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House Beautiful

Jonathan Knight Says His Inspiration Comes From the British Docu-Series, "Escape to the Chateau"

Danielle Harling
2 min read
Photo credit: Amanda Edwards - Getty Images
Photo credit: Amanda Edwards - Getty Images

From House Beautiful

Suffice it to say that the transition from New Kid on the Block to house flipper is quite the intriguing one. Singer-turned-flipper Jonathan Knight did precisely that following the disbanding of New Kids on the Block, the former boy band behind nostalgic hits like "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" and "Step By Step." Speaking with Architectural Digest, Knight revealed that at the end of his music career he made a decision to reinvent his life.

"I was 25 years old and my career was over. Stumped, I thought, How do I reinvent my life? The flipping craze had started and a friend asked if I’d flip a house with him," Jonathan Knight explained. "It was so cool to be in Boston neighborhoods renovating houses that were falling down. We ended up going from house to house, then doing subdivisions and condos. It got too big. My heart wasn’t in new construction, so I ventured out with a business partner who does older houses with character and history, and I fell in love with it."

As host of the new HGTV series Farmhouse Fixer, Knight restores dated New England farmhouses. But where does he find the inspiration to whip these charming digs back into shape? The British docu-series, Escape to the Chateau.

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"I'm obsessed with Escape to the Chateau. I always dreamed of moving overseas and finding some dilapidated house to renovate," he shared. "Harley laughs because everywhere we travel, whether it’s India or Australia, I come home saying, 'We’re moving here.' I love anything old and historical and if I was a billionaire, I’d buy 100 houses all over the place, just to have different styles."

Farmhouse Fixer premiered on HGTV on March 3.

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