost its luster after the family spent hours prepping — hiding Christmas decorations, wall art and sculptures in closets — so a television crew could shoot footage of their residence.
“House Hunters” chronicles a prospective buyer’s journey to purchase a home with the help of an agent. A 30-minute episode features visits to three homes with the buyer selecting one at the end.
Stephen Brockman, owner of Expert Plumbing in Naperville, said he was contacted by “House Hunters” about a month ago.
“I don’t know why our house was chosen,” Brockman said. “I decided it would be a good idea since we are trying to sell and want as many people as possible to see our house.”
After 16 years in the home, the family of five — the couple have two daughters and a son — put their home on the market in the summer with the idea of downsizing.
Brockman said the house is unique because he built an addition built on the back eight and a half years ago to accommodate a second master suite for his wife’s parents.
“From the front, it looks small. It’s not until you go inside that you realize how far back the house goes,” he said.
With Shirley’s parents now gone and their daughters in college, six bedrooms, four and a half baths and nearly 3,800 square feet of living space is way too big, particularly when everyone congregates in the kitchen, Brockman said.
Besides, downsizing means extra savings that could be put toward college tuition.
With showings in the fall sparse, contact from “House Hunters” seemed like a good way to increase foot traffic in the spring, Brockman said.
It was only at the end of filming that they learned the episode could appear in two months or as long as a year from now. A spokesman from HGTV could not be reached for confirmation.
While the experience itself wasn’t bad, Brockman said his family accommodated the show with little to show from it.
On the day of filming, a crew of three with one camera arrived at 8 a.m. Dec. 20 for a daylong shoot.
“They were nice and polite and complimentary of our home,” Brockman said.
Prior to their arrival, the family was asked to remove any items that might compromise copyright infringements so movie posters in the basement media room were placed in a closet.
In addition, they slid the Christmas tree into the butler’s pantry and took down stockings.
Shirley Brockman said she’d previously worked with a professional home stager to clear away clutter and family photos in favor of generic art and decor.
What surprised her was when the film crew asked her to remove everything on the walls and all décor, including a decorative bowl on the dining room table and Chinese horse statues the couple purchased abroad, which the stager suggested be left out.
Even throw rugs had to be hidden away.
After two hours of getting the rooms up to snuff for the crew, the family left to grab a meal and see a movie while filming continued.
Stephen Brockman said he was promised the work would be over by 6 p.m. When they returned just after 6, the family had to wait in the dining room until filming finished after 6:30 p.m.
The crew departed, and the family was left to return the décor back to its pre-film state.
In the end, Brockman said his family received no return on the time and energy they invested. They were not paid or compensated in any way, he said.
Even more frustrating, he said, was learning the buyers had already purchased another home.
“Basically we were cleaning for a showing where no one was buying,” Stephen Brockman said. “I wouldn’t do it again. What is the point?”