Newtown House Among Ugliest In America: HGTV

NEWTOWN, CT — A Newtown home was featured on a reality TV series in search of the country's ugliest houses.

On the Aug. 22 episode of HGTV's "Ugliest House in America," host Retta travelled to New Jersey and Connecticut to explore those states' dumpiest domiciles, and was not disappointed.

A 4-bedroom, 3-bath home built in 1979 in Newtown was called out for being overly retro stylings, and functional failings.

Aghast at the sheer size of the fireplace —a 10-feet wide and 30- feet tall "monolith" — comedienne Retta wondered "if there are any stones left in the Northeast."

The host was likewise baffled by the placement of the front and back doors of the home, which she insisted were on the wrong sides of the home.

The owners conceded their home, built in 1979, was a bit "different."

"A friend of ours says our house looks like a welcome center. Like she's gonna come in and get some brochures," one quipped.

Faux marble floors, a pleather-trimmed game room, and a bathroom and kitchen where the owners had "really leaned in to" green and pink inspired Retta to dub the home "The Big Bad Brady Barn," as a tribute to the iconic kitsch-laden sitcom.

"We've done a lot to bring it into the new century, but a lot of it remains in the 70s," one of the current owners said.

Newtown doesn't have a lock on icky interior design in Connecticut, according to the show's producers. They have given a nearly 5,944 square foot home on 40 acres of land in Putnam the ignominious distinction of being the ugliest house in the entire Northeast.

The current owners, who operate a horse rescue, moved in just six months ago. On this week's episode, they appear to still be wrapping their heads around just what they had purchased.

It's a "very big house that needs a lot of help" they acknowledge, but "state of the art, if you're living in 1986."

Textured wall paper, no shortage of beige tiling, a honeymoon suite-sized jacuzzi, great room couch that comfortably sits 15 and gold trim for days also contribute to make the home a product of a much-less-simple time in suburban interior design.

Retta said she was most shocked by what the owners call their "zebra bar." Real zebra skin covers nearly everything in the home tap room, right down to six light switches on the wall. Bold choices for the owners of a horse rescue, the comedienne mused.

And just ugly enough to win the Putnam home a ranking in the finals of the "Ugliest House in America" 4th season competition, representing the Northeast. After crowning the worst of the worst in a future episode, designer Alison Victoria will surprise the homeowners with a $150,000 renovation.

They'll need it.