'Bargain Block' returns for season 4 in Detroit, tackles 'fairy-tale cottages' theme

As Wednesday’s season premiere of “Bargain Block” begins, Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas are visiting two new houses for their HGTV home renovation series set in Detroit. And these are not just any houses. Located side by side, the matching homes cost $6,500 each. Both have 1,050 square feet of space and identical floor plans.

Some might look at them and see only crumbling porches and dilapidated interiors. But in Bynum’s vision, these are future enchanted cottages.

As the duo explores what needs to be fixed, they spot one immediate problem: the round-top front doorway, which will be a difficult match for replacement doors. But that shape must be preserved.

As Bynum says in an exclusive clip for the Free Press, the front doorway is “very fairy-tale looking, like a cottage in the forest with a crazy witch inside.”

“Bargain Block” isn’t just another home restoration show. It’s an adventure of imagination and overcoming obstacles that Bynum and Thomas, who are life and professional partners, have built into a popular HGTV series.

The show, which drew nearly 18 million viewers last season, has built a dedicated audience through its mission of finding “diamonds in the rough,” as it calls them, and turning them into stylishly furnished starter homes. The fan base stretches far beyond the Motor City locations where the action unfolds.

For the fourth season, Bynum and Thomas, along with local real estate expert Shea Hicks-Whitfield, will kick things off the Brothers Grimm-esque makeover that erases the grim aspects of the twin homes. As they redo the houses with the magical mood of fairy tales in mind, their projects will include creating a roomy master suite and customizing a guest bathroom with a gold-patterned wall.

Future episodes will feature a rainforest theme that is sparked by the plants and mushrooms they they discover growing inside an abandoned property, plus homes with casino and Mexico-inspired touches.

The biggest renovation innovation that lies ahead? This season, Bynum and Thomas will weigh expanding the “Bargain Block” concept to another locale, New Orleans, which faces similar challenges to Detroit in terms of rehabbing houses with hidden potential.

According to HGTV, they will be traveling to the Big Easy and putting a bid on a possible residence there.

The first season of “Bargain Block” launched in 2021 in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Bynum and Thomas said the series, which aims to help Detroit communities, wound up helping them through their pandemic stress by allowing them to focus on something positive.

Several years before the show debuted, the pair relocated from Colorado to Michigan with a goal of rehabbing houses in unique ways. As Bynum explained to the Free Press during the inaugural season, “The move actually had nothing to do with the show. We moved here in 2017 from Denver, and we started our first two houses in the northwest part of Detroit.”

Hailing originally from Texas, Bynum is the design guru with the envelope-pushing decorating ideas. Thomas, who has a PhD in physics, is the whiz at carpentry. Their skill sets complement each other. So does their willingness to take creative leaps.

“People sometimes say Keith is the balloon and I’m the string," Thomas said in 2021. "Keith is this very creative guy who could float off into the cosmos at any moment. I’m kind of like the string that keeps him tethered to reality. I feel like my role in the show and in our business is letting him do all his creative things and then I’ll chime in when I think it’s getting a little too out there or unrealistic.”

After HGTV approached them about a series, Bynum and Thomas made a pilot for “Bargain Block” in 2019. They shot the rest of the series in 2020, with Hicks-Whitfield coming on board that first season to lend her expertise on the Detroit real estate marketplace.

Last year, Thomas spoke about the show’s growth over time. "We have a lot more help now than we used to … I think you’ll see designs that are better, houses that are overall better and more impressive, and I think that’s due to our company growing and maturing over the years as we get better and better at what we do," he said.

But the winning formula has stayed the same. Bynum’s constant enthusiasm for fun, unexpected ideas and Thomas’s level-headed persistence don’t just turn crumbling homes into something special. Their combined approach makes for great television — and their candor about facing the same bumps in the road as any home-rehabber is reassuring.

As Bynum noted last season, sometimes even deciding where to place a couch can be a major moment. “I will move a couch around 40 times until I get it right,” he said. “Evan has seen it. You just have to do it.”

In addition to airing on HGTV, “Bargain Block” is available to stream the same day and time on Max, which also has the first three seasons available for watching.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.

"Bargain Block" season four premiere

9 p.m. Wednesday, HGTV

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Bargain Block' on HGTV is back for season 4 in Detroit: Schedule