Heavy HGTV News
HGTV is getting ready to add a new show to its roster. The network announced on Tuesday, May 16, that they had a premiere date for the new series “Small Town Potential”, hosted by life partners Davina Thomasula (a real estate agent and designer) and Kristin Leitheuser (a contractor) as they help families from New York City who are ready to settle down find and renovate their dream homes in Upstate New York’s Hudson Valley region.
“In each episode, Davina will devise a timeless design plan complemented by the area’s natural surroundings that Kristin will bring to life with the help of her dad and building partner, Don,” HGTV wrote in their press release.
“Small Town Potential” is set to premiere on Wednesday, June 14 at 9 p.m. Eastern time on HGTV.
Who Are Davina Thomasula & Kristin Leitheuser
HGTV’s newest hosts are Hudson Valley locals, and the pair couldn’t be more excited to let viewers take a look at the area they call home when their show premieres on the network.
“The Hudson Valley is full of unique and beautiful towns nestled along the Hudson River,” Thomasula said in the press release, “So many people are moving here, because each town has a lot to offer and so much potential. I’m a real estate agent and designer who finds these upstate newcomers just the house they’re looking for.”
“And I happen to be her better half,” Leitheuser added, “A builder, working alongside my amazing dad, Don, renovating our clients’ homes to get them ready for their move-in date.”
The premiere episode will see Thomasula and Leitheuser working to renovate a farmhouse from the 1800s in Marlboro, New York, and then traveling over to the nearby community of Kingston to create an artist studio out of an old attic.
HGTV profiled Thomasula and Leitheuser ahead of their new series’ release, sharing that the couple has been engaged for four years, but that they still don’t have any solid plans to set their wedding date in the near future. “Everyone is wondering when we’re going to get hitched, but we’re so busy with all of our projects!” Thomasula said. The new hosts share two dogs, Stephen and Winston, and hope to one day expand their family and have children.
Only one of the new hosts, Leitheuser, is from the Hudson Valley, having grown up in Pleasant Valley, New York, while Thomasula was born in Buffalo, NY and grew up just outside of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, however the two now reside in Kingston, NY, at the foot of the Catskill Mountains.
Davina Thomasula & Kristin Leitheuser Own a Bar
The couple met while Thomasula was working as a bartender in New York City, and now years later the two have opened a bar of their own in Poughkeepsie, New York, called Goodnight Kenny, which opened in October 2022 after Thomasula signed the lease two weeks before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The name Goodnight Kenny is an homage to Thomasula’s father, with Thomasula explaining, “As a musician who plays at night, my dad loves to nap during the day. Goodnight Kenny is what we scream to him every time he goes for a nap.”
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