“Restoration Road.”
The connection?Magnolia connection.
What attracted Clint Harp to Restoration Road?
That’s right up my alley.
As it evolved, that’s what it’s really turned into.
For me, that’s amazing.
I want to go back in there.
I want to dig around and really explore the structure.
That’s always been me.
For as long as I can remember.
I hate not being able to get all into that old thing and explore and go on an adventure.
Well, this show, I’m behind the velvet rope.
There’s no one there saying it’s possible for you to’t go there.
Let’s imagine how they built this or whatever.
For me, it’s a dream come true.
Man, there are so many that we’ve done that they’re all really and truly …
They’re amazing in their own right.
I have to tell a story that you’re free to really visualize.
For instance, one in New York, we took it down.
I wish I could have it as my own home.
It’s just gorgeous.
Basically, when you’re on the property, you might literally see how a family moved there.
The Erie Canal was being built, and so they were thinking we’re going to move there.
We’re going to buy this property.
Then it’s possible for you to see where they’d sit.
Then they were like, “Oh, let’s make a milk refrigerator over here.”
Everything was right there.
They made their own stuff.
They were connected to their little community in town, but that was it.
Oil, gasoline, metal.
Tires, and all this different stuff.
In what ways do you think the show really challenged you or took you out of your comfort zone?
The first episode that people have seen was about a train car.
I don’t know anything about train cars.
I just take them in.
I’m not out there to be the expert.
I’m not the expert.
Hopefully that will transmit through the television.
In this new role, did you learn about new aspects of yourself in amongst all of this experience?
It sounds like you’ve really embraced this new “let me be taught” mentality.
That’s a great question.
I think for sure.
I’ve always known that I love adventure.
I thought I was like that, but this just confirmed that for sure.
Then you go down to Dublin, Georgia.
Then I get to sit down with this woman who used to work with Martin Luther King Jr.
Wow.
Of course, also just learning about American history through these structures and how they were built.
Also, some of the wastefulness of the early Americans.
We can never grow that wood.
We can’t grow it again.
We’re not going to get that again.
You’ve been with Chip and Jo for quite a while.
Yeah, for sure.
Wasn’t very nice.
We were just quiet.
They were going forward in their own way.
Of course, we had no idea how that was going to work out.
We didn’t even know where we were going to move.
I don’t even have a shop yet.
What episode of Fixer Upper stands out the most to Clint Harp?
Well, yeah, it had to be mine.
I remember that episode.
That one, first season.
Joanna was like, “Let’s do it for the show.”
Then the rest is history.
That one will always stand out.
She was like, “All right.
Do your thing.”
She’s Joanna Gaines.
She’s freaking designer extraordinaire.
She’s one of the best in the entire world.
She is incredible, and for her to look at me and go, “I trust you.
You do your thing.”
Thank you so much.
Those are such special memories, and we’re just continuing to make more.
Did Clint Harp ever expect his career to evolve like it has?
I know you’re pressed for time, so we’ll wrap up in a little bit.
I have a couple more questions.
I have so many that I want to ask.
I know that you left a job in the medical field to pursue this passion.
That was not for me.
In the sales world also, what are you doing when you’re in sales?
Well, you’re putting yourself out front.
You’re presenting to people.
You’re the main attraction, and you’re trying to get people to jump on board with you.
I was even in a short film.
I loved being on stage, and the sales world was another stage.
She and I both decided this is where we’re going.
Then we moved to Waco and I actually volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for a few months.
Oh, very cool.
Again, that was just a great opportunity for me to just do something that …
I wasn’t performing.
No one had to look at what I was doing.
I was just doing what I really wanted to do.
Then months after that, I’m a part of the pilot that they’re filming for HGTV.
I find myself back in a world that I do love.
I do love being in front of people.
I love doing that.
Then you come out on the other side, and you’re like, “Okay, yeah.
Let’s do this.
Let’s get on this train and see how far it goes.”
These are the behind-the-scenes secrets that Clint Harp shared about Restoration Road
Okay.
Last question and then I will let you go.
Did anything happen on your new show that viewers don’t get to see?
Any behind-the-scenes details that you’ve got the option to spill would be much appreciated.
This is a really boring one, but my spine was falling apart in the first season.
Not really, but I had a bulging disc or something.
I don’t know.
There are some scenes in that first season where I’m banging stuff together with these giant hammers.
They’re oftentimes called beetles.
He put like watermelons on there, and he took the giant wooden mallet and yeah.
There’s episodes where it’s really cold, and I’m up there.
There’s so much pain.
I don’t know.
Thankfully it’s fine now already thanks to awesome folks and got it taken care of.
One thing that it’s a unique thing about our show.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten drones stuck in trees.
People will see it a couple times.
When the first phone call, Sarah Kuban, she works at the connection, she texted me.
It was May of 2019.
I didn’t know what was going to happen at that point.
I was starting to throw some ideas around in my own head.
Well, maybe I could go and do this.
Chip and Jo, they want to do a new show with you on the new internet."
I’m like, “Yeah, of course.”
What’s this idea?
I want to know more.
I don’t know anything.
I just know that Chip and Jo want to do something with me."
Thursday comes, and I get in my car and I drive and there’s no signal.
Of course, I’ve got this phone call.
It’s panic mode.
I’m like, “No.
I’ve got to get this phone call.”
Anyways, I finally find a place.
I had one bar and I call Sarah.
That’s what we’re calling it."
This is fantastic."
Everything that could’ve gone wrong.
Talk about panic central.
Magnolia data pipe’s slate of original programming launches July 15 on discovery+ and inside the Magnolia app.
