ForNeil Patrick Harris, home “means solace.”
“It means a place to escape to. Home is something I just relish, cherish,” theHow I Met Your Motheralum says in a new episode ofMy Houzz,exclusively premiering on PEOPLE.com.
Because his own family’s home — a restored townhouse in Harlem — serves that role inhislife, Neil wanted to gift the same type of space to his older brother, Brian.
Neil says Brian has an “Indiana Jones” vibe, and often enjoyed outdoor activities, such as spelunking with his friends, so when the actor decided he was going to give his brother a home renovation, he knew he wanted to overhaulthe backyard.
“Brian doesn’t always want me to spoil him, but I think this is one way I can do it,” he says.
TheA Series of Unfortunate Eventsactor describes the interior of his brother’s house in New Mexico as a “fixer upper” and says instead of fixing it, he just ignored a few of the rooms, including the den, where he’s been stacking boxes and housing a weight bench with no other furniture.
“It feels like a room where you put stuff when you’re not sure where it goes,” Neil says.
So he teamed up with designerLisa Samuel of Samuel Design Groupand landscaperSolange Serquis of Serquis + Associates, who he found onHouzz, to transform the den and outdoor space into a cozy oasis for Brian.
“I would love for my brother to have a sense of pride about this house so he can show it off and feel proud of it,” Neil says in the episode.
Because he had to return to New York City for work, Neil enlisted the help of his dad, Ron, to oversee the physical transformation of the space and make any necessary purchases while he was away.
Ron was a big advocate for getting rid of the pocket door that separates the kitchen and den, which he says “hasn’t worked” since Brian moved in. Samuels and Serquis allow Ron to do the honors, having him hammer out the door so they can replace it with a see-through partition wall to the kitchen.
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Outside, Neil wanted to incorporate Brian’s love of bees, so the team designed a space that was functional and bee-friendly.
Before the actor unveiled the space to his brother, he set it up for a party, filling the cooler outside with drinks and getting burgers ready to throw on the grill. Once he’d placed the finishing touches, he met his admittedly “nervous” brother in the front yard.
“My heart is racing,” Neil said. “I hope he loves it.”
And (spoiler) he does!
“I was hoping that it would be nicer than it was, but I never dreamed that it would be this nice,” Brian says of his new den.
When Neil asks him if he’s ready to see the outdoors, Brian asks. “Will my heart be able to take it? Because I’m sort of dizzy right now just with taking in this room.”
Outside, Neil shows off the metal pergola that covers an outdoor entertaining space, a sitting area, and a small kitchen with a grill.
“It’s an oasis in the desert,” Brian says. “It’s so zen.”
He’s also thrilled with his buzzing new neighbors. “To find out that not only do I get to have bees now, but that the whole backyard has been designed to make bees happy — it’s just wonderful,” Brian says.
And while sharing a beer with his younger brother, Brian shows his appreciation for Neil and the renovation team.
“It feels like it had a lot of input from somebody who actually knew me, so I expect you were behind that.”
source: people.com
