Artist and designer Keith Bynum is happy as a clam this spring. The HGTV star has been hard at work in one of his favorite places — Beaver Island on Lake Michigan — restoring a historic lighthouse to its original glory. But “Bargain Block” fans hoping to see the finished product on the show will likely have to look elsewhere.
On May 21, 2025, Bynum shared some peeks at the project via Instagram and gushed about what a special project it’s been, noting that “this lighthouse has stolen away my heart.”
“Sometimes I feel like the end of a project is all that matters,” he captioned several photos from the property, including one of him looking happy and content. “To complete something and move on is good, but the journey is pretty great too.”
HGTV’s Keith Bynum Says Views From Beaver Head Lighthouse Are ‘Intoxicating’
Beaver Island is a spot that Bynum and Evan Thomas, his life partner and “Bargain Block” co-star, fell in love with on their northern getaways to Beaver Island. Known for restoring dilapidated homes in Detroit on “Bargain Block,” the couple purchased a lake place on Beaver Island in 2023, where they could get away from it all.
When someone introduced the couple to the Beaver Head Lighthouse, the third-oldest lighthouse on the Great Lakes, it was love at first sight for Bynum, he told The Northern Express.
“Every piece of it is so beautiful to me,” he wrote in his May 21 Instagram post. “The view is so intoxicating.”
For years, locals have been trying to restore and preserve the lighthouse, which opened in 1852, with help from volunteers and students from Eastern Michigan University’s Historic Preservation Graduate Field School, according to The Northern Express. Bynum volunteered his and his NINE Design crew’s time and talents to help finish the project, first tackling essentials like electrical, flooring, and wall replacement within the keeper’s quarters, the outlet said.
This week, Bynum shared in his post, “I’ve been fortunate enough to help host 25 grad students studying historic preservation. We’ve worked hard for several days and it’s been pretty magical. Being around their energy and fascination with old structures has helped remind me of how much I love this.”
“I can’t wait til y’all see it,” he continued. “Plus Beaver Island has continued to root itself into my being. I love the people here so very much.”
Lighthouse Restoration Won’t Be Featured on HGTV Due to High Cost of Filming
Many fans responded to Bynum’s post asking whether they’ll get to see the lighthouse restoration on “Bargain Block.” Unfortunately, the likelihood is not high.
When one person wrote, “Please say this will be on the show 🙏🏼,” Bynum replied, “you’ll get to see it somewhere! Haha”
Although HGTV had originally announced it would include Bynum’s project on the fifth season of “Bargain Block,” that decision has since been changed.
Bynum told The Northern Express, “Due to the remote nature of the lighthouse, it was determined that the travel budget for film crew would be too cost-prohibitive. We have limited funds to complete the project and that was not a productive way to spend those funds.”
The project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2025 with a ceremony planned to celebrate.
Completed in 1852, the lighthouse took two years to build, with the purpose of guiding the “growing number of ships sailing from Chicago to the Straits of Mackinac,” per the local Historical Society’s website. It operated for 110 years, until a radio beacon was installed on-site and the lighthouse was decommissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1962.
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Why Keith Bynum’s ‘Magical’ Restoration Project Won’t Appear on HGTV