Sonoma real estate agent featured on ‘House Hunters’ calls experience ‘great’

Sotheby’s Sonoma real estate agent Holly Lee woke up on May 20 to a flood of texts and emails from former Marin County classmates she hadn’t seen since high school.

The gist of the bulk of the messages: “We saw you on TV last night!”

Lee was featured in an episode of the long-running reality TV series “House Hunters” featuring Sonoma Valley, which aired on HGTV last month.

In the episode, a single, first-time buyer named Julia (last name withheld) in her 30s is “trading hectic San Francisco for Wine Country.” She's looking for a cottage with enough space for visiting family, but her best friend, Carly, thinks a townhouse would be a better fit.

The show was filmed in and around the town of Sonoma in December 2020. A scene showing Julia talking over her decision with Carly was filmed at the Girl and the Fig on the Sonoma Plaza.

Julia is shown three properties on camera by Lee: a cottage in the Springs near Railroad Avenue, a ranch house off Arnold Drive just south of Glen Ellen and a townhouse near HopMonk Tavern on Broadway, within walking distance to the Sonoma Plaza.

Lee ended up on camera thanks to a referral from another agent. She said she enjoyed the five days of filming and she was impressed by the professionalism of the producers and crew.

Which isn’t to say that the filming wasn’t fun.

“Julia and Carly were both so great to work with,” Lee said. “What the show didn’t capture was Julia’s big personality and us cracking up throughout the filming.”

Lee — who is married to Steve Childs, publisher of Sonoma magazine, which like The Press Democrat is owned by Sonoma Media Investments — has been a real estate agent in Sonoma for almost 20 years. She said the hardest part about the process was finding enough viable options to show on camera.

“The inventory in Sonoma has been so limited, particularly during COVID, so I really had to scramble to find the three choices that could work for her,” Lee said. “But it turned out great, and I absolutely love getting someone into their first house.”

In the end, Julia picked the townhouse that is walking distance to Sonoma Plaza.

Contact Lorna Sheridan at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.