The House

The house this year, while it is the same ol' house we've had since BB6, has taken on some renovations. The designers called this theme "Urban Treehouse". Julie mentions that the design was meant to inspire the HG's as well as make them feel as if they were growing up and to "bring out their playful side." Although I don't have much hope that this treehouse theme will have that effect, maybe this will bring some much needed entertainment to the feeds this year. Let me take you on the tour: Starting from the back of the house, we have a bedroom, called "The Earth Bedroom", it contains 3 double beds, and a seemingly climbable rock walls.

On her tour, Chenbot was gracious enough to inform us those rocks at the heads of the bed are not really rocks, but instead.. wait for it... wait for it.. pillows! Can you believe it? Hope they warn the HG's about that one... 

Julie was quite vague when mentioning the door leading to the "air room" beyond, and she never gave us a peak of what was inside it. JC merely said that it was a bedroom.

 Now on the day that the house photos were released, CBS made a little uh-oh, at least most of us think so. Along with the photos I've shown so far, and the photos I will show you further on in this post, they uploaded pictures of another room, another room that was not part of the tour, nor was it labeled to say what kind of room it is.

Speculation among fans, BB sites, and forums seems to conclude that this is the Have-Not room. I agree for a couple of reasons: 1. The photos were pulled from CBS's site minutes after they were put up, sounds like they didn't mean to put them up, which aligns with the Have-Not room theory because the HN room isn't usually premiered until the HG's are shown moving into it for the first time. 2. According to my observations, this room is located in the small room connected to one of the bedrooms (the Earth Room), via the unopened air turbine door. 3. It is the same room that usually serves as the HN room; judging by size, location of the mirrors, and location of the door (not visible from this angle). 4. Finally, it doesn't look like it was meant to be very comfortable.. Although they may just be going along with their "Earth, Wind, and Fire" theme, however if that is the case, I'm not sure where Ice fits in, along with the air turbine door to match.

Above is the Fire Bedroom, including 3 double beds as well as the Earth Room, so, as JC mentioned so sweetly during the house tour, our 16 eager newbies will be sharing beds. Here's hoping we have some germaphobes, or maybe even one or two obsessive compulsive HG's, that can make for interesting scenarios in this environment, period, not to mention when they're forced to share beds.

Ahhh, here we are, the living room, the focal point of the house, as it is every year, because this is where the action happens.This is where we'll hear that, oh so endearing, "Hi Houseguests!", or "Houseguests, I need everyone to gather in the living room, please." from our mechanical, yet always classy host. This is where our 16 happy smiling strangers share their first toast, "To the best Summer ever!", "To being the best cast ever!", or my personal favorite, "To new beginnings!". Translation: "Here's hopin' we get famous off this gig." Although they are desperately unaware that BB does not make people famous, more like infamous. From the very first toast, to each and every Veto, Eviction, and possible "Battle of the Block" Ceremony as the weeks pass, all the way up to our finale, when the winner is crowned: this room will hold the most memories and emotions, as most of the important plot points to our BB16 story will take place here.

Love the new table, as well as the vertical garden in the kitchen, but most of all, the new and improved Memory Wall grabbed my attention.There has to be something about the two separate boards... Two ideas come to mind: 1. The HG's will be playing in teams of 8 against each other. This is the theory I'm leaning towards the most considering the 2 HOH's twist. 2. The HG's will be playing in pairs against other pairs. It is, of course, possible that this was just part of the design, considering it has been mentioned that the Memory Wall will serve as more than just a place for pictures this year...

This is the Beehive Room, or so it has been dubbed by The People In Charge. This room also includes last years' recycled photo booth! I am excited about that, and perhaps read something about fans being able to send photos in via Twitter or Facebook. Lots of scheming, whispering, and plotting to be done in this room.

 Behold, the best looking bathroom I've seen in all 16 seasons of BBUS. Doesn't compare to some of the bathrooms in the international BB houses, but TPIC (The People In Charge) have really stepped it up this year. No doubt the house will be wrecked by the time we get the feeds, and this is the last room we'll want to be watching with all the primping, preening, zit popping, and face picking. Especially in High Definition.

As we go up the spiral staircase, usually accompanied by loopy music, and a crowd full of HG's trudging up the stairs behind a gleeful new HOH, we find something different in the Big Brother House this year:

Instead of the usual wrap-around couch, coffee table, and chess board, this year we have a lofty treehouse picnic area. I personally love this addition, because it gives you the perfect view over everything happening around the house. Hopefully they continue to make new, creative additions to this loft area in the years to come, that is unless, of course, we finally get that brand new house we've been asking for year after year.