Vanilla Ice Turned Home Improvement Guru?
Posted by Rebecca McKinnon on Thu, Oct 14, 2010
There is a new star in the home improvement world and his name is Robert Van Winkle. Sound familiar? Well, you might know him better as Vanilla Ice, the early 1990’s pop music icon with the mega hit song Ice, Ice Baby. That’s right! Vanilla Ice is starring in his own Home Improvement show titled The Vanilla Ice Project, which debuts tonight at 9pm on the DIY network.
Like me, I am sure you are sitting there thinking, what on Earth does Vanilla Ice know about home improvement? Apparently, he has over 15 years of personal home improvement experience as a renovator, builder and house flipper. He purchased several homes early in his career in New York, Los Angeles, and Snowbird, Utah. After several years, he sold and made money on them all.
Once he was married, he began remodeling homes and eventually buying land and building homes. Once the real estate market declined, he focused more on buying and flipping since it was cheaper to buy an existing home and fix it than to build a new one. For more information on his background, check out his interview with Kathy Price-Robinson on DIY Life.
So, what is the premise of the show? Vanilla Ice and a team of contractors will renovate his 7,000 sq. ft. mansion located in Palm Beach, Florida in order to sell it. There will be 10 episodes of the show, each focusing on a different room in his mansion. He bought the mansion for $420,000, even though it was appraised for more than that amount, and thinks it will appraise for about $1 million once renovated.
Are you planning on watching The Vanilla Ice Project? I have to admit, for me, the curiosity factor is high so I will be tuning in tonight. Feel free to comment below on what you think about tonight’s episode.
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UPDATE:
It was announced on October 26th that the DIY Network has renewed the show for a second season. The season finale of this first season will air Thursday, December 16th at 9pm. I wonder what his next home renovation project will be.
Do you watch the show? I have seen it and have been surprised at his knowledge. What do you think of the show so far? Are you excited for a second season?
Photo Credit: DIY Life
