Reality Realty Q&A: HGTV flippers revive tired SoCal vintage homes

Older homes can mean trouble: rickety windows, uneven floors and noisy plumbing. Jessie and Tina Rodriguez welcome such snags on their HGTV show “Vintage Flip,” which revives weathered Southern California properties.

In 2006 the Claremont couple, both 35, launched Cal American Homes, which specializes in sales, construction and design. They’ve since flipped more than 200 homes, and most have been vintage — several date to the early 20th century.

The pair work with various architectural styles — Spanish, Craftsman, Victorian, Tudor, midcentury-modern — and have also restored a Joseph Eichler home in Orange.

We spoke with the couple in between their shuttling their three small sons, who make cameos on the show, to soccer and baseball practice.

You sometimes reimagine homes, adding details that they originally lacked. What’s your reasoning?

Jessie: Some homes were not overly ornate because they might have been built for workers rather than landowners of the era. So we dress them up; it’s a detail that could have been there. We see signs of where a pillar used to be … and we’ll put it back to the best of our ability, even if it’s not exactly the same way.

You’ve created the perfect marketing storm to woo millennial buyers. They skew nostalgic and often search for smaller starter homes.

Tina: It’s fun to know that these families appreciate the houses and are going to teach their kids to appreciate them. They’re not going to rip out a built-in that we had salvaged. The tradition will remain alive.

Do you consider yourself flipsters — hipsters who flip homes — and have you ever erected a horizontal board flipster fence?

Tina: We would love to be flipsters! But we’re not that cool.

Jessie: We have done the flipster fence — typically in more hipster areas like Highland Park, Eagle Rock or Echo Park. We know that’s going to attract the right buyer. We want to give them what they want because that’s part of trying to make money on the resale.

Windows and fenestration represent the soul of a home. We love the drop pocket casements and handblown glass you restored in a 1902 Upland Craftsman.

Jessie: On the historic side you always want to keep them, but on the flipping side of it, it’s one of the things we get dinged on with every sale. A weight and pulley system might not close as tightly as a new window. There’s a big movement obviously with energy efficiency.

Tina, you chose to use milk paint — made from lime, cow’s milk, vinegar and pigment — on Douglas fir floors in that same Upland Craftsman. Why?

Tina: My mom had some furniture that had milk paint, so I thought, “Let’s try it on the floor.” I was blown away at how amazing it looked. It gave the floor a beautiful natural white look. It was a common technique of that era because it was so affordable.

Vintage California tile has a rich and storied history. Where do you find it, and in what ways do you use it?

Jessie: Pasadena Craftsman Tile can replicate great artisans. We’ve used them to replicate a Batchelder fireplace that we put back into a home. Arto in Gardena will custom-make and mass-produce tile for you — it’s amazing.

hotproperty@latimes.com

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