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For Melissa Mussari, spending two months in cottage country renovating a lakeside resort that had seen better days with her older sister Marcy last year was something of a dream come true.
“I even wrote in my yearbook once, ‘In the future, I want to work with my sister and do the design and construction thing together,’” she said. “I guess I manifested it into reality.”
The yearbook was one at Saint Paul Catholic High School, where the sisters attended after moving on from St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School. It is a place on Season Three of HGTV’s Renovation Resort, hosted by contractors/HGTV hosts Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler, where four teams of two – a designer and a contractor – transform a run-down resort in the Kawarthas into something beautiful. And it was, she said, “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The sisters had applied for the show after being sent a link to a call for submissions for Season Two by their sister Allison. Although they weren’t added to the cast that season, they were invited by producers to resubmit in 2025 and ultimately made the final four to appear on Season Three.
“We believe in divine timing, and we’re happy that it turned out this way,” said Marcy. “We had so much fun with everybody.”
The three Mussari sisters (Marcy, the oldest, is a designer with her own interior design company, middle sister Allison is a real estate agent, and youngest sister Melissa works for a Niagara-on-the-Lake homebuilder, ensuring trades have everything they need and that houses are perfect for new owners) grew up in a home that was has been their parents’ project for many years.
“We grew up in a renovated home ever since we were little,” said Marcy. “It was a really cute, charming, house that our parents bought when they got married and there were always some renovations.”
While living in an ongoing renovation for years may push some towards less chaotic careers, for Marcy and Melissa, it was inspiration.
“I have always loved the overall process, the visioning – I just loved seeing things come to life,” said Marcy, who carried photo albums of the design and renovations to school to share with her friends.
For Melissa, it was working with her father on the construction side for many years that confirmed she wanted a career in construction.
“I’ve always been a hands-on learner, so construction is perfect for me,” she said.
Melissa completed a Specialist High Skills Major in Construction at Saint Paul, graduating in 2015 with a red seal, sending her on her way ready for the workplace.
Marcy, meanwhile, went to design school after graduation in 2010, meaning the sisters are a triple threat – one can build a house, one can decorate the house, and one can sell the house.
“Watch out, who knows?” laughed Marcy when asked if they were interested in giving fellow Canadian renovation icons Drew and Jonathan Scott a run for their money in the TV renovation landscape.
She’d already had some TV experience before Renovation Resort came along. In 2016, the then 23-year-old beat out five other up-and-coming designers won the big prize – a design contract with IKEA Canada and a trip to Sweden – on The Search for Canada’s Next Designer. While she felt quite at home in front of the camera, Melissa was more apprehensive.
“Marcy had TV experience, but it took some time (for me) to get used to having the camera in my face,” she said.
Marcy said seeing her sister blossom in front of the camera filming the show (currently at about the half-way mark in the eight-episode season, available on HGTV and Stack TV) was one of the greatest moments for her. And, she said, seeing her sister’s strength and capability in doing the heavy work gave her a newfound appreciation to the baby of the family.
“You just grew so much from episode 1 to episode 8,” she said. “I was so impressed watching Melissa chop wood.”
The sisters credit their family for support, particularly their dad, who told them to “pass the ball” between them, sharing the burden when the inevitable would happen and a bit of chaos would set in.
“We were so proud to support each other through this, learning from each other and watching each other grow,” said Marcy. “We brought this to life but not only that, we did it with grace and sisterhood.”
Said Melissa, “I kept saying ‘pinch me,’ ‘pinch me,’ ‘pinch me,’”
They also credit their teachers, who encouraged them to live their dreams.
“Every single teacher was always so supportive,” said Melissa. “They always wanted you to succeed.”
What’s next for the sisters? The winners of this season are kept tightly under wraps until the episode airs May 24. Even their participation was kept quiet, with only their parents and sister in on the secret until they returned to Niagara Thanksgiving weekend.
One thing is for certain – their relationship only got stronger for the experience, and they look forward to working together on more projects in the future.
“We’ll see where all this goes,” said Marcy.