Original subtitles

♪♪ You're running the place I'm raising the bar ♪

♪♪ I'm taking up space Throwing my weight Leaving a mark ♪

[cell phone ringing]

What's going on?

[Drew] I just wanted to call you with some good news.

-What? What is it? -Whatever you're doing, you need to stop,

and you need to pay attention because this is important.

What am I paying attention to?

[Drew] Mom and Dad have sold their house in Banff.

Wait, what?

[Drew] It's sold.

- Oh, my gosh. - [Drew] It's done. Yeah.

After years of trying to get them to sell and move down here,

it is officially happening.

Ten years, we've been trying to get them to make the move.

But I know Mom and Dad met in the Rocky Mountains.

They fell in love in the Rockies.

It's been their home.

Do we know if Dad's okay with this?

[Drew] Well, I don't know. If he's not ok with it,

we need to do everything we can

to make it the best decision he's ever made.

Anyway, we need to get a house.

-[Jonathan] Yes. -We need to find the right house.

If they're coming here to a new country, to a new city,

we would have to make it so perfect for them.

[Drew] Honestly, it's--

It's gonna be a lot of work.

-This is my nightmare. -It's really frustrating.

Oh! This is not good.

-What? -I'm stressed.

You're not alone.

[Jonathan] This all has to be ripped out...

I kind of feel like throwing up.

...and rebuilt.

I don't want to finish a beautiful house, and then they aren't happy.

No pressure.

[Jonathan] My hope is that they will see this house

as everything they dreamed of.

I love the house now.

Before, it was a love-hate.

♪♪ You're either Coming or going ♪

[Jonathan] We're about to tackle

the most high-stakes project of our careers.

Finally, after all these years,

Mom and Dad have decided to make the move to Los Angeles.

So we want to make sure that we to create a place that feels like home for them.

[Drew] But there's pressure because the whole move to LA was our idea.

So Jonathan and I needed to choose the perfect house

that Mom and Dad will love just as much,

if not more than their dream home in Banff.

Lo and behold, we found the place.

[Drew] We decided on buying in Santa Monica,

which, fingers crossed,

will check off as many boxes as possible.

They love nature, so the hope is they'll enjoy living by the beach

in one of the more tree-dense areas of LA.

It's also very walkable, so they won't constantly

be overwhelmed by driving in the big city.

[Jonathan] Unfortunately, not a lot of real estate goes up for sale around here,

so Drew and I snapped up the best available house.

A 1,400 square foot Spanish style fixer-upper

that we're hoping they'll fall in love with when they see it.

-But Mom is very particular. -Yes.

[mouthing]

-There it is, in all its beauty. -[Jim] Oh, yeah.

-So-- -[Jim] Yeah.

[Joanne] It's kind of scary.

-I mean-- -[Jim] Yeah.

[Jonathan] Before you think or say too much,

I want to give you our pitch

as to why we think this could be incredible

-because we have been-- -Mom looks disgusted right now.

-Mom looks like, "Oh, God." -Give it a second.

Yeah, it needs some work.

But you can give your input as we go through the house.

And Drew and I will put together

a full renovation plan to make it perfect.

Well, as you know, we have no experience with a Spanish-style house.

[Drew] This is a very different style home...

-[Joanne] I know. -...than what you've had in the past,

that, sort of, western, northwestern sort of vibe.

[Jonathan] Yeah. If we do something that is not perfect

and it does not feel like home,

then we've failed at making this an easy transition.

I think you know what we would like.

But this is-- I would say, of everything we've ever done in our careers,

this would be-- The stakes are the highest here

-because we care about you the most. -[Joanne] Oh, that's so sweet.

-Thank you. -But I mean, also,

as far as we're concerned, this is it.

-This is our final move. -[Jim] Yeah.

[Drew] We want to have you here.

We're really glad you made the decision.

We just want to make sure that you don't feel like

you're giving up more than what you're getting.

-No. -We want to make sure that where you're living

is just as beautiful and just as comfortable as your home.

No, we're not giving up more than we're getting.

-No. -[Joanne] Yeah.

I mean, we had talked about moving down here

because the boys are always after us.

We miss our family.

And at this stage of our life, that support is so important.

So I think that all was helping.

The move was hard for me because I didn't want to leave the mountains.

I spent most of my life up there.

[Joanne] Growing up, we tried to make their home a happy place.

And now they're trying to do that for us.

-And we appreciate it very much. -[Joanne] Yeah.

[Drew] Come on in.

All right. Watch your step.

-Watch our step. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

I think we're going into the cave.

Yeah, it does feel a little cave-like.

-It's a cave of opportunity. -Well...

Yeah.

[Drew] We knew it was a fixer-upper when we bought it.

And keep in mind, we're gonna renovate this any way you want.

What's your first impression?

What have you done?

[Drew] Well, it's not gonna offend us if you just be honest with us.

-[Jim] Yeah. -So--

It's quite different from what we're used to.

We've always had a home in the mountains.

Uh, lots of color.

[Jim] I don't like that, uh...

The hearth?

-[Jim] Yeah, I don't like that. No. -[Joanne] Yeah.

I'm not crazy about--

It's just I'm not used to that fireplace, right?

We've always had the rundle rock look right up to the ceiling.

That would be good, to have, like, maybe some wood elements.

This is a Spanish-style home.

So if we try and do too much of that sort of northwestern look that you're used to,

you know, a lot of those organic materials,

it's not gonna fit the style of this house.

-You're losing them. You're losing them. -No. I know. I just--

We can-- We can make it happen.

Anything will be beautiful.

But some things, you'll have to trust us on.

-[Jim] Yeah. -And I would like to actually see it a bit bigger.

-[Drew] This house is 1,400 square feet. -[Joanne] Right.

-[Jim] It was 2,000 in Banff. -[Drew] Yeah.

[Joanne] We have a big family.

And so now that we're all going to be together,

it's important to have a place

-that's comfortable for that big family. -[Drew] Yeah.

So, yeah.

At least the older I get, the more I realize family is everything.

-Yes. It is. -[Joanne] It is. Yeah.

And we don't want to miss out a minute

-on the growing up of our grandchildren. -[Jim] No.

You don't care about us? You just care about the grandchildren?

-No, we've seen you grow up. -[Jonathan] We're old dudes.

Once we look at everything, we'll see where we could do a little addition

-or something that gives you more square footage. -Yeah.

[Jonathan] Our goal is to try and make it

so that it checks off everything on your list.

-Have I shown you my list? -[Drew] Oh, God.

[Jonathan] I know what your list looks like.

Your pocket's not big enough for your list. We know.

We tease my mom about her lists and lists,

but it makes it easier for us.

We don't have to guess when they can give us all this information.

It's just good that I don't have to pay by text message

because I get so many texts from Mom.

I keep asking Mom to put together, like, a board of inspiration.

[Jonathan] Oh, she has the boards.

-But then she also sends me every picture individually. -Yeah, everything.

Look at your phone.

You turn away for five minutes,

you come back to your phone, fifty missed messages,

and it's all pictures from our mom.

[Joanne] That's the other thing, I want it to be open

to the other areas. Yeah.

If we open that wall, and you connect these spaces...

Ah!

Ignore the medieval light fixture.

-Oh, yeah. -Oh, yeah.

[Joanne] I like rustic, but not--

[Jim] This is gonna be a horror movie.

Okay, okay. Can I paint a little picture of what I was thinking here?

Yes.

-[Drew] Because right now-- -[Jonathan] Mom.

Mom has the look of like, "You guys are insane."

[Drew] For your dining room, what doesn't work?

Everything.

[Jim] Well, there's no storage.

-[Drew] Yeah. -Maybe a little bar would be kind of nice here.

-[Drew] Yeah. -We're gonna use you for holidays.

-[Jim] Yeah. -[Jonathan] You're gonna be the entertainment hub.

[Joanne] But we can't all fit in here.

Will this go out that way?

-Potentially. -Well, let's not talk about bump outs yet.

For now, I'd like to show you the kitchen.

[Drew] Yeah.

-Do not judge too badly. -Oh, dear.

I'm afraid. Oh, my gosh!

[Jonathan] It's so bad, I know.

-[Joanne] We can't all fit in here. -[Jim] Jeez.

It's a kitchen or a closet?

Where's the kitchen?

It's super tiny, but so--

Four is definitely too many in here.

It's way, way too small.

I want to be able to bake cookies

with all the grandchildren

and have them help in the kitchen.

-[Jim] More space. -Yeah, a lot of space.

-Big island. -Big island. Yeah, for sure.

Where would you fit the island in here, by the way?

I wouldn't. I would not put an island in here.

Here, I'm the island. Yeah.

Yeah, this is an island unto itself.

And so when we were talking about doing a bump out,

this is the one area

where I think it makes the most sense

-to get more square footage. -Oh, that would be fantastic.

Yes.

[Drew] We have two options,

depending on how much space you want

and how soon you want to move in.

To keep it simple, we can just bump out the kitchen.

[Jonathan] Reconfigure all of this.

Open up between the dining room and the kitchen

so you can get an island.

-I think that would make a world of difference. -[Joanne] Mm-hm.

[Jonathan] Or if you really want to get closer to that 2,000 square feet,

we can also bump out the entire side wall

to give you lots more room in these main entertainment spaces.

But keep in mind, that means a longer timeline.

Depending on how many bump outs you'd want to do,

and if it goes all the way to the front,

I mean, you'd be looking at probably anywhere from

-four to eight months for the project timeline. -Oh.

[Drew] And depending on what we find

once we start opening walls, it could take even longer.

So it depends how much you want that extra square footage,

or do you see that we could make it happen with this footprint?

You know, we don't like to think of imposing on you.

Right now, we're going from one place to the other

because, you know, we could never choose between the two of you.

I don't really like the thought--

No, don't worry about us because we love having you.

I just don't like the idea of you not feeling

like you're grounded in your own home.

Bouncing back and forth between our houses.

But if we wanted to take you to 2,000 square feet,

like you said you wanted,

we would probably have to do both bump outs.

-I think we would like the both bump outs. -[Jim] Yeah.

-You would? -[Joanne and Jim] Yeah.

This might be your best before.

[Joanne] Yeah, that's right.

-[Jonathan] The poster child before kitchen. -[Joanne] Yeah.

All right, one thing that I think is gonna be very weird for you

is the fact that we're in the kitchen.

And from here, we can go right through to your bedroom.

-[Jim] Oh, wow. -[Joanne] Oh, no.

[Drew] Well, you have to go through the bathroom first.

Tiny little bathroom.

-Interesting. Hm. -Huh.

This is the main bedroom suite.

[Joanne] Small. Extremely small.

[Jonathan] Well, it's not so sweet right now.

-Can I look? -Walk on in.

[Joanne] Oh, lovely.

I get this side.

You know, Dad and I have never shared a closet.

Like, where we were before, I had the closet.

He had his clothes in the next bedroom.

-Oh. -So you'd like to, actually, for the first time,

have clothes in the bedroom?

Yeah, that's right.

Every addition we do complicates the permitting, complicates our timeline.

But also, this is one of the rooms where I feel like a bump out

is the only way to make this work.

And it would be a substantial one

because you would need quite a bit more square footage.

We have to add a few more weeks to the timeline,

and you would lose a little bit of the backyard,

but that would allow you to have a bathroom and a closet

you could both use.

[Joanne] That would be lovely.

[Jim] A little bigger bathroom.

This is your space to recharge, to relax.

You've always done right by us.

You've supported us in everything that we've done.

So we really want to get this right.

-You better do. -I don't blame you.

[Drew] Well, why don't we head over here?

Because we have two other bedrooms for you guys as well.

There are two bedrooms along the side of the house,

and our dream is to create

some really personalized spaces for Mom and Dad,

something to show them how much we love them.

[Jonathan] Yeah, they've left the mountains

and they've moved to the big city.

So we want to give them spaces

where they can explore hobbies,

and, well, settle into their new life here in LA.

One of the reasons we picked this house

is because it's a beautiful neighborhood,

but it has these two extra rooms,

which we thought would be great for each of you

-to have a little space for yourself. -That's right. Yes.

It's a good location.

I think that I would like to have a little space, where I could have a desk,

and maybe I'll start painting again.

-[Drew] That'd be nice. -[Jonathan] Oh.

What do you want in your space, Dad?

-Well, a TV would be good. -[Jonathan] Okay.

Or a chair to sit down and play guitar.

Just one chair in the middle of the room?

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

-You have such simple needs. -Yeah.

I like that one of the spare bedrooms is gonna have, like, Dad's style,

and then the other one's gonna have a bit of Mom's style.

-[Jim] Yeah. -You get your own spaces.

I hate to ask, but, you know, how in your house,

you've got a suite, a guest suite.

Is that something we could work in this plan?

Well, if you wanted to do a full suite

that has, like, a kitchenette and has that,

-you would not be able to fit that here. -[Joanne] No.

-[Jonathan] We would need to take both of these bedrooms. -[Joanne] Yeah.

[Jonathan] Santa Monica has a program right now

-where they're encouraging people to build ADUs. -[Joanne] Hm.

We could build an ADU above the garage,

have a fully self-contained guest suite.

-What's an ADU? -[Jonathan] Accessory Dwelling Unit.

It's a guest house, basically.

Why don't we look in the backyard?

-I'll show you where the ADU could go. -Okay.

Good.

There's a lot that we miss about Banff.

We left a lot of good friends there, yeah.

That's, uh, a concern for us, but we're gonna hopefully bring them down here.

It's very important for us to have a guest space

for our friends when they come to visit,

so we don't lose those life-long connections.

The tearing up has happened many times, you know.

We're, kind of, an emotional family.

-Big space. -It's big.

-[Jonathan] Yeah. -And I like the way it's laid out, too.

I absolutely love that eucalyptus tree.

[Jonathan] Keeping the big tree is a must.

-[Joanne] That's important. Yeah. -[Jim] Right.

So would this structure stay here?

No, this is totally not to code.

We would take that garage down

to make room for the new kitchen addition.

Then my thought is we can rebuild the garage

in the back corner of the yard,

which has access to the laneway,

with an ADU above it,

so your friends from back home will have a place to stay.

We know how important that is to you.

That's going to be a lot of work for you.

It will. But I mean, you guys are worth it.

[Jonathan] There's no amount of stuff that we could do for you

-that would ever catch up to what you've done for us, so... -Oh.

[Drew] Are you excited, though, or are you nervous?

-How are you feeling? -Oh, yeah.

-It's really exciting. -It's always very exciting, yeah.

This is a whole new adventure.

I've never lived in a city before.

And I mean, we really thought

that Banff was our forever home.

We've been married 57 years.

So leaving that and all our friends up there, that's quite a big move.

And, uh, even though we're leaving them behind, we're getting so much more.

We have a sign that says,

"As long as we're together, the world's a better place."

We've been trying for a long time to get you guys to come closer.

-[Jim] Yeah. -And we didn't want to tear you away

from something that you really love.

-But we're glad that it's finally happening. -[Jim] We're glad to be here.

[Jonathan] Dad was very much against leaving the Rockies.

We need to get this right.

This has not been an overnight decision.

We have talked about this for years.

How do we take them and pluck them out of the place that is so beautiful

and it's what they always dreamed of being in?

And I think the real path to our final decision was everything is about family.

Nothing is more important than family.

We talk to our parents pretty much every day,

whether it's a call or a video call.

But the difference in having them here in person.

Like, I mean, I'll choke up just thinking--

[clears throat]

Just thinking about them being here with Parker.

That's so important.

-Yeah. -The years are flying by.

-Yes. -[clears throat]

Thinking of Mom and Dad being way far away, that's...

[Jonathan] We want them close.

We wanted them close for a long time.

And as much as this is for Mom and Dad, it's also for us

-because this is what we've always wanted. -[Drew] Yeah.

A lot is at stake.

Love you.

♪♪ My life is better Already, baby ♪

[Drew] Our mom and dad thought they already had their forever home.

Their entire lives have been up in Canada and up in the Rockies.

So we just wanna make sure they feel at home.

We don't wanna feel like they're sacrificing

coming here to be with us and be with the grandkids.

We said no ugly crying.

I can't help it.

[Jonathan] This reno is all about bringing family together,

so we're calling in as much of the Scott clan as possible.

Go Scott!

Why does everyone get a big one?

This is not fair.

This is not fair that Linda gets the smallest one

just because she's the smallest human.

Okay, that's fine. That's fine. That's okay.

-Linda, it's not the size of your hammer that matters. -There you go.

All right. Got it.

[Jonathan] We have a lot to do.

Fortunately, we have a lot of hands pitching in.

We are good to go through this wall.

We're good to pull up hardwood flooring.

-And we're good to rip out cabinets. -[Jim] Okay.

-[Drew] You should go first. -[Linda] Yeah, you guys should go first.

-Okay. -[Jonathan] Take it easy. All right.

-Okay. -[Jonathan] Ready?

This is our-- Gonna be our house.

[all cheering]

[Joanne] Yes!

Mom, not there.

What?

-I'm just kidding. -Oh. [chuckles]

-All right, Dad. -[Jim] Okay.

Oh, it went through. Well done.

-[Jim] Thanks. -[Drew] Whoa!

It has definitely been a minute

-since we've been together like this. -Yeah.

I mean, it has been long enough, really.

Just like softball.

[Drew] I think this was, like, the best way to start it off.

-[Joanne] Yeah. -Family coming together to get their hands dirty

and rip a house apart.

-It feels good. -This is like a big group, family hug.

-[Drew] Yeah, it is. -Yeah.

-We'll just put Zooey in afterward in post. -Yeah.

♪♪ You better Throw that back ♪

♪♪ You're losing Your best life ♪

Scott family demolition.

Oh, yeah!

[Jonathan] When we bought this house for our parents,

we were thinking, "Oh, there will be, like,

some minor tweaks to the layout."

But Mom and Dad's wish list was a little bigger than we envisioned.

Six hundred square feet bigger, to be exact.

-Six hundred square feet plus a guest house bigger. -Right.

[Drew] In order to make Mom and Dad's lofty vision a reality,

pretty much every wall in this house has to come down.

We're gonna start from scratch.

We need new flooring, new plumbing, new electrical, new windows and doors.

[Annalee] A nice coat of paint should fix it, right?

-[JD] Yeah. -[Jonathan] One, two, three.

Because it is a full demo,

I'm not too worried about anything slowing us down

because we're redoing all of it.

But we have submitted our permits.

And if everything gets approved,

it should be about an eight-month timeline,

which means during construction,

Mom and Dad will spend half their time at my guest house

and half their time at Drew's guest house.

[Joanne] It does make me a little bit worried

-about the time element. -[Jim] Yeah.

I gotta admit.

We want to get you in your house right away.

Getting them their own space,

they can start to build their own community is the most important thing.

Yeah. I'd like to have my own space, you know.

A place to sit and play my guitar. Yeah.

♪♪ I'm a living legend One of a kind ♪

[Jonathan] This old garage needs to come down

so we can expand the tiny unusable kitchen

to fit our large family gatherings.

This garage is such a piece of crap.

No, there's nothing. The ceiling is so low.

Oh, so you're taking it down?

The whole thing's coming down.

We're planning to rebuild it in the back corner

with an ADU above the new garage.

We kind of lucked out because the size of this garage

is small enough that the city doesn't need this

to complicate our permit at all.

So they said we can move ahead,

and we can pull this out now,

while they're finishing processing everything else.

♪♪ Press me, I'll hurt you ♪

All right. Go for it.

Watch out.

Here we go.

Ripping!

Whoo!

[Jonathan] Get in. Here you go.

Yeah, go forward.

All right.

Swing left.

Good.

Keep going, keep going, keep going.

Up, up, up, up, up.

Now clamp it shut.

Grab it, pull it. Watch out over here.

What if there was somebody on the toilet when we did this?

-Oh, yeah. -[Drew exclaims]

[Jonathan] Oh, my gosh.

Two months have gone by,

and we're still waiting for the approval on our permits

so we can start this renovation.

Our eight-month goal of getting Mom and Dad into their home

is right out the window.

And we haven't even begun construction.

Oh!

[Jonathan] I know Mom and Dad are getting antsy,

but I just don't know how to tell them

that there's not really anything we can do right now

except sit and wait and wait and wait some more.

-[Drew] Hey. -Yo, yo.

-[Drew] We need to talk. -About what?

[Drew] Our project timeline.

Um, I just got back from the permit office.

-This-- -Good news or bad news?

It is not good news.

They are so backlogged.

They're saying it could take up to a year to get permit approval.

What?

They are so far behind.

That is cra-- This is--

I know that Santa Monica is fair but firm,

and there's very specific things that they're looking for.

But the thing-- Like, with this,

it will take us longer

to sit and wait for our permits

than it will be for us to actually do the construction.

[Drew] Dad's almost 90.

We built them up about this dream,

but then all of a sudden, we're saying,

"Oh, you know how you were probably expecting to move in in a few months?

That's going to happen in a year and a few months."

Like, that's-- I don't want to be that--

I don't know. It's-- It's so frustrating.

[Jonathan] I mean, the--

We could-- So the ADU,

because Santa Monica is pushing to get more rental units, more ADUs,

the garage ADU, we could probably expedite

-and have that approved and ready to go way faster. -[Drew] Right.

That might be our best bet to try and speed things up.

At least we can get started there

and then move into the main house.

It's just frustrating it's gonna take this long.

I don't like the feeling

-that we are failing Mom and Dad. -No.

[Drew] After receiving some devastating news

about the timeline for this renovation,

we had to pivot, figure out a new game plan,

so that we could keep things moving.

[Jonathan] Yeah, we resubmitted our permits

so we can focus on building the ADU

while we're waiting for the main house,

Fortunately, the city fast tracked that approval, so we are ready to go.

Finally.

The arborist is here to begin the heartbreaking task

of removing the eucalyptus tree.

After having the tree inspected,

we found out it was rotten on the inside

and would be dangerously close to the ADU anyway.

So it has to come out.

In fact, our clients, Chris and Charlotte,

they had a tree come down right into their daughter's bedroom.

[Drew] Yeah, we would never wanna see something like that happen with our family.

So unfortunately, the tree has to come out.

Eucalyptus trees, if there's wind storm,

-they're the ones that usually. -Yeah, they're dangerous.

The wood is very soft and the branches can snap very easily.

[Jonathan] Removing this tree is a big time-consuming job,

and until it's completely taken down and removed from the yard,

we can't start excavating for the foundation of the ADU.

Finally, we're several months in

and actually seeing some progress.

With the dangerous eucalyptus tree removed,

we're able to move forward, digging out the foundation of the ADU,

which will allow Mom and Dad to host their lifelong friends here in LA.

We've been checking with the permit office

about the status of the main house,

and since that's still on hold,

we've been focusing on the positive,

and that's soaking up as much family time as possible.

Linda and I recently found out that we're expecting baby number two.

And so having my dad around while I'm navigating fatherhood,

it means the world to me.

-We're lucky to have you and mom in the city. -[Jim] Yeah.

I'm kinda getting used to it as time goes by.

So you don't mind the city compared to the country?

-Oh, well, I mean, I prefer the country. -Yeah.

[Jim] The mountain's there, and I miss it.

-I'll tell you, I do miss it. -[Drew] Yeah.

But, uh, we really appreciate all you're doing for us.

[Drew] So tell me the house in Banff,

what is something in that house

that you want to make sure you see in your new house?

Oh, well, sometimes I don't wanna see all the stairs.

-[Drew] Yeah. -It was four levels of stairs.

-Yeah. Yeah. -But, uh, a fireplace, for sure.

To sit around and be cozy at night

-in the winter. -Yeah.

I mean, you had the rundle rock fireplace

-that you really like. -[Jim] Yeah.

-Yeah, the fireplace is the main item of the house. -[Drew] Mmm-hmm.

Honestly, we're just so excited to have you here.

I mean, your mom being in Parker's life

instead of being a FaceTime in his life is so much better.

And I know Jonathan and the kids love having you here, too.

-So, it means the world to us. -[Jim] Yeah.

Well, it... it means the world to us, too.

♪♪ Look at me and you see ♪

[Drew] The design of this house

is really what's gonna make it feel like home for mom and dad here in LA.

I know it's early in the process,

I just wanna make sure we have a game plan for the main design elements,

especially the living room fireplace.

That's gonna mean a lot to my dad.

[Jonathan] How do we blend what they've always liked

with maybe, like, encouraging them into something new?

Mom and dad had that old rundle rock fireplace

that they loved up in the Rockies,

-which really suited the Rockies. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

They wanted that here,

and we're like, "That doesn't fit the style of the home."

Because this is Spanish style,

it's usually like a clean finish, stucco finish.

-A little bit of curve to it. -[Drew] Yeah.

I think they just want something impressive on this wall.

They don't want just some tiny little fireplace.

[Jonathan] No, no. Fireplace is key.

They love to spend a lot of time around the fireplace.

So if the fireplace comes up kind of square,

and then we'll have a mantle that's maybe not as chunky as Mom and Dad are used to,

but have some of that nice Spanish style curve in there

'cause I think that's what's important.

Have something that feels like it fits in the home,

but maybe a little different than what they've had before.

[Drew] Yeah, something contrary,

but we don't want it to be too dramatic.

So we need to keep it a bit wider.

Something where we can pay an homage

to the history of what they've always had.

[Drew] Day by day, we're slowly making progress on the ADU.

But without the permit for the main house,

it could literally be another year before our parents move in.

Well, slowly but surely things are moving forward,

and that keeps Mom and Dad happy.

And if they're happy, that means we're happy.

Forming's coming along pretty good.

If we could get a little rebar in.

We've got a lot of structure going on top of these,

-so we want to make sure it's gonna be solid. -[Drew] Yeah.

[Jonathan] We've got the underground utilities run to the ADU.

Our concrete form should be finished in the next day or two,

and then we cross all our crossables,

that we pass our inspection

so we can pour our concrete ASAP.

The inspector came out and we failed

our underground utilities inspection.

Because we're doing concrete here,

they definitely don't want the concrete to cure to the pipes.

So that's why we wrap it, but the wrap was torn.

Uh, so when the inspector came,

not only was the rap not good enough, we were 3 inches short.

We only had a 6-inch clearance around it.

It's 9 inches, right?

Nine-inch clearance all the way around the main waste pipe.

But you're almost done, right?

[Jonathan] Yeah, well, my hope is...

so he said he's going to come back on Wednesday and reinspect.

If he comes back and approves this,

we can pour right away.

But right now, this is putting us behind at least another week.

I just can't win.

Our original timeline have Mom and Dad moving in within a few months,

and we have barely even started the project.

It's annoying enough when something delays us that's outside of our control.

But when it's a failed inspection,

that's absolutely within our control and we drop the ball.

So now it feels like we're letting down Mom and Dad.

This was my worst fear going into this project.

♪♪ Looking for a good time ♪

♪♪ Looks like you just found it ♪

[Jonathan] We are several long, frustrating months

into what is probably the most important project of our careers.

And finally, after all this time, we have some good news.

We have passed our inspection.

We have poured our foundation,

and the framing of Mom and Dad's guesthouse is finally touching the sky.

And that isn't even the best news we've got this week.

I have good news.

Orr just texted me.

We officially have the permits for the main house, so we are good to go.

We've finally been given the go ahead

to start construction on the main house.

It's definitely going to be all hands on deck

because we're adding over 600 square feet

to the floor plan of the main house.

And that will give Mom and Dad more than enough room

to entertain the entire extended family,

which is going to be a dream come true for them.

And us, for all of us.

With the team hard at work preparing the main house addition,

we've been busy adding a second story over the garage for the ADU.

-Window delivery. -Amazing.

And I feel like there's enough room to make this comfortable.

In the main area, we'll have a full kitchen for long-term guests.

We've got a bathroom in the back corner there

and a good-sized bedroom beside that.

Design wise. I think we should go neutral, but really cozy.

I'm thinking an island with comfortable stools,

a nice big sectional,

calming earth tones everywhere.

Anything that feels relaxing, because they need their friends back home

to want to come visit.

If we don't get this right,

the worst thing in the world to me, is to disappoint Mom.

They're going to be here for the rest of their lives.

Well, I know they've been thinking about it a lot.

You know that by the texts that we're getting.

But It's tricky, 'cause there's not just one right way to do it,

-but there are many wrong ways to do it. -[Drew] Yeah.

-Are you nervous? -[Jonathan] I mean, how could I not be?

We told them that we would be done in eight months.

And the timeline has doubled.

Dad's 90th birthday is right around the corner.

-Go. Way. -[all laughing]

Well, you know, um, it's been quite a while,

and, uh, it's been an ongoing process.

We've been staying with Jonathan, Drew, Jonathan Drew,

going back and forth.

We might be driving them crazy. I don't know.

But, uh, you know, there's nothing like home

and having your own things around you.

Jim is ready to get into our new home, and so am I.

-[cell phone ringing] -[phone connects]

Hello.

What's happening?

[Linda] Uh, me and Mom just went for a stroll.

They seem so grateful and excited to finally get in,

Um, and I know never complain.

But I just wonder,

But did they complain to you?

I mean, I wouldn't call it a complaint.

I know they've been here in LA for a while,

but since Mom and Dad love entertaining and hosting so much,

I wonder if she should be more involved in designing the ADU

since it's for their guests.

-So she can feel fab. -You know what? Well, I mean, she's had a say.

Some Yes and Nos, but I know the ADU's

not gonna be like her style per se.

It's gonna be something for guests.

But I'll talk to Jonathan about it, too.

I think that's actually great because we know

-how much Mom wants to be a part of the design. So... -[Linda] Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that would mean a lot to her.

And then she'll feel proud of it as well.

We know it's gonna be a nonstop booked room over in the ADU

because everyone's gonna be coming down

-from Canada from Scotland. -[Linda] Yeah.

So it's gonna be busy.

♪♪ Be like me. Be like me Be like me. Be like me ♪

♪♪ Be like me. Be me like ♪

♪♪ They wanna know how to be like me ♪

[Jonathan] It's a momentous day for this reno.

We're taking a big leap forward and pouring the foundations

for the huge main house addition.

Yes, we have concrete.

[Drew] This is awesome. Let's take some forms down.

We had hopes this home's 1,400 square feet would fit the bill.

But Mom and dad are dreaming of having everyone gather

for the holidays and dinners.

We have a big family that just keeps on growing,

so they want this house to keep up.

I think Mom and Dad are getting sick of staying with us yet?

Literally, just told me two days ago.

Mom said they're ready to move in here.

And I said to her, "I'm like we are a long way off from that happening."

This is a way bigger scope of work

than we originally thought it was gonna be.

And we're building an entire house

-and a secondary house. -[Drew] Yeah.

We've had so many delays, so many challenges, even this.

I can't rip this wall out of here until the power company comes

and moves this to our temp power pole.

-The temp power has been approved for three weeks. -[Drew] Yeah.

Wait. What?

Yeah. This has just been sitting here

-right in the middle of the kitchen. -[Drew] Delays,

delays and more delays.

I don't think either of us realized how difficult this project was gonna be.

That's the thing. Our parents are here in LA with us,

but their house is nowhere near ready for them to move into.

And the thing I feel the worst about is,

they had their dream home up in Banff.

We convinced them to leave that

and start a new life down here with us.

With the promise that we'd be ready for them really quick.

-Yeah. -And now I feel like it's a bit of a bait and switch.

[Drew] What was originally an eight-month project

has stretched to at least a year and a half,

and the end is nowhere in sight.

So with the main house at a standstill once again,

we're turning our attention to the ADU.

This has gotta be as nice as the main house

because Mom and Dad have moved their entire lives.

They've picked everything up in Banff, they've moved here.

Dad, I feel like we may have dragged here kicking and screaming

because he was totally content living in the mountains.

They loved having family come from Scotland to visit

or Mom's family coming from Ontario.

Or just friends coming to town to stay with them.

When they were up in Banff, they had all that time.

They don't have that until they get their own place here.

All hands on deck.

Everybody's got to be here. We gotta get everything done.

We can't slow down in this space.

This isn't slow. I'd say this is fast and crazy.

I have a little bit of a fear

you're squeezing a lot of house into a tiny footprint.

There is so much at stake here.

We know this is just a guest house,

but still the guest house is a part of Mom and Dad's house,

and we wanna make it perfect.

Yeah, this is... This is more than enough.

-After this, no more pillows. -Oh, you know your mother.

-She loves a thousand pillows. -Hey, guys.

-[Drew] Hey, what are you doing? -Look what I got.

-Just you're bin of antiquities. -Yes.

Here.

-Jonathan can take that. -Yeah.

-What have we got here? -That's hilarious.

That's my usual picture frame.

I always like to have a picture of our guests in the frame beside the bed.

I taught that to Zoe.

So we do that every time a guest comes over,

and they always comment

on, "Oh, my gosh, what a great touch."

Or, "I forgot about that memory.

Well, I just love the idea of a personalized basket.

I like the robe.

It's almost like that hotel spa feel.

I love that you've got your lucky pillow.

Well, you have this in our guest house.

[Joanne] Yeah. That's where it came from.

Your guest house. [laughs]

-Stop taking stuff from my house. -[laughs]

[Jonathan] We will take this off your hands,

and we will take it from here.

Well, can I come and help?

-No. Don't try anything. -Pretty please.

-I thought I would ask -All right.

Love you.

It's actually been incredibly beneficial

having Mom and Dad stay in our guest house.

They've been telling us things that would be important to their guests,

and I've got a whole list of stuff we added solely because I know now

what they want in the guest house.

Okay.

Yes. Side. No. Maybe we should put this on the bed.

That way, the guests will not miss it,

and they'll know it's for them.

If it was over here, they might think, "Is it staging?

-We shouldn't touch it." -This just all shows

how much Mom and Dad want to have people over,

how much they care about the guests.

Having the little snack packs, having the little soap,

the robe and then the picture.

You may think saying, "Hey, you can go stay out in the garage ADU,"

that is like some rundown, dirty garage.

This is gorgeous.

Let's be honest.

This is nicer than most of the places we rented during college.

Oh, absolutely, way nicer.

This is something for their guests.

They haven't been able to entertain in so long

because they haven't had their own space.

Now they can start having friends over again.

You know, we've checked everything off.

I think we've got everything Mom's asked for.

We've got everything Dad's asked for,

so the payoff, fingers crossed, is gonna be worth it.

Better be worth it.

You've been in our guest houses

-bouncing back and forth for quite a while. -Yeah.

-Yes. -Yeah.

How does it feel to know that we're one step closer to having your place done?

-Oh, my gosh, this is like... -A relief.

Yeah, it is, yeah.

You'll have a life again.

-What's it gonna be like to have a life again? -[laughs]

I need to hone my skills to entertain.

-I know you lost a little bit of your social cred. -[Joanne] Yeah.

But this is the start of our new adventure.

It is. I would like to call this the appetizer.

-The main course is still to come with your house. -Yeah.

But at least this is a beautiful spot for guests.

Yeah, let's see the place.

-You want to get in there? -Let's do it.

-Yeah. -Okay. Let's go.

I always like to think of our guests coming in

and trying to make them feel right at home.

And so we can hardly wait to see the ADU.

[gasps]

[gasps] Oh, my gosh.

-Oh, boy, oh, boy. -This is phenomenal.

-Look at the countertops and everything. -This is great. Holy smokes.

[Drew] A little better than the nothing that was here before.

What's the first thing that jumps out to you as a wow factor?

[Jim] To rent.

-Oh! -Smooth.

[Joanne] I was gonna say the ceiling height and the openness.

I think it's so bright in here.

It just makes it look bigger than it actually is.

Well, some of that comes from the design decisions,

using the lighter stones. Also by carrying the stone up the backsplash

-keeps things simple, so it's easy to clean... -Yeah.

...maintain, but it looks right.

-It's a dream kitchen. We could just live here -Yeah. Right.

We were wondering if you guys should move in here

because it's gonna be a while before the main house is done.

But then I was like, "Are you going to spy?"

-Yeah. -I don't want to see anything.

[Drew] So, you would never think that this is just above the garage?

-[Jim] No. No. -No. But to me, the biggest thing

is the full-size appliances.

-[Jim] Oh, yeah. -Oh, yeah.

[Joanne] That is phenomenal.

-This microwave is an oven, a microwave, an air fryer. -Oh.

-Yeah. That's wonderful. -And there you go. Look at that.

-It's nice to have the extra space. -That's wonderful.

-Not feel like just an afterthought. -No.

This really feels like a home.

This is swell.

And, you know, Mom gave us a long list of things

-to make sure we squeezed in. -[laughs]

-Yeah. -Don't ask me for a list.

-You know you're in trouble. -That's what... We always joke.

They say they don't ask Drew for a list.

-I'm like, "I know where I got it from." -Yeah.

-[Joanne] I've seen my pillow. -[chuckles]

Oh, no, I guess it's your pillow

-that I took. -[Drew laughs] Yeah.

Absolutely great.

-Yeah, that's nice. A picture. Yeah. -[Drew] That's a TV.

-[Joanne] Oh, my gosh. -A hidden TV. Very nice.

Oh, look at that. Oh, that's great.

-[Jim] Oh, yeah. -"As long as we're together, the world's a better place."

Sounds familiar.

Yeah. Do you recognize it?

I do. I gave that to your dad

literally just after we were married,

and we've always had it in a prominent place.

And now you're coming up on 58 years.

-Fifty-eight. -Fifty-eight years.

That's longer than a... a life sentence for prison.

That's... That's three life sentences for prison. [chuckles]

[Jonathan] You know that we are sofa snobs.

We actually designed this sofa,

so that it has nice deep seating because we're all tall.

But it has to also be comfortable.

So if somebody wanted to snooze on the sofa.

-it would be good. -[Jim] Yeah. Yeah.

Somebody wants to snooze on the sofa. Isn't that nice?

Isn't that Mom's nickname?

Wait, you both snooze on the sofa? Yeah.

Yeah, and I like the fact that you can turn the barstools around.

And so, if you've got company here, everybody's included.

-You've got lots of seating. -Lots of seating.

There's more to see.

You can stay on the sofa and have a nap if you want,

or we can go look at the bathroom.

-Okay. -All right.

Come on down.

Here you go. Check out your bathroom.

-Oh, wow. -Do you like the colors?

-[Jim] Yeah, the colors are great. -[Joanne] I love it.

[Jim] It's a beautiful bathroom.

[Joanne] My favorite color scheme.

-[Jim] Yeah. -[Drew] Got a lot going into a small space.

-Yes, that's great. -Yeah, and again,

-it's nice and bright in here. -Oh, yeah.

[Joanne] And I love the tile work here.

-The shine, that's gorgeous. -[Jim] Yes.

It's a beautiful bath.

And I love the glass shower.

[Jonathan] Sometimes I think in 80s people just put like a curtain.

But then you can get water spillage.

-We don't like that. This is much nicer. -This is great, yeah.

I always figure if you have a curtain across

-that looks like you're hiding a body. -Yeah. [chuckles]

And then if you take a look around here,

you'll see the bedroom.

-Okay. -You first.

[Jim] This is beautiful.

Hey.

-Oh, wow. This is so... -[Jim] So nice.

-I can't believe what you got into this size of a room. -[Jim] Yeah.

-[Joanne] And it doesn't look crowded at all. -[Jim] No.

The thing is, you want your guests to have everything they need,

and if someone's coming to stay for a week or two,

they're gonna need the drawers,

-they're gonna need the closet space. -Yeah.

This feels like a full-sized bedroom in your guest room.

[Jim] It looks so comfortable.

I'll just get into bed now.

Yeah, exactly.

Well, you'll be very comfortable with mom's baskets.

[Joanne] Yes, that's right. His and hers baskets.

-There you are. And another TV. -Oh, yeah.

-No, this is not a TV. -This is not a TV. This is just art.

[laughs] Okay.

And so remember in Banff, we had a lot of dark furniture.

On my list, one of the things I said is, " We are done with dark

and now we want to go lighter."

It's more current. I mean, it feels natural and inviting.

-[Joanne] And that's what you want in the bedroom. -[Jim] Yeah.

-[Drew] Yeah -Oh, look at... Isn't that cute?

-I love the picture you chose. -[Jim] Yeah.

-[Joanne] Yeah. -That's my favorite little touch

of any of the hospitality stuff you guys have ever taught us.

Having a picture of your guests

[Joanne] When our guests come to stay,

I mean, this is... you couldn't ask for a nicer place.

-[Jim] No. -We might not get rid of them.

That's right. Yeah.

The ADU is all so nice.

They made absolutely the maximum...

-Oh, yes. -...use of every single space. I just couldn't believe it.

-I thought we'd be happy here. -Yeah.

It was fantastic.

What would you say is your favorite part of the ADU?

-Oh, that it's done. -[all laughing]

We didn't want to waste any time getting this done.

Getting it finished means all of our crews

-can focus on the main house as soon as we are ready to go. -[Jim] Yeah.

All right. Well, you've done a wonderful job here in this place.

Well, it means the world.

To me having family so close and everything,

it's important for us to have a home where we can welcome you.

-[Drew] Don't make me cry, you're making me cry. -[crying]

-Let's just have a cry fest. -[all laughing]

-I love you. -Oh, gosh.

-And... There we go. -Family hug. Hey.

Yeah. Good.

It was so nice to see Mom and Dad smile.

We forgot about all the hassles.

We forgot about all the stress for a minute.

But this is just the ADU.

We haven't even really started for the main house.

This is gonna be a sprint the entire way.

We're exhausted and the work is just beginning.

-Next time. -[Jonathan] I can't even look at Drew right now

because he is pushing us way beyond both our timeline and my breaking point.

Breathe deep breaths.

-If you wanted to do it instead of just... -I don't want to do it.

-I'm telling you, I don't wanna do it. -No, I know.

This whole project I feel like is derailing

faster than it's coming together.

[Joanne] We've been living out of a suitcase for a year now.

I'm just anxious to see it all done.

-Wow. -Look at that.

Oh, my gosh!