Pierce County ‘unicorn’ property featured on popular reality TV show
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gig Harbor-area mother and daughter search culminates in House Hunters episode.
- Episode includes spotlight on Key Peninsula farm with barn, trails and horse facilities.
- Real estate agent noted ‘funny twist of fate’ about connections on the show.
For over six years, Hallie Johnson and her mother Cindy Johnson have been looking for “a unicorn of a property,” as Hallie describes it.
Now, their search is finally over. The mother-daughter duo will be featured on the long-time reality TV show “House Hunters,” airing Sunday, April 26, at 10 p.m. PDT. The episode, “Barns Are for People, Too,” shows the pair looking for a home with plenty of land and space for their horses.
Moving from their home in the Gig Harbor area will be difficult, Hallie, 24, explained, saying that she and her mother love their community. But land there is expensive, and horses need a lot of it. They have three horses and were looking for a property where they could add more if they wished, she wrote in a text message.
The two traversed Washington, Montana and Idaho, looking for “something with a home at least as nice as the one we already had, but with more land and improved horse facilities that met our needs already in place,” and without requiring them to spend several millions of dollars, Hallie wrote. They also considered moving to other parts of the country.
Nothing fit their list, until they stumbled across the winner.
“The moment we walked into our new home, we knew we had found the place,” she wrote about their final choice. “Nothing previous had even come close.”
Dori Hanson, a real estate agent who represented the Johnsons as they bought their new home, spoke highly of the HGTV crew. Her favorite part of being on the show was becoming friends with her clients, which often happens when helping families through their search for a home, she wrote in a text message.
One of the properties the pair explored was a farm set back from Key Peninsula Highway Northwest. Owner Rita Lanier described the property in an email to The News Tribune as a “family-oriented residence (that) offers privacy and a quiet, versatile outdoor setting.” The roughly 9-acre property includes an orchard, garden space and on-site trails for riding, recreational vehicles or walking, she wrote. The house was built in 2006, and Lanier and her husband bought the home in 2007.
They developed the property to accommodate horses, which Lanier had always wanted to do, she wrote.
“Over time, we developed the property into a functioning farm, adding a barn with stalls, a tack room, hay storage, fencing, and additional facilities,” she wrote. “What began with one horse gradually expanded to include several more, along with other animals, making the property a place that truly reflects my lifelong passion for equestrian living.”
Getting involved with the show ended up being a bit of serendipity, according Lanier’s real estate agent, Amber Eaden. In what she called a “funny twist of fate,” Lanier and the Johnsons had actually met years prior. Eaden had casually mentioned Lanier’s property while chatting with Dori Hanson and Nicole Ji, the other real estate agents involved in HGTV’s filming, and the others suggested it could be a fit for the show, Eaden said.
Lanier told The News Tribune she is a “longtime fan” of the TV show and was initially surprised when Eaden reached out.
“Once I learned the producer felt the property was a strong fit for the episode, I was excited to see it would be highlighted on a national television program,” she wrote.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to state the correct airing time for the episode in Pacific Daylight Time. It is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. PDT on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
