A North Kingstown Home Goes from Frightful to Delightful
The transformation was made possible with the help of a little Hollywood magic.
A coat of white paint brightens the once dark and dated living area. Photography by Angel Tucker
Jeremy King gave himself two years to renovate the run-down fairy-tale cottage he bought in October 2023. But thanks to the magic of reality TV, the project took only two months and cost King nary a cent.
“The whole experience was surreal from beginning to end,” he says. “I was just in awe the entire time.”
Before.
The yacht captain had been looking for roomier digs when he found the North Kingstown home on Zillow, with its trademark orange gingerbread trim, custom windows, handcrafted wooden details and working elevator. (Some eagle-eyed readers may remember that Rhode Island Monthly profiled the home in its “Save This House” feature in May 2022.)
He was charmed by the details that former owner John R. Cota Sr. wove into it. No matter that it was dirty, and more than a little smelly, and that mice skeletons inhabited the heart-shaped bathtub. King, always game to tackle a good project, could see the home’s potential.
At the open house, he remembers an out-of-state couple roaming the parcel’s four woody acres, not even glancing inside the home. King and his friend examined every room, staying until the heat and smell drove them outside. The couple, he figured, didn’t want the house; they just wanted to rip it down and build a new one.
Before.
That’s when King knew he had to save it — it was too unique to be razed.
“When I saw the house one of my first thoughts was, ‘This house has to be shared with people,’” he says.
Producers from HGTV’s “Scariest House in America” felt the same, calling King shortly after his closing after seeing the home online. He was cast in April 2024, and soon found out he beat out eight other equally spooky homes across the nation. The prize? A cool $150,000 renovation by HGTV interior designer Alison Victoria.
The home needed a lot of work: The electrical system was shot, pipes had burst, and rooms had been left half-finished. Outside, overgrown trees and vegetation crowded the home, which had areas of wood rot. King gave Victoria some design inspirations, but for the most part let the team lead the renovation process.
The refreshed black exterior makes the home’s many windows pop. Photography by Angel Tucker
“When the designers came in here asking, ‘What can we do? What can’t we do?’ my reaction was, ‘I don’t know that any one thing is off-limits,’” he says. “There isn’t any one thing that makes this house so incredible. There’s so many things.”
They covered the living and dining room walls — including a rock wall and fireplace Cota made himself — and raw wooden beams in a fresh coat of white paint, turning the dark, dreary room into a soaring, light-filled space. Hazem Bakir Woodworks of Seekonk, Massachusetts, sluiced off fifty years of varnish from a dining table Cota crafted from a slab of elm, unveiling the gorgeous grain underneath.
The kitchen is done in matte black with hints of copper and wood. Photography by Angel Tucker
A working elevator leads to the third floor. Photography by Angel Tucker
The wood theme continues in the kitchen, with wooden beams over the sink and stove, calling attention to the matte black appliances with smart copper trim and copper-hued tile backsplash.
A dramatic second-floor catwalk is trimmed in custom metalwork railings — also in matte black — by the artisans at Iron Mountain Forge & Furniture of Providence. Some are whimsical, shaped like octopus tentacles, in a nod to King’s favorite animal and his occupation.
The master bathroom, where that heart-shaped tub once held court, has been transformed into a serene, spa-like space, with soothing green tile, a his-and-hers shower and a copper soaking tub that looks out onto the wooded yard.
“In the summertime, when it’s in full greenery, it feels like an extension of the outside,” King says. “Almost like a Monet painting.”
The master bathroom looks out onto the wooded yard. Photography by Angel Tucker
A second-floor catwalk leads to a balcony. Photography by Angel Tucker
The project took about two months to complete. King loves it, especially how Victoria played up the home’s quirkier elements and let Cota’s craftsmanship shine through.
“Financially speaking, you just couldn’t really build this again. It would be so prohibitively expensive, let alone you’d be hard-pressed to find the craftsmen who both have the skill and the time availability and material available,” King says. “I think that with care, this house might last 100 more years.”
And King made good on his promise to share the home: In December, he listed the property on Airbnb, where anyone can now spend a night in America’s (formerly) scariest house. Visit airbnb.com and search for “The Fairy House” in North Kingstown.
