Everything You Need To Know About HGTV Fix My Frankenhouse Stars Denese And Mike Butler
"Fix My Frankenhouse" is a relatively new, but definitely bingeworthy HGTV show. Focusing on properties that look like they've been stitched together, the series features homes with mix-matched aesthetics, inefficient floor plans, and frightening additions. As host Mike Butler explains to HGTV, "They're hodgepodge houses that don't flow . . . The layout and features just don't make sense or lend themselves to modern-day living."
Having premiered in April 2023, the show marks hosts Denese and Mike Butler's first foray into reality television. While Mike leads the construction aspect of the renovations, Denese focuses on interior design. Together, and with the help of some of their family members, the duo works to restore the monstrous frankenhouses of Boston, Massachusetts.
As new stars on the network, "Fix My Frankenhouse" fans may wonder about the couple's history and how they got their start in the renovation business. Luckily, we have everything you need to know about the Butlers.
Denese and Mike didn't expect to become HGTV stars
Denese and Mike Butler didn't set out to become HGTV stars, but Denese explained in an Instagram reel that they were approached by several TV producers back in 2019. By then, Denese had begun her interior design company The Perfect Vignette while living in Jersey City. After the couple moved to Massachusetts in 2019, they began focusing their renovation skills on the frankenhouses in the Boston area.
While her original background is in the fashion industry, Denese crossed over to interior design after becoming familiar with the industry via a job at a luxury textile design company. As she told HGTV, "I have a fashion background so interior design wasn't really what I had my eye on. I just fell into it."
Mike, on the other hand, has long seen himself working in construction and renovation. While both hosts have fathers who work in carpentry, and who also appear on the show, Mike was the part of the duo that saw himself following in his family's footsteps from a young age. "My dad, my grandpa, my uncles — they're all builders and carpenters who work in the industry . . . There's pictures of me at a construction site with little boots and diapers on," he explained to HGTV.
The Butlers have three young children of their own
Even though Denese and Mike Butler have been busy in their professional lives, the couple hasn't neglected their family. Accordingly, they originally made the choice to move to the Boston area to raise their children closer to their extended families. They have three young boys — Ellis, Felix, and Luca — who often make appearances on Denese's Instagram.
On balancing work and life, Denese jokingly said during an HGTV interview that she's basically superwoman. "When I say that, I'm talking about the fact that we have three kids. We're dealing with Latin tests, parent-teacher conferences, things like that. That's my version of superwoman — balancing the business and construction aspect with my kids and my husband too," she explains.
Mike also emphasizes the importance of leaning on other people, explaining that the phrase "it takes a village" has taken on new meaning to them. He proclaimed to HGTV, "It took a lot of time and effort from hundreds of people to make this happen. We're thankful and grateful and blessed for the opportunity. Our team, our parents, our families . . . it really took a village."