MW TV handyman Ty Pennington talks about his own extreme makeover: Turning his Palm Coast, Fla., home into a tranquil haven

By Karli Mullane

The TV legend, who helped renovate more than 200 houses on the ABC series 'Extreme Makeover,' is revealing his own renovation.

As the longtime host of ABC's blockbuster real estate reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," Ty Pennington saw his fair share of dramatic property transformations-so when it came to redesigning his own abode, there was no doubt he'd end up with a jaw-dropping result.

While Pennington, 60, has since moved on from the "Extreme Makeover" world and taken on a new role hosting HGTV's competition hit "Rock the Block," he still has a penchant for the big real estate reveal-albeit without a crowd screaming "move that bus!" while a nervous family awaits their property fate.

Instead, the TV legend, who helped to renovate more than 200 houses for dozens of families on the ABC series, is revealing his own renovation in the latest installment of the Realtor.com Celebrity Sanctuary series, while lifting the lid on how he turned his Palm Coast, Fla., home into a tranquil haven for himself and his family.

The coastal modern-style property has all the wellness bells and whistles one could wish for, though it's the indoor-outdoor lanai living room where Pennington finds true peace and spends the majority of his time, unwinding with his wife, Kellee Merrell, mom, Yvonne Vickery, and two rescue dogs, Dory and Phoebe.

The special space, he tells Realtor.com, is his "dream room."

By letting nature take center stage in the layout of the lanai, and leaning into decor that honors his personal travels and preference for midcentury modern design, Pennington believes he's crafted a timeless room that will never need an extreme makeover.

Today, Pennington invites Realtor.com into his "happy place," his lanai, to reveal the carefully curated design details he selected to make the room the most welcoming sanctuary for his family for many years to come.

My mom was nearing retirement, and I knew I needed to move back east to start looking after her. I had visited friends in the area and just fell in love with it. Because of my mom's asthma and breathing issues, I needed to make a healthy home environment for her. Living near the ocean air seemed to be the best location, where we could spend more time inside and out.

This whole home was built from the ground up and took 18 months to complete. I designed the home and was lucky to work with an amazing architect, Mike Rosen, who interpreted all my drawings and ideas, bringing my vision to life.

For years I worked on building homes from the ground up for deserving families, and it was a dream to finally get to do my own.

My design for the house was really inspired by a lifetime of travel and a deep love of midcentury modern design and architecture. Starting with living in Japan at a very young age, while also loving the form [equals] function [philosophy] of Frank Lloyd Wright, I wanted to build something I would love to live in for the rest of my life. It's my forever home.

The sanctuary of my home is definitely the living room, or lanai. For me, sanctuary means a place of calm and that's exactly what this room is.

I wanted the room to feel like a modern picture window, keeping the design minimal and letting nature be the focus. On one side you have a Japanese-inspired courtyard with a grapefruit tree, and on the other, you have tropical foliage and a shimmering view of the Intracoastal Waterway.

I purposely kept the materials and colors to three. We used natural cypress wood on the exterior of the home and the interior ceilings, as well as large gray anti-slip tiles to match the composite decking and gray pavers outside.

We also used Douglas for interior doors that mimicked the orange color of the cypress soffits, with white trim on the transom windows above. The room is very simple, with a clean combination of wood, stone, and white.

My biggest objective with this house was to ensure that my mom and family had an environment with superior air quality for maximum comfort possible to create memories and grow old together-that's why I love the American Standard AccuClean Whole-Home Air Cleaner, which is asthma and allergy friendly, keeping our space breathable and free of most air pollutants.

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I also make sure to change my HVAC filters regularly. They help remove dust, dander, and other harmful particles from the air inside my home; but if the filters are dirty, it doesn't remove those particles as effectively. Plus, it makes the HVAC unit work unnecessarily hard and can lead to expensive repairs.

Lastly, there are lots of windows and folding accordion doors that open across the length of the room. This really gives the house a seamless flow from inside and out. Consistent airflow for rooms that tend to have larger crowds in them is important for everyone's comfort.

I like to install smart programmable thermostats, like the American Standard AccuLink Platinum 1050, to help control the temperature and humidity within these rooms.

Through remote control capabilities as well, it's easier to relax in my sanctuary when I don't necessarily have to leave to turn down the temperature, decrease the humidity levels, or turn off the lights in the kitchen.

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My sanctuary is designed to make me feel peaceful and calm, so I wanted everything in it to help support that as much as possible.

The main vision for this room was to marry the outdoors with the inside, and the accordion doors were the starting point for that. Next, I wanted to create two things: a cozy lounge space in front of a fireplace and a second kitchen/bar area for friends and family to gather. The result is a multipurpose dream room.

It definitely gets that "wow" moment when [guests] walk in. I think the best compliment is just the fact that everyone tends to congregate there whenever we have friends over-They don't even hang out in the kitchen! It's just a happy place.

Kellee loves this room. It's definitely her favorite spot in the house. Honestly, she has impeccable taste, dare I say, better than my own-don't tell her I said that! So, the fact that she loves it makes me proud.

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You'll find us hanging out here most days with "the girls"-my two rescue dogs. Whether it's working, reading, taking a Zoom call, or watching a show, we spend most of our days here.

Work really blends into every aspect of life, but working in a space like this really helps to calm the mind and stress of the day to day. Nature tends to have that effect.

Sentimental items in this space are my [Charles] Pollock chairs. They were a gift to myself when I completed the home. My dream chairs for my dream home. I'm a big fan of midcentury modern design, and these chairs originally went into production the year I was born, so they hold a special meaning for me.

I'm a collector, and my home definitely reflects that. Whether it's my own photography or art displayed, the vintage furniture I've collected from across the country, or my vinyl collection, there are elements of myself throughout.

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Design is always evolving, and I really tried my best to make timeless choices when designing this home. It's been 10 years and in other parts of the house, I'm starting to get that itch to maybe do some updates.

In fact, I'm currently renovating my carriage house to make it a more comfortable and relaxing guest house. But with this room, I feel at peace. Wouldn't change a thing!

This story originally ran on Realtor.com.

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April 22, 2025 05:02 ET (09:02 GMT)

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