Ma Maison Interior Design - Virginian-Pilot Interior Design Article

saw the ad," Brown said. "A few calls later, they said we’re on."

Michael Brown has been a fan of the show since its launch two years ago. "I do real estate investing, so I'm always curious about the cost of houses in different areas," he said. Darlene Brown, a nurse, also helps in the business.

The couple also figured that having their home featured on a nationally-broadcast cable show might add value to it. "When I sell the house someday, I can say it was on 'What You Get for the Money,'" Michael Brown said.

The Browns purchased their home four years ago in South Shore Estates, a Homearama neighborhood in 1996. It's a transitional-style house with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and about 4,000 square feet of living space. It's valued at about$600,000.

"It was a lot of fun," Michael Brown said of the filming experience. "It was a long day, but it went really fast. My wife enjoyed it because she got to spend a lot of money doing little things around the house."

Joseph and Elaine Caplan's historic home in Olde Towne Portsmouth

Producers discovered the Caplans' restored and decorated historic home through a Web site for Elaine Caplan's interior-design business, Ma Maison, located on High Street in Portsmouth.

Several rooms in the couple's home are pictured on the Web site and quickly won over producers. "

Photography-wise, the house is extraordinary," Jenkins said. "It's incredibly styled, but it's not overstyled. It's very elegant." The house, built in 1880, is just blocks from the waterfront. It has five bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and about 3,800 square feet of space. The first floor boasts 14-foot ceilings.

"I will tell you, this was probably the ugliest house in Portsmouth when we bought it," Elaine Caplan said. "We completely renovated it, from top to bottom."

$900,000: THE MCFADDEN HOME, NORFOLK

Chris and Ted McFadden and their daughters - Erin, left, 10, Kathleen, 18, and Caroline, 8 - sit in front of their Meadowbrook home with their dog Penny. Their professionally decorated home boasts about 5,000 square feet. At left is the family's sun porch.

$300,000: THE STILLMAN HOME, CHESAPEAKE

Peggy Stillman, above, downsized from a 3,600- square-foot home to this 2,100- square-foot condo at The Hampshires at Greenbrier.

When it came up for sale again, after having been extensively renovated, they jumped at the opportunity.

The house was built in 1920 and is said to have been designed by the same man who designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., Chris said. It has four bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths and about 5,000 square feet of space.

"We love it here," Chris said of the house and the community, an older neighborhood with narrow streets, large shade trees and little traffic.

The family was excited about the opportunity to showcase their home on TV. "I didn't hesitate at all," Chris said. "I thought it sounded like fun."

Producers decided to put the home on an episode of $900,000 values. The McFaddens believe $850,000 is more accurate.

The Caplans bought their home in 2001 for $200,000, after moving from Virginia Beach. They spent about six months and $100,000 renovating it. Today, it is valued at close to $700,000.

The appearance on "What You Get for the Money" will not be the first time the Caplan home has received national attention. Their backyard garden was featured in a five-page spread in Better Homes and Gardens magazine in June 2006.

Elaine Caplan also is not new to HGTV. Last year, she was one of the designers in an episode of "Designers' Challenge," in which three interior decorators are asked to create a plan for a particular room and then the homeowners choose which plan they like best. The episode has not aired yet.

Ted and Chris McFadden's Norfolk home

Elaine Caplan helped with this entry, too.

She had helped the McFaddens redecorate this large, three-story, federal-style home, and she recommended them to producers. The McFaddens share their home with daughters Kathleen, 18; Erin, 10; and Caroline, 8.

The house is located in Meadowbrook, a waterfront neighborhood in Norfolk. They moved in three years ago from another house just a few blocks away and about half the size.

"We had always liked this house," Chris McFadden said. The family had looked at it when it was on the market years before, but it needed too much work at that time.

The crew shot almost every room in the house, but left out Ted McFadden's favorite: a two-level garage that he converted into a private hideaway, office and entertainment place - a "clubhouse" for grown-ups.

"That's the best part," he said with a smile.

Peggy Stillman's Chesapeake condominium

When Peggy Stillman got an e-mail sent to several Chesapeake city employees asking if they might be interested in applying for the show, she decided to try.

"I just kind of did it on a whim in the middle of the night," Stillman said.

She got a response from a producer later that same morning asking for pictures. By the end of the day, she was signed up for the show.

Stillman, director of libraries in Chesapeake, believes the producers were interested in her home - a 2,100-squarefoot condo worth $300,000 at The Hampshires at Greenbrier - because it is a good example of how a person can downsize after children have moved out.

Stillman, a mother of two grown children, moved to her condo in 2005. Before that, she lived in a 3,600-square-foot home in Western Branch for 22 years. Stillman moved because she wanted a shorter commute and less house to look after.

Her condo is spacious, providing plenty of room for her baby grand piano and most of her antiques.

Although Stillman's condo is beautifully furnished and decorated, what seemed to impress the show's producer was its huge storage space. The condo has an attic rivaling anything in a full-sized home. The crew ended up spending a big chunk of their filming time interviewing Stillman there.

"I found myself thinking, 'why am I spending so much time in my attic?' It's not my best spot," she said.

Reach Jane Harper at janeharper@cox.net .