Good Bones Recap: Episode 13
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Hi, HGTV fans! Good Bones fooled recappers Megan Fernandez, the homes editor for Indianapolis Monthly, and art director Kristin Sims into thinking this was the season finale, given the heartwarming story and gorgeous house this week—perfect for a season-ender. But luckily, it’s just the penultimate edition.
The episode focuses on the biggest property Two Chicks and a Hammer has ever done, except owner and show host Mina Hawk’s own home. It’s in Fountain Square and the construction has already started. Spoiler: Showrunner Adam Bradley wants it for his family. He has been commuting back and forth from their home near Los Angeles for five years, living in hotels in Indy to produce Good Bones. Meanwhile, his wife, Nicole, has been doing the yeoman’s parenting work with their three young sons alone. But she needs major surgery, so that won’t work anymore. They need to reunite. The problem is, she is from Southern California and likes it there, and Adam needs a great house to lure her to the Midwest.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: The fact that the showrunner relocated to Indy with his family—a place they have no other connection to—shows how committed he is to the future of Good Bones.
Kristin: Bravo to Nicole. I don’t know if I could have bought a house via a FaceTime tour, like they showed here. But we all know there was much more touring done off camera.
Megan: This budget is huge! Two Chicks bought the partially framed-out house for $50,000 and is going to put almost $600,000 into it. They’re going to add a third floor, dedicated to the primary suite, and finish the full basement. With five bedrooms, it will be nearly as large as Mina’s own house a couple blocks away. The subliminal message: Work on Good Bones, get a big house.
Kristin: It does seem like their big properties are ones that they buy from other contractors.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: To begin the episode, (pregnant) Mina, Karen, and Tad crawl all over the house in early stages of construction. There are no stairs yet, so they go in and out of windows to the second floor and down to the basement, which requires going through a large window well.
Kristin: I loved the big windows in the basement. That is very hard to come across.
Megan: This house is pretty narrow and tall. The third-floor primary suite is the showstopper in the house. It will have a bedroom, a massive bathroom, a walk-in closet, a sitting area by a wet bar, and a big covered balcony with a giant hot tub and an unobstructed skyline view.
Kristin: They also get highway noise. Did you notice the house in the background of the interview with Mina and Austin? It was the double with the copper roof, and the second-floor planters are supposed to look like eyelashes.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: You notice so much more than I do. I noticed that the next-door neighbors are so close that they could have said hello to Nicole when Adam and Mina showed her the house on FaceTime.
Kristin: But the neighbors will look teeny-tiny from the third floor.
Megan: True! The vibe is going to be “West Coast glam in a very Indiana way” (which Mina says is comfortable and livable). Do you think Californians aren’t comfortable in their homes?
Kristin: No. In this case, I think comfortable and livable means that in Indiana, the house is big enough that you and your three boys aren’t living on top of each other.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: Technically they are because their bedrooms will be on the second floor and the parents will be on the third. The family is giving up the ocean, but they gain a private island—the 18-footer in the kitchen that gives Mina “island envy.” This thing is so big. Personally, I don’t want a kitchen island as long as a runway. I don’t want to be able to run laps around it.
Kristin: It’s crazy long. I think I’d want—wait for it—yes, more dining area! Are you going to serve Thanksgiving dinner lined up on one side of an island?
Megan: It’s good for a family, I guess. The boys can race Hot Wheels from one end to the other. Outside, a deck will wrap around the back corner of the house, and the doors will be accordion-style that fold all the way open. Mina goes with composite decking and says it’s very West Coast.
Kristin: Ugh, composite decking is here, too.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: Austin is skeptical that lifting the 1,000-pound hot tub to the third floor with a crane will work. Lifting it that high isn’t the problem—it’s pulling it over the balcony railing, even with six or eight guys trying. I’m surprised they didn’t wait before installing the railing.
Kristin: Thank you! Why in the world would they have added the glass-panel rail on the balcony before the hot tub delivery? I am so shocked that it worked out. But they didn’t show how they moved a 1,000 pounds of tub into place.
Megan: Maybe Tad called the five “friends” he envisions hot-tubbing with. Cory’s little “what?” when Tad said that is so funny. It’s Cory-dorable.
Kristin: He sounded as scared as I was.
Megan: It’s a big day for MJ when he, Cory, and Mina install a corner desk in the boys’ bedroom. He’s going to trying the circular saw! As a designer, he isn’t comfortable with power tools. You are, though. How did he do?
Kristin: WHHHYYYYY? Why would you let someone use a circular saw for the first time on a mitered joint? Let him start on a straight piece with some extra length—just in case.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: He messed it up, and Cory had to redo it. It wasn’t hard, but I see your point. Here comes Karen wearing double-decker hats, one on top of another. She and the two older Bradley boys are going to plant a tree in honor of Nicole’s mother, who recently passed away. It’s a surprise.
Kristin: It was sweet. And the HUGE “Grammy” sign was so subtle.
Megan: It had to show up on TV. This program should be called Good Heart.
Kristin: The fans love these touches, and I think they seem very natural, not orchestrated for TV.
Megan: I’m not getting a lot of “West Coast vibe,” which Mina aims to achieve with minimal furniture and lots of green plants. And lemons and limes on the kitchen island.
Kristin: I agree. It was pretty, but not so different than many other episodes this season.
Megan: The Bradley boys make the best squeaky reveal sounds when the whole family sees the house for the first time.
Kristin: They are so joyful. Few sounds are better than the giggles of children.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: I love navy blue cabinets and accents against the white throughout the house, for Nicole’s favorite color.
Kristin: Yes! I put that in our lake house a couple years ago, and paired it with the brass. We still love it. Oooh, I feel so on trend.
Megan: What a dream bathroom. There’s a freestanding tub in the shower area, which I think makes this a “wet room.” It’s so big, there’s room for a chandelier. In the shower.
Kristin: The shower room is too big for me. I keep thinking about what it would take to clean all of it.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: A housekeeper. The price is a steal by California standards. The exterior style is very New Urban Indiana.
Kristin: I really liked the white-and-cedar exterior, especially with the black-frame windows and door. It’s maybe my favorite exterior of the season. Personally, I would like to pick it up and move it a block or two from the highway. And, I wouldn’t want to be the tiny neighbor—or maybe I would since my property value just went up.
Megan: It is so tall, maybe they can see the ocean from the top.
Kristin: Or White River.
Good Bones “California Dreaming in Indy”Photo courtesy Two Chicks and a Hammer
Megan: This house is very vertical for a young family. When the boys are teens, it will be nice because they can all have their own levels. But as a young family, they’re going to be going up and down a lot.
Kristin: That’s what I was thinking. There’s no way you’d leave a baby downstairs for quite a while. The family will certainly get their steps in!
Megan: Another reason I thought this was the season finale is that it would have been a parallel to last season’s finale, when Mina and Steve started a new chapter as a family by revealing Mina’s pregnancy after a difficult IVF process. Next season, maybe the finale will be Tad settling down! Filming is already happening, though, so there’s no time to waste.
