Exclusive: A Sneak Peek Inside Alison Victoria’s New Dream Home—and Why It’s Not Her Forever Home

HGTV’s “Windy City Rehab” star Alison Victoria is pulling double duty as designer and client in a new spinoff show chronicling her biggest personal home remodel to date.

On “Windy City Rehab: Alison’s Dream Home,” the cameras follow Victoria as she fulfills her over-the-top wish list of design features, all while overhauling her existing Chicago office space into a dual-purpose property for working and living.

It took eight months of renovations for Victoria to bring her fantasy, French-inspired upgrades to life. We caught up with her right after she settled into the place earlier this month.

“I just moved in two days ago,” she tells Realtor.com®. “I woke up two mornings in this house shaking my head, like, am I dreaming? Where am I? This is not real.”

Thrilled to get a sneak peek of her aspirational space, we got Victoria to open up about overcoming the challenges that come with a project of this magnitude. So if you’re scheming up your own ideal home, read on to learn Victoria’s clever ideas and pro tips for bringing your renovation dreams to life.

You’re exposed to so much design inspiration in your career and travels. Was it difficult to narrow down ideas for yourself?

Honestly, it comes way easier for me, because I don’t have to check with anybody. I’m a real snap-judgment kind of person, and when I like something, I just make it happen. Obviously, it takes a village to make that happen, but when my team understands my vision, they know how to execute it. So it’s like, dream bigger; let’s just go big!

We often hear you ask clients what their renovation wants and needs are. What were your personal wants and needs for this project?

This dream home was all about wants. [There] wasn’t a whole lot about what do I need. That’s what made it dreamier, because I started to really dream big, where it was like, what have I always dreamed of?

I want to never have to deal with the weather again, so I want an indoor courtyard. I want a pool. I want big, huge fireplaces all over the house. I want a movie theater. I want a full gym. I want a sauna. I want a three-car garage. I want the dreamiest bathroom that feels like you’re in Mykonos. That’s what I want.

What’s been the biggest challenge of converting a commercial space into a residential one?

The first challenge starts with zoning and rezoning. It was making sure I found the right team to help me execute that, the right legal team, and to make sure I was getting to know the aldermen in my district to share my vision with them, and to get the neighborhood to come and be behind me on this. You have to have approval from them.

Holding that little town hall meeting inside of the house to say, “Hey, here’s what I want to do. Do you guys have any questions?” To then actually build it and to deal with all of the massive hurdles that come with it—some of them were really crippling financially and still are.

Like the old bow trusses that hold up the building. When you find out that some of them might have to be reinforced, and that that could cost $10,000 to $15,000 per truss and you have five of them, that’s a huge, huge deal.

When you might not pass inspection because you thought your original skylight that’s 80 feet long actually opens still—I was told the skylights open with a hand crank—and then to find out that they don’t and that in order to pass inspection, I have to spend maybe $60,000 to replace them—I mean, these are big hits in the middle of your project. I took out loans with friends of mine that I still need to pay back.

You’re very open about budget being an issue for this build and having to refinance your Las Vegas home and sell your Atlanta condo to cover it. What’s your recommendation for renovators who don’t have all their finances figured out?

I hope what I teach people in this is [to] figure out any and every angle to get this financed. Sometimes it’s not traditional financing. I thought I was going to get a bank to give me a loan right away. I thought the banks were going to be, like, “Oh, this sounds great. Here’s a ton of money, because this thing’s going to be worth millions!” But not a single bank believed in it.

And so what did I do? The Las Vegas house was what afforded me to do this in the first place. Getting the money from refinancing that house is what allowed me to start. But then when I realized it was going to cost more, I’m like, “Well if the bank’s not giving me money, then who is?” I’m so grateful to my friends. My friends are the reason that this house is done. My friends are the reason that I could actually keep going.

When it comes to embarking on a large renovation, what are the most common missteps you see clients make that you tried to avoid?

Most of it comes down to who you’re hiring. You’ve got to put what you want into your home, but the people that are going to help make that happen—you need to do your homework. That’s how people lose all their money: with the contractors, subcontractors, with not being able to get [a] real understanding of the budget in the beginning. I hope people start doing their research, because that’s the most important thing.

You’re known for preserving the character of historic homes while giving them a modern makeover. What’s the key to achieving that?

It’s finding inspiration wherever you go and building off of that. I’m dealing with an industrial space, so I don’t want to take away from that, but I also want to warm it up. I don’t like ultracontemporaries. So for me, it was all about what pieces of furniture, or what built-ins, or what mantels, or what doors [and] lighting can bring this together and make it feel more traditional?

What’s your favorite feature in your new space?

My favorite part of the house is absolutely the courtyard. It’s the dreamiest space in the house. It’s an indoor courtyard that has a pool, a huge fireplace, and skylights everywhere. So it’s pretty dreamy just with those elements. 

Is there anything you would’ve done differently now that you’re living in it?

Not one single thing. Not a single thing. That’s why it was the perfect name: the dream home. It’s just exactly what it is.

Is this your forever home?

This is not my forever home. I don’t know if I’ll ever have one of those. I don’t sit still long enough, and I think if I ever did, I’d get really bored with life. This is my dream home right now, because I don’t know what tomorrow is. I’m trying to live in the moment and be present and enjoy it, pinching myself over and over and over, because that’s what it’s all about.

You’re a competitor on HGTV’s ‘Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge.’ What was that experience like?

I was doing [“Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge“] at the same exact time as my house, so I was flying between California and Chicago getting both of these dreams done. It is such a surreal moment to go, “I am building my dream house at the same time as Barbie’s dream house,” who was my icon.

“Windy City Rehab: Alison’s Dream Home” premieres on July 25 at 9 p.m. on HGTV and will be available to stream the same day on Max and HGTV GO.