J7
HOT PROPERTY LOS ANGELES TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 LAREALITY REALTY
Sam Walton’s 1950 five-and-
dime variety store still stands in
Bentonville, Ark. — the city that’s
now headquarters for Walton’s
Walmart chain, the world’s largest
retailer, which he launched in 1962.
“When times are good people
shop at Walmart, but when times
are bad they shop at Walmart
more,” said Dave Marrs, who with
wife, Jenny, hosts HGTV’s Ben-
tonville-based “Fixer to Fabulous,”
which premiered Oct. 22.
Bentonville (pop. 51,000) is
wedged into the state’s northwest
corner, near the Ozark Mountains.
Walmart’s presence is a boon
for the region’s real estate market
— and for the couple’s business,
Marrs Developing, which has
built about 30 homes a year since
2004.
“We can’t build fast enough — a
great problem to have,” Dave
Marrs said.
We reached the couple at their
renovated 1903 five-bedroom farm-
house, set on a 56-acre farm 15 min-
utes from downtown Bentonville,
where they live with their five chil-
dren, one adopted from the Demo-
cratic Republic of Congo.
You’ve mentioned that some
folks have a skewed perception of
Arkansas — here’s your chance
to set them straight.
Dave: I went to college in Col-
orado and was offered a job to
move out here. My friends said,
“Why in God’s name would you
move from Colorado to Arkan-
sas?” Two of them came to check it
out and they now live here. We
have a small-town feel with front-
porch living. People are active and
friendly. Cost of living is fairly low
but wages are fairly high.
Jenny: Dave always describes it
as Mayberry. There’s a big art
scene and mountain biking is
huge. As cheesy and cliche as it
sounds, it really is about the peo-
ple. Everyone is very welcoming,
very open — more so than any-
where I’ve lived.
Tell us more about the effect of
Walmart’s behemoth presence in
your small town.
Dave: If a supplier has a prod-
uct in Walmart, they have an office
here. Tyson Chicken is based here
[Tyson Foods, Springdale], also
J.B. Hunt [a transportation firm
in Lowell]. We have so many peo-
ple that are not from here — it’s a
melting pot from all over the coun-
try and world. It gives us freedom
with homeowners to do different
things. Someone selling a million-
dollar apartment in San Francisco
can buy a 5,000-square-foot home
here. A family can move here
and get a three-bedroom, two-
bath, two-car garage home for
$175,000.You transformed a 1930s run-
down Craftsman into a Creole
cottage. Given that style’s vi-
brancy, how did you dial down
the owners’ desire for a “white on
white on white” look?
Jenny: A black island [in their
white kitchen] was a bold, unex-
pected piece I was able to talk her
into — painted Benjamin Moore’s
Onyx with a Calacatta marble top.
She was still a bit nervous, but
when she saw it, she loved it. We
added color in her study too: Ben-
jamin Moore’s Bavarian Forest.You also convinced her to create
wide arches instead of knocking
down walls — a nod to pushback
we’ve seen against the de rigueurtogetherness of open-concept
design.
Jenny: Having a touch of pri-
vacy in that particular house
created a cozier space, like how
houses used to be. It is a nod back
to the home’s original archi-
tecture. It also helped us make the
fireplace the central point of both
those rooms [kitchen and living
room] without it feeling overly
modern.Your farm includes a “U-pick”
blueberry enterprise, animals,
an event barn and an old red
barn where you mill local trees
for home renovations.
Dave: Anytime we clear a lot
and take out a tree, I want to sal-vage as much of that tree as I can.
We custom mill white and red oak,
silver maple, walnut, sycamore,
sassafras and some exotic hard-
woods like pecan. We do quite a bit
of flooring and we make a ton of
furniture — porch swings, beams
for mantles, you name it.
Jenny: Our kids have been
involved in the berry farm from
Day One. We went as a family to
Africa [profits from the berry farm
benefit orphaned and at-risk
Zimbabwean youth via Help One
Now]. And leaders from Zimba-
bwe came last fall and stayed with
us. It’s been really important for
our kids to be exposed to other
cultures and to develop those
relationships.On the move in Walmart’s hometown
The latest HGTV rehab
show benefits from the
area’s rapid growth.
By R. Daniel Foster
“FIXER TO FABULOUS”hosts Jenny and Dave Marrs transform run-down properties in and around Bentonville, Ark.HGTV