Keep Your Eyes Peeled for These 10 Details in the 2017 HGTV Dream Home
It’s the little things about this big prize that make it so special.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography

Some things hold true no matter where or how HGTV builds and gives away its annual HGTV Dream Home. The spaces are always stunning; the responses are always overwhelming; and the HGTV team always wishes they were eligible to enter the sweepstakes themselves (cough). That said, designer Brian Patrick Flynn has left his fingerprints all over the twenty-first annual grand prize — a sprawling, reimagined-from-floor-to-ceiling southern transitional home on St. Simons Island, Ga. How did he make this giveaway a showstopper? Well...
Nothing is quite what it seems.

Tomas Espinoza
The Adirondack chairs around the fire pit won’t be begging for TLC in a year or two, thanks to polyethylene recycled-lumber construction. (Translation: They’re virtually immortal.) That goes for the high-definition porcelain flooring throughout the home’s bathrooms, too. (Though it’s every bit as lovely as hardwood, it’s 10-times as tough.) Speaking of appearances and deception...
Seriously, nothing is quite what it seems.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
The bed in the master bedroom not only looks homespun-comfy, it has individual temperature controls, it tracks your sleep and it connects to health and wellness apps. It’s kind of the U.S.S. Enterprise in disguise.
Midcentury design sneaks in all over the place.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
Laid-back southern materials meet the greatest hits of the 20th century all over this house. Consider, if you will, the city-cool shape of the Panton S chair, reimagined for the breakfast nook in rustic wicker. (Ditto for the Saarinen table base in the pool lounge and the subtly chic stool in the master bath.)
Every space that faces a view reflects its hues.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
Brian loved the grey live oaks and beautiful mossy greens on the HGTV Dream Home property so much that he decided to reflect them in every room in which they play a role. The kitchen gets a deep green backsplash and cabinet hardware even though he’s a self-professed "black-or-white kitchen" guy.
The spectacular exception to the house's palette? The terrace suite bedroom.

Robert Peterson/Rustic White Photography
Brian had a "no brights" rule that applied to every other space. In every home he designs, he likes to have one room that’s a glorious riot of color. "Nobody’s ever against a light and bright room," he says.
Pop quiz: Which room is in process here?

Tomas Espinoza
If you guessed "the gym," please invite us over, for you probably have an amazing home. Brian covered the home gym’s walls with grasscloth and used southerner-approved antique mirrors in lieu of the '80s-tastic, floor-to-ceiling variety to make it congruent with the rest of the home. Unfortunately, when your exercise area is this lovely, you have no excuse to avoid it.
The kitchen counters echo the home's traditional exterior materials.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
Because tabby—that is, concrete mixed with oyster shells—is used for buildings all over the Georgia coast, it’s not much more expensive than entry-level countertop material for the HGTV team on St. Simons Island. Bonus: It can be custom-dyed to match the deep green Brian used on the backsplash and the cabinet hardware. So much for black-or-white kitchens.
The foyer doesn't take itself too seriously, thanks to high-impact custom art.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
Brian turned to his friend and collaborator Celery "CC" Jones for this classic subject with oh-so-modern accessories. When you walk into the home, you meet a brutalist table and a worldly wooden chandelier—and then, as you turn to your right, you meet "Venus From the Block."
CC created half a dozen custom pieces for the house, in fact.

Robert Peterson, Rustic White Photography
In the dining room, she celebrates the gorgeous, moss-draped live oaks that inspired Brian. The best part? You can follow Brian’s budget-friendly lead (he used licensed art, which is less expensive because it’s produced in large print runs, in the rest of the home) with CC’s work for HGTV. All of her paintings will be available as prints at Wayfair.com.
Almost all of Brian's furnishing picks are available online.

Photographer: Christina Wedge
Last year’s HGTV Dream Home broke ground, as it were, by being the first renovated (rather than constructed) space. This year’s home, in turn, pays tribute to the internet’s role in contemporary designers’ work (and modern consumers’ projects). Translation: If you can’t live without one of the pieces on the gallery wall in the master bathroom, it can be yours with a few clicks. Or one click, really, if you’re HGTV Dream Home 2017’s grand-prize winner.