Highland Park home restoration project gets its own TV segment

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - A restoration project is unfolding block by block in Highland Park. 

But the restored French doors and ornate sconces that now decorate the once vacant home that will now be featured on TV is only part of the story that Maurice Turner and Blake Milnes are telling.

"There's so many beautiful homes in this city and they just need a little TLC and this one needed a lot," said Turner.

Turner and Milnes live in a beautiful home that was the first chapter in what's now become Rehab Highland Park, a nonprofit that refurbishes and restores homes in the Detroit suburb. Years ago, when they were working on their century-old craftsman, they got some expertise from Rehab Addict Rescue.

It was part of an HGTV segment. 

But the duo also had their eyes on the house next door. It had been vacant for 20 years.

"We wanted this house because it's been vacant for so long and I think the community was really behind us on this, they were excited about the renovation, they all wanted to see it come back," said Milnes. 

Someone following their journey on social media put them in touch with the Magnolia Network, which hosts a show called ‘In with the Old.’ Since then, Milnes and Turner's story has been chronicled by the show, along with all the blood, sweat and tears it takes to turn an abandoned home into a beautiful rental property.

"This was really truly like a real restoration and preservation of this historic home in this historic community," said Turner.

And the community wasn't absent either, participating in workshops and assisting with the restoration.

"That's really what preservation is is taking these different pieces and putting them together and hopefully they really work within the space and they really worked out perfectly," said Turner.

The episode of In with the Old on their latest craftsman rehab airs on Magnolia Network on Wednesday night and on streaming platforms after that. The couple say this isn't just about their latest restoration project but this entire city of Highland Park.

"I know that we can really make a push to have this happen across the city and I think that's really what we want - the old and the new and I think there is value in both of those things for sure," said Turner.

Visit rehabhighlandpark.com for more information.