When planning a trip to Waco, Texas to visit The Silos and Magnolia Market we found the perfect place to stay – The German Schmear House Fixer Upper. That’s right, thanks to Airbnb we stayed in the old school house that appeared on Fixer Upper in season three renovated by Chip and Joanna Gaines and the Magnolia company.
We giggled when our daughters, ages 11 and 7, first mentioned their idea of going to Waco, Texas to visit The Silos and Magnolia Market. But then we thought, why not? A great deal on airfare sealed the deal — we were headed Waco, Texas for our summer trip. When searching for a place to stay, my husband discovered several homes from the show Fixer Upper were available for rent via Airbnb. And just like that, we were booked to stay in The German Schmear House Fixer Upper.
The German Schmear House Fixer Upper
Our kids were over-the-moon excited about our accommodations, and frankly, so was I. Before our trip, we tracked down the episode to watch to prepare for our adventure. And the girls told anyone who would listen about their upcoming trip.
Staying at The German Schmear House was everything we hoped it would be (as was our visit to The Silos and Magnolia Market). It did not disappoint.
Upon our arrival, we entered through the backdoor of the house and it felt like we walked on set for Fixer Upper. The house really is beautiful, inside and out, and it was a great location for visiting the Silos and Magnolia Market.
The most fascinating thing about staying at The German Schmear House was discovering answers I always wondered about the show Fixer Upper.
Do Homeowners Get To Keep Everything Joanna Gaines Picks Out?
Not necessarily. I’ve always assumed homeowners have the option to buy furnishings, but they don’t just come with the house. And that appears to be the case. One of the first things we noticed was that while the house was furnished very similar to the way it was on the show, it wasn’t the exact same.
Thanks to photos on Magnolia’s website, we were able to compare the rooms side by side. Some things, like the piano that was original to the house, were the same. Most things however, like the sofa, were only similar to how Joanna styled the house. A flat-screen TV was also added to the living room, complete with Apple TV, which I was very thankful for as we were able to continue watching our Netflix shows.
The piece Joanna had made for the couple with the wedding vow written for them by Sarah’s father, Max Lucado, still hangs over a desk in the office.
What About The Rooms They Don’t Show On TV?
I’ve always wondered about the rest of the house. Some episodes of Fixer Upper seem to show all of the rooms, while some episodes focus on just a couple areas. So what about the other areas? They don’t get the magic touch.
While the entire house was beautiful, it was clear which rooms appeared on TV and which did not. It looks like the rooms that did not appear on TV were later made over by the homeowners to reflect the style. So the whole house has the same overall look and feel.
For example, the beautiful new flooring that appears throughout the first floor stops before the bathrooms where an older style tile takes over. The bathroom walls and cabinets were painted to match the rest of the house and the showers were redone with a white subway tile, but an old-school medicine cabinet and light switch plates were clearly not upgraded by Joanna.
How Did The German Schmear End Up On Airbnb?
While most visitors do not have the opportunity to meet the homeowners, Jeff and Sara, we did get to meet Jeff when a power transformer blew and left the area in darkness just after dusk on our first night. We messaged Jeff to request that he check with the power company on the outage, and he was kind enough to purchase a lantern for us and bring it right over.
We took that opportunity to ask our burning question, “Did you ever live here?”
Jeff and Sara did live in the house as planned for about a year after the makeover. Unfortunately, life happened. Sara took a pay cut at work and decided to go back to school. In order to make some extra money, a friend suggested they rent out their house via Airbnb.
After successfully testing it as a rental, they began receiving regular requests to rent the home. Soon they converted the 900 square foot garage into a one-bedroom studio to live in full time so they coould rent the home.
We laughed when Jeff explained that living in 900 square feet was not conducive to a happy marriage. So eventually, they purchased an additional home just a few blocks down the road.
Thus, The German Schmear House is available to rent on Airbnb. And since they no longer live there, the backyard Cottage they renovated is also available for rent (a separate rental from the main house). Vacationers like our family are happy to have the opportunity to stay in their lovely home.
PS – Luckily, the power was only out for about an hour and a half. It was a huge, random outage from a storm. Even Target was without power!
Fixer Upper Tour Busses Are A Real Thing
Upon arrival at The German Schmear House, we quickly learned about a local tour company that takes people to visit Fixer Upper homes, including The German Schmear House. We learned about it because there it was, parked out in front of our house!
While the kids got a kick out of it, I can imagine it would get old pretty quickly if we lived in the home. You certainly want to make sure the blinds are always closed in case a tour bus comes by! Eeek!
In addition to tour busses, plenty of tourists regularly stop by the house for a looksy. Even a friend of mine (The Modern Savvy) who visited Waco the week after our trip did a drive-by of several Fixer Upper homes. Again, I guess that’s the downside of having a famous home. But for vacationers, it was all part of the fun.
Would We Stay At The German Schmear Again?
Yes, we would be thrilled to stay at The German Schmear House again, and we highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip to Waco. While I don’t think we will go back anytime soon, if we did, we would definatly want to book a Fixer Upper home.
Since the purpose of our visit to Waco was all things Fixer Upper, The German Schmear House Fixer Upper was the perfect place to stay. It really made the visit that much cooler — not to mention that we had a whole house to ourselves.
We stayed for two nights in the house, and it was the perfect amount of time to do everything we wanted to in Waco. I will share more about what we did in Waco and tips for visiting the Silos soon.
Want to see a full walk throughout the house? Check out my video tour.
Thanks for renting us your home Jeff and Sara! We hope many more fans are able to enjoy your home too!
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