HGTV is coming to 1620 2nd Street: what the cameras found

By now you may have heard the whisper, so here it is plainly: 1620 2nd Street is coming to HGTV this fall and winter. The cameras came to this one-block-from-the-beach corner of Gulfport, and they found a turn-of-the-century shotgun cottage with tomato-red walls, heart pine floors, and a hallway arranged like a small gallery. We cannot spoil the episode, but we can tell you what the crew kept coming back to, why the block around the house is part of the story, and what the feature might mean if you are thinking about making this cottage yours.

The whisper is true: what we can tell you about the feature

We have been getting the same question all season, and the honest answer is that we cannot share the show name, the air dates, or any of the good stuff yet. What we can say is that the feature is real, it is coming this fall and winter, and the moment we are allowed to share dates and details, they will appear right here on this page first. If you have been following the stories on this site, you have seen the phrase bound for HGTV this fall and winter in nearly every post. This is the post where we finally get to talk about it directly.

What we can tell you is how the filming went, because that part we lived. The crew was kind, patient, and clearly charmed by the house. They lingered in the living room when the afternoon light came through the transoms, they rearranged the gallery hallway shelves more than once to catch a better angle, and they kept asking about the history of the block. A house that has stood for more than a century has a way of telling its own story, and the cameras were happy to listen.

What the cameras found inside

The house has come to be known, affectionately, as curated by local artists, and that is exactly what the cameras found: a home that feels collected rather than decorated. The living room walls are a warm tomato red, a confident color that a bigger house could never carry, and the corner fireplace anchors the room like a signature. The hallway between the rooms reads like a quiet gallery, with wall shelving, a mirror, and frames that get rearranged as the light moves through the day. Original transoms above the doors let daylight drift from room to room, so every piece on those walls gets its turn in the sun.

The bones are the real star, and they have been since the turn of the century. Heart pine floors run through most of the living areas and bedrooms, high ceilings keep every room feeling open and airy, and the clean shotgun sightline runs from the red front door straight through to the back. Renovated by Carl Padgett in the 1980s and updated again in 2006, the cottage kept its character through every change: the pine stayed, the ceilings stayed, and the transoms stayed. The kitchen and bathrooms carry updated flooring that is easy to live with, and the alley access out back means off-street parking, an uncommon luxury this close to the beach.

Why the block is part of the story

A house this photogenic could carry an episode on its own, but the crew understood that the setting is half the story. The live oaks along 2nd Street have been curating this block's character for more than a century, their low reaching branches and soft Spanish moss shading the sidewalk from the porch to the beach. One block east, the Gulf of Mexico rolls in wide and open, with dunes and sea oats holding the sand at the water's edge. Walk the other way and you are in the middle of Gulfport's creative corner: the harbor, the Mississippi Aquarium, coffee shops, and the downtown streets where the Coast's artists work and show.

Downtown Gulfport's art scene is the kind that sneaks up on you. Fishbone Alley, a former service alley laid with 1908-era brick pavers, has become an open-air gallery where artists from across the Coast leave murals, painted panels, and shutter art behind the downtown restaurants. The Gulfport Arts Center lives in the restored Carnegie Library, built in 1916 as the first Carnegie-funded public library on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and shows the work of roughly forty coastal makers alongside classes and a writers' group. On Art & Gallery Walk evenings, the first Friday and third Saturday of each month, downtown turns into a strolling gallery under the oaks. The cameras loved all of it, and you can see why: this is a block where the creative character is not a decoration, it is the way life is lived.

What the feature means for buyers

Buyers ask us the same question in different ways: will the feature change things? Will it bring crowds? Will the house be harder to see? The honest answer is that we do not know what the episode will do, and we would not pretend to. What we do know is that the house speaks for itself, and the cameras simply found what a walk through the rooms shows any day of the week: warm character, honest age, and a location that is genuinely rare. A character-filled cottage one block from the beach, with alley parking and the whole of downtown Gulfport within walking distance, does not come along often on this stretch of the Coast.

If anything, the feature is a reason to visit sooner rather than later. There is something lovely about seeing a house before the rest of the country does, walking the rooms while they still belong to your own imagination, and deciding for yourself what you would hang on the red walls. The listing stands as it is, the porch chairs are still out, and the door is open to anyone who wants to take their time. When the episode airs, you will be able to say you were there first.

The season ahead: fall and winter on the block

The timing of the feature could not be better, because this is the cottage's best season. Fall evenings are made for the corner fireplace, with the red walls glowing in the low light and the porch chairs getting their first cool-weather use. When December rolls around, Jones Park strings its trees with holiday lights and the whole downtown takes on that Hallmark-movie glow, which is fitting, since a Hallmark movie was once filmed right there. Winter mornings on the Coast are quiet and golden, the beach empty except for regulars, and the walk to the water takes less time than it takes to find your shoes.

Between now and the air date, we will keep sharing the season here: the happenings, the light, the local makers, and the moment we are allowed to announce the episode details. If you have been reading along, you know this block well by now. If you are just arriving, welcome. The red door is easy to spot, and the porch is set up for company.