Did either of these 2 Minnesota homes get voted the 'Ugliest House in America'?
Two homes in Minnesota were in the running to be named Ugliest House in America on HGTV.
The six-episode special series, which aired earlier this month, features Retta, of Parks and Recreation and Good Girls fame, as the host. She went around touring some pretty horrendous homes, including the Poseidon House in St. Cloud and a funeral home-turned family house in Blue Earth.
The Poseidon House and the former funeral home were among the 12properties in the running for Ugliest House in America that were nominated by their owners. The "winner" — the person with the ugliest house — got a $150,000 renovation from HGTV designer and Chicago-native Alison Victoria.
Here's a closer look at the two homes, with spoilers for how each fared at the bottom of the story.
The Poseidon House
The Poseidon House is a five-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,676-square-foot home where each room is customized with different underwater scenery, from a giant stuffed marlin to a cave shower big enough for four people.
When Retta pulls up to the house on County Road 1 in St. Cloud, she questions the need for a massive Poseidon statue in the circle driveway.
"You bought it like this?" Retta asks homeowner Kourtney Bradford.
Bradford said she made a "low-ball offer and they took it." Property records show Bradford bought the home for $495,700 in September 2020.
Low-ball is right. The house was initially listed for $1.2 million in 2017 (it made headlines across the state for being so ... unique). But over the years, after the house didn't sell, the list price was lowered several times, including in June 2020 to $539,900.
Former funeral home
Renee and Noel Johnson own a house in Blue Earth that used to be a funeral home — and have been renovating it, documenting their progress on Instagram.
Their home features a former viewing room that's become a playroom (the family's four kids call it "the other side"), a casket lift they hope to turn into a bathroom, and an embalming room filled with equipment (they started renovations on that before the show started).
During the episode, Retta pulls up to the home thinking it was a church and then immediately questions why the couple would buy a funeral home.
"Every room had something to do with someone dying," she says.
The building was the town funeral home for more than 60 years, according to the episode. The Johnson's bought the nearly 7,000-square-foot home on Oct. 31, 2020, WEAU reports.
Note: Spoilers ahead.
Who won?
The two Minnesota homes competed against each other for Ugliest House in the Midwest, with the Poseidon House coming out on top.
The St. Cloud home went up against three others from across the country in the finals for the title of Ugliest House in America. However, the Poseidon House fell short to a home in Tennessee that had glitter on the ceilings, tons of mirrors and cameras in every room — yikes.
You can watch reruns of the episodes on HGTV and it's also available through some streaming apps for a price.
