It never occurred to her that complete strangers would be interested in photos of her house being fixed up.
But soon she had 200 followers, most of whom she didn’t know. Now, with more than 35,000 followers, she
is baffled by the attention.
“When it first started happening, I was like, ‘OK, this is strange, who is this lady?’ Once I hit 500 followers,
I was like, ‘This is just bizarre,’” says Harrison, 36. “It is a little bit unsettling to think that there are nearly
40,000 strangers who could come and knock on my door.”
Her account has documented the extensive renovation of her Victorian house, which was vacant before she
and her husband bought it and expanded it to 6,800 square feet. They added a new kitchen, a mudroom, a
three-car detached garage and a porte-cochere. They also turned an outbuilding into a pool house and added
an in-ground pool this summer. “I think people like a comeback story,” she says of the account’s popularity.
Followers have asked for floor plans and for video tours of the upstairs bedrooms, which Harrison declined
to share, concerned that strangers would know where her children slept. Like many with popular accounts,
she has been asked to give private tours of her property. (She refused.) Others say fans have driven past
their homes and greeted them in the supermarket or at restaurants.
Vogelpohl keeps her followers up to date with
family matters as well as her home
(mytexashouse/Instagram)Marketers have come knocking, too, offering Harrison opportunities to promote merchandise. While she
accepts some opportunities, she has turned down many, reluctant to promote products she wouldn’t
typically buy. “If this becomes something that’s not authentic, then I don’t think it’s going to be something
that brings me joy,” she says. “Who can go and redo a room every month?”
Regardless of how photogenic a house might be, family members living there may not be entirely
comfortable in front of the camera. Rollins’ 15-year-old daughter no longer wants to be included in photos,
she says, partly because her friends follow the account.
Vogelpohl’s oldest daughter, who is 13 and starting high school this year, would also prefer to remain
offline. “It’s embarrassing to her,” Vogelpohl says. “She doesn’t want the boys to see her room.”
Even spouses bristle.
Saeta’s husband, Dave Saeta, 59, who works in commercial real estate, complains that she spends too much
time on the phone, and that he has had to surrender part of the 4,700-square-foot house to the business of
her Instagram account. The third floor was a game-and-guest room until it became a storage-and-staging
area for merchandise Saeta acquires.
But Dave Saeta says he ultimately trusts her to make the most of their stately house, which has long been a
favourite of location scouts, appearing on television shows like Mad Men and Judging Amy.