‘Fixer Upper’ star picks Texas farmhouse over Hollywood fame for family

Joanna Gaines may be the face of a lifestyle empire, but she’s not chasing the Hollywood spotlight.

Instead, she’s content living a slower, more grounded life in Waco, Texas.

The “Fixer Upper” star is keeping things real in the Lone Star State, where she lives in a modest farmhouse, cooks dinner nightly and fills her home with handwritten notes, along with family photos. 

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In a recent interview with Delish, the “Fixer Upper” star opened up about why staying rooted in her home state is key to keeping her grounded. For Gaines, that foundation starts in the kitchen.

“I don’t know how to express home without talking about food. Because, yes, home is a beautiful space. But it’s also, ‘What are you eating? What are you smelling?’ Food has so much power.”

Whether she’s hosting the holidays or preparing comfort food for her own family, Gaines said food is her purest expression of love, and it’s the heartbeat of her home.

“I don’t know how to express home without talking about food. Because, yes, home is a beautiful space. But it’s also, ‘What are you eating? What are you smelling?’ Food has so much power.”

— Joanna Gaines

Gaines additionally shared that her kids are stepping into her love of food, even as they get ready to leave the nest. 

“My kids are all now in the season of life where they’re closer to leaving than they are staying,” she said, noting her four oldest are 20, 18, 17 and 15. 

Her eldest, Drake, lives about an hour away for college and loves cooking with his girlfriend. 

“They have these nights where they go all out, and they cook three-, four-, or five-course meals,” she explained. “I mean, he still gets Whataburger, but I think the fact that he’s feeding himself — he’s making grilled chicken, he’s making steaks — he’s set for life.”

For Gaines, cooking has evolved into a form of meditation amid her busy family life.

“I get home every day from work at 5:30. That’s when the kids typically get home after sports and everything,” she shared. “And now it’s become a thing where if I’m not working with my hands in the kitchen, I’m not getting that downtime.” 

Behind her popular lifestyle brand is a woman who built her home — literally and emotionally — around food and family.

Gaines’ roots are firmly planted in Waco, where her family settled when she was 12 after living in Austin and Seoul, Korea. 

In 2023, Chip and Joanna opened up about how the couple turned Waco, Texas, into a Magnolia-fueled tourist hot spot.

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“Can you believe you turned Waco, Texas, into a tourist destination?” Jenna Bush Hager, a “Today” show host, asked Chip at the time.

“I can’t believe it,” Chip replied. “Even saying it out loud feels like we want to hide in the corner. Like, that can’t be true.”

What started as a simple dream exploded into a nationwide phenomenon.

“We built and built and tried and tried, and, for the first time, Jo and I are looking backward,” Chip said. “A lot happened, and you didn’t get to really stop and smell the roses while it was occurring. Now, we’re finally in a really nice place.”

In 2020, Gaines admitted she was skeptical about their current Waco farmhouse, calling it a terrible investment at first. 

“We’d recently finished renovating a house that was intended to be a flip but that I’d come to love, that truly — finally — felt like home for our family, when one day Chip announced a new prospect,” she recalled in Magnolia Journal via People.

“A client of ours would soon be selling her farmhouse just outside of town,” but Joanna thought it was “a long shot.” And once they saw the place, “it was a ‘no’ for me right from the start.” Until she witnessed her five children enjoying the property.

“The kids would run wild while Chip and I sat beneath one of the oak trees. Something felt right about our family being there despite all the very good reasons we didn’t belong.”

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The Magnolia Network stars tied the knot in 2003. Joanna and Chip are parents to five children — Ella, Drake, Crew, Emmie and Duke.

As the Gaines planted their roots in Waco, Texas, their Magnolia businesses took off. 

The couple first gained fame more than 10 years ago when they were cast on the HGTV series “Fixer Upper” in 2013, which showed the couple revitalizing dilapidated homes through their Magnolia Homes business in Waco, Texas.

After five seasons, they decided to leave the show and then signed with Discovery+, starting the Magnolia Network in 2022. 

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Along with the network, the couple also have the 5-acre Magnolia Market at the Silos, which includes the shops at the Silos, the Silos Baking Co. bakery and the Magnolia Press coffee shop. They also own the Magnolia Table restaurant several miles away.

They also own the Magnolia Journal magazine and have written a series of lifestyle books, including Joanna’s “Home Body” and Chip’s “No Pain, No Gaines.” They have their own Magnolia Home, furniture and accessories line and a home line created by Joanna called Hearth and Hand for Target.

Chip and Joanna also opened a boutique hotel, Hotel 1928, in 2023, after renovating a historic hotel in Waco with 33 rooms. The pair also offer vacation rentals in Waco, including Hillcrest Estate and Hillcrest Cottage, the original carriage house for the estate.

“Delish’s” Fall Treats baking issue is on newsstands now.

Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.