Galveston Kettle House makeover, house-flipping couple hit HGTV in 2019

Kettle House in Galveston. Kettle House in Galveston. Photo: Dana Goolsby/MYETX.com Photo: Dana Goolsby/MYETX.com Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Galveston Kettle House makeover, house-flipping couple hit HGTV in 2019 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

Ashley and Michael Cordray have made a name for themselves on Galveston Island, remodeling historic, dilapidated homes, many of them predating the devastating 1900 hurricane. But it's their purchase of one newer and much weirder home, the 1960s Kettle House, that has helped propel the house-flipping couple to an HGTV deal.

In 2019, the owners of the remodeling company Save 1900 will star in "Saving Galveston," an eight-episode series highlighting eight home remodels that the Cordrays recently completed over a period of about five months.

The Kettle House, a familiar sight for anyone traveling to the beach on the west end of the island, is one of the eight.

"Michael likes to think it was the house that pushed us over the edge" for HGTV, Ashley said.

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The general public took notice of the home's new exterior look recently, as social media posters marveled at the cleaned up property.

A look at the inside will have to wait until next year. The first episode of "Saving Galveston" is set to air April 2019. An exact air date has not been released.

Contrary to popular belief, and Google search results, the Kettle House is not a museum and not open to the public. The Cordray's have taken steps to keep people from walking inside, and plan to keep the house and use it as a vacation rental after the show.

The couple has redesigned the home to have two bedroom and one bathroom, with a master bedroom upstairs and a bunk room downstairs. The 900-square-foot home feels surprisingly spacious on the inside, the Cordrays said.

"It's the biggest shower we did," Michael said.

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The interior design is inspired by the mid-century modern designs of the 1960s, Ashley said, with a focus on fun.

"The inside had to be just as cool as the outside," she said.

The other seven homes to be featured on the show are older and more traditional, the couple said. Many of the Save 1900 properties were in danger of being torn down before the Cordrays purchased them.

"Most of our houses haven't been livable for a decade," Ashley said.

Michael was born and raised on the island. The couple, both Texas A&M University-Galveston graduates, had only been dating for two months when they purchased their first Galveston property for $55,000.

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They started picking up more and more old properties, remodeling them one at a time after their day jobs ended until television producers noticed Save 1900 on social media.

HGTV was looking for a show about an island community, and Michael and Ashley's experience and personalities fit the bill.

A "Saving Galveston" pilot aired several times in 2017, to rave reviews. Now, it's only a matter of months before the Cordrays get their chance to become the next HGTV sweethearts.

Until then, follow Save 1900 on Facebook and Instagram.

Dana Burke covers community news. Read her on the breaking news site chron.com and the subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Follow her on Twitter: @danapburke.