Bargain Block’s weirdest house did find the right owner after all

The Weird House from the first season of Bargain Block did eventually sell after the season had stopped airing.

Keith Bynum, the endlessly creative designer behind HGTV’s Detroit-based home-flipping series, Bargain Block, has certainly created a few out-of-the-box designs since the show first started airing back in 2017.

But none have been quite as in-your-face (or as divisive among Bargain Block fans) as the Weird House from episode seven of the show’s very first season.

The “Weird House” (aptly named, as usual) contained everything from color-blocked walls to an orange kitchen with turquoise countertops and a bathtub-turned-shrine in the upstairs bedroom.

Thus, it has certainly become one design from the show that you either fell in love with, or that you have been haunted by ever since.

The Weird House’s sale

Regardless of where you stand in the great Weird House love-it-or-hate-it debate, there has been great collective relief about the fact that this house has been taken off the market.

Although the series made no mention of the Weird House’s sale, a quick peek at Shea Hicks Whitfield’s Zillow page reveals that the house sold in October of 2021, just a few months after the season finale aired.

And while we cannot be sure of the official sale price, the old listing has an asking price of $110,900.

This means that after purchasing the home for $5,000 and investing a further $60,000 in its wacky renovations, Keith and his partner, Evan Thomas, likely made over $40,000 from this successful flip.

Bargain Block’s Weird House by the numbers

In case you were not paying attention during the episode in which Keith and Thomas completely transformed this so-called Weird House, the home’s most important descriptive details are as follows:

A look back at Keith and Evan’s first-ever Detroit flip

Although these Bargain Block hosts are now most well-known for transforming various struggling Detroit neighborhoods one dilapidated house at a time, their house-flipping history in this Michigan city actually predates their show by quite a few years.

Keith actually bought their very first Detroit-based house on a whim in 2017, after hearing how well other flippers had done in the area in the past.

This home, which Keith purchased without even setting foot in it for just $12,000 (which is a lot more expensive than what they pay for their Bargain Block starter homes these days) turned out to be almost completely unsalvageable.

But fortunately, Keith and Evan persevered, and now they have flipped dozens of homes in the same neighborhood, and they have their own show to document it all.

The most impressive Bargain Block sale

Some might argue that getting the Weird House, with its odd front window and bright orange kitchen, sold at all deserves an award of some kind, Keith, Evan and Shea have actually had quite a few impressive sales in the last few years.

In fact, in December of 2021, one of the homes designed by Keith and Evan sold for an impressive $119,990 after just 20 days on the market.

And while this number may not seem all that impressive, they only initially purchased the property  for $12,000.

This means that the final selling price was about ten times more than what they purchased it for, which is really quite a feat.

Keith’s best tips for creating appealing “weird” designs

There is certainly inspiration to be found in even the weirdest of Bargain Block designs.

And although the biggest design lessons to be taken from this episode is clear – do not be afraid of a bold and colorful design – there are still a few more subtle design lessons that we can take away from this episode.

Some of the most important lessons that viewers can take from Keith’s final over-the-top Weird House design include the following:

• Bold colors do not only need to be confined to the bedrooms and bathrooms in your home, you can have fun in the kitchen, living room and hallways too.
• Hand-painting your own geometric patterns can be a great way to mimic the look of more expensive wallpaper and artwork on a budget.
• Remember that things like your furniture pieces and windows are part of your design and that they need to match the general look and aesthetic of the rest of the space.
• Combining angular, geometric lines with more organic rounded shapes can be a great way to create visual interest in your space.