Extraordinary Mountain Livin'

I was certainly surprised when The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes popped up on my Netflix feed with a 99% match - none of the other shows I watch have anything to do with homes at all. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot, and I wasn’t disappointed. The intro immediately drew my attention with a montage of fly-by clips of gorgeous houses and a narration from a British pair of hosts. The first episode was labelled, “Mountain”, and so I waited in anticipation to see what homes the mountains had to offer.

Before formally introducing each house, the show focuses on hosts Piers and Caroline as they travel to the property, most likely as a way to exaggerate how far out of the way some of these places are. During this time, the hosts give background information on the house over teaser-clips of what the structure looks like. Once Piers and Caroline arrive, they show the house as a whole. The camera shots are stunning; many of them are aerial views of the house as a whole against the mountain it sits on. The cinematography doesn’t just stand out for the houses, however. The entire show uses an eye-catching modern composition. Everything from the clips of the houses to the conversations feels contemporary. Watching the interviews between the hosts and the house architects reminds me of watching Modern Family in the way that the camera is used. This style fits well with a show centering around newly built and unique architecture.

One other neat addition to The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes is the floor plan graphic that appears whenever Piers starts to talk about the house as a whole. The graphic style looks just like the kind used in HGTV shows. I find the graphics helpful, especially when Piers and Caroline showcase a home with a complicated structure or multiple separated living spaces, such as the airplane house.

My main complaint with the show is that I’m not always a fan of Caroline. She is a peppy British actress who was probably hired to contradict Piers’ calmer personality. Piers’ is also an architect, and he often has insightful things to point out about the different houses they visit. Caroline is more outgoing, but she doesn’t have much to say about architecture besides whether or not something is pretty. When she doesn’t like a house, she makes a big deal out of the little things. For example, Caroline decided that she didn’t like the desert house simply because she couldn’t figure out how to open the front door on her own. Caroline did, however, make a good point about the stone walkway at the desert house being hazardous to some older people.

The first episode of The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes was really entertaining. I’m amazed that people have the money to build homes like the ones shown. I don’t know how Netflix knew it would be such a good match for me, but I will definitely be watching more of this extraordinary series.