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A SOCIAL MEDIA PHENOMENON It all started in late 2020, when we were bored and spending time confined to our own homes. Then the Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild started feeding us imagery

of delightfully bizarre homes, and we were hooked. Many were seemingly ordinary on the outside but shocking on the inside, like the 12,089-square-foot home built on top of an underground

miniature town, the one with a replica of the Oval Office and another containing an extraordinary number of taxidermized animals. With each post, the follower count grew across Instagram,

Facebook, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), gaining traction almost immediately, says Samir Mezrahi, who created the brand and newsletter. “It just really blew up and hit the world at the

right time,” says Mezrahi, who is an executive producer for the HGTV show. The houses filmed hadn’t been previously posted on the social media accounts and were chosen using different

criteria — HGTV’s primary focus is on the unusual and side-eye inducing. The featured dwellings could easily be home to an old-world vampire or a modern TV buff. Expect a Las Vegas pirate

lair, a decaying and decadent New Orleans historic home and a wholesome Hollywood Disney princess cottage. There’s also a Midwest bastion and a desert compound that evokes the Tatooine sets

of_ Star Wars_. “The TV series, I think, just really elevates [the Zillow Gone Wild social media accounts]. A lot of what I’m doing is the listings,” Mezrahi says. “With Jack being an

amazing host, he takes it to another level, actually touring the homes, talking to the homeowners or agents … telling a better story of why the home is the way it is,” Mezrahi says. “Photos

don’t do the homes justice in really being able to get the sense of scale and layout.” Realtor Aimee Ashe shows McBrayer the beauty of this 1860's New Orleans home. Courtesy HGTV

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE In one episode, Realtor Aimee Ashe, who works with her mom, Liz Ashe, in New Orleans, walks McBrayer through a ghostly New Orleans cottage that was built in 1860. The

home appears as though in active disrepair, with exposed beams and wallpaper and paint at various stages, as though someone tired of the projects midway and left. But there’s a gothic

beauty to it as well, and it serves as an event space for weddings and parties. “This is a step back in time — a design choice,” says Ashe. “The seller is a historic renovator, and when they

purchased this house, [they] saw the beauty that it could be, and that it once was.” Vines cascade from the ceilings and the yard boasts a beautiful private pool. And for $1,450,000 it can

be yours.