Clint Harp in 2011 was broke and bereft while living in Waco, Texas. He and his wife Kelly, to get their minds off their misery, took their kids to a park. On the way back, the gas light came on in their Honda Pilot. Harp groaned.
But when he pulled into the gas station, a black truck with the word Magnolia embossed on it pulled in. A few months earlier, a friend had suggested Harp reach out to Chip Gaines, before his “Fixer Upper” fame, to help him out. Harp hadn’t heard back so he approached Gaines while pumping gas. They had an immediate connection.
That random, very fortuitous meeting opened doors for Harp and his wife as they established their own successful design firm, Harp Design, which now has 30 employees. Chip and Joanna Gaines also gave Harp a platform as a carpenter on their hit HGTV show “Fixer Upper.”
And earlier this year, the Gaines rewarded Harp with a show of his own called “Restoration Road” on their Magnolia Network, available on streaming service Discovery+. Harp travels the country, from Idaho to Missouri, seeking cool historical building restorations and talking to the builders about these projects. In one episode, a Civil War-era barn in a small Ohio town made of red elm is deconstructed, then rebuilt to become a new home.
“I’m learning all sorts of new things about structure and history and how and why things were built in the past,” he said. “I’ve learned of the environmental impacts, sometimes good, sometimes bad.”
Now the Atlanta native is back doing home shows again, including the Fall Atlanta Home Show Friday and Saturday at Cobb Galleria, where he’ll talk on the main stage about his career.
“Any chance I can get back to my home state, I’ll do it,” he said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday.
Harp spent much of his childhood in Atlanta and graduated from Dunwoody High School in 1996 ― just missing Ryan Seacrest, who got his diploma in 1992. Harp later attended Baylor University in Waco and considered going into music. Instead, after college, he opted for youth ministry, then sales, before pursuing his real passion of woodworking in his early 30s.
When he got to Waco, he started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. He had a soft heart for the Carter family because his grandmother worked on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign and later his library and the Carter Center. The Habitat folks in Waco gave him some space to build furniture for $25 a month.
And the Gaines became invaluable resources for his business. “They were energetic and had vision,” he said. “They weren’t afraid to try and fail and get up again. That meshed with us very well. I was lucky to play a part in their success. Every chance they gave me, I ran with it the best I could.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Fall Atlanta Home Show
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Clint Harp will appear at 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday on the main stage. $8-$10. Cobb Galleria Centre, 2 Galleria Parkway SE, Atlanta. fallatlantahomeshow.com.
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