‘Windy City Rehab’: Is Alison Victoria Married to Donovan Eckhardt?
As the stars of HGTV’s Windy City Rehab, Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt spend a lot of time together. In the series, the two renovate homes as old as 1880 in Chicago’s most historic neighborhoods (think: Bucktown and Lincoln Park), bringing the vintage spaces into the 21st Century while staying true to their charm and origin stories. But with their constant interaction on the show and shared photos with each other on social media, many fans want to know: Is Alison Victoria married to Donovan Eckhardt? We take a closer look at the HGTV co-stars’ relationship, ahead.
Is Alison Victoria married to Donovan Eckhardt?
As it turns out, Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt are partners — but not in a romantic way. Alison and Donovan are simply just friends and co-workers. Donovan is the lead contractor on Alison’s Windy City Rehab projects.
Alison is married to Luke Harding. The two have been together since 2011 and married in 2013. Luke Harding owns an insurance company and the two share a daughter together.
Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt’s relationship
Despite not being in a romantic relationship, Alison and Donovan appear to have a close working relationship. The two seem to balance each other out and both play necessary roles in the fixer-upper business. Here’s what we know about their friendship.
They are both business owners
Home renovation isn’t the only thing Alison and Donovan have in common. They are both business owners, too! Alison owns her own consulting firm, Alison Victoria Interiors and Donovan is the owner of Greymark Development Group, LLC. According to its website, “Greymark Development and Design specializes in high end residential and commercial construction with unique and timeless designs.”
They flipped homes together before ‘Windy City Rehab’
Given their roles on HGTV’s Windy City Rehab, it’s a little obvious that Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt spend a lot of time on projects together. But, there’s more to their screen time story. In an interview with Splash, Alison Victoria shared how she and Donovan landed their television partnership (spoiler: She spearheaded the project!).
“I was going Kitchen Crasher for five and a half years. While filming, I got myself into the development game, so I linked up with my business partner Donovan Eckhardt and we started buying up houses in Chicago, designing them, flipping them. And I was like I’m going to shoot this by myself, with my camera guy,” she told the publication. “I brought it to my production company and I asked them to edit it; we did a sizzle reel and pitched it to the network and they loved it. It took 8 months, but we made a pilot,” she added.
Chicago residents aren’t happy with the HGTV stars
Alison Victoria and Donovan Eckhardt are a sore subject for some Chicago residents. Neighbors living next door to some of the Windy City Rehab projects have complained about additions added to a home. One told Block Club Chicago that the addition was “ruining the character of the block.”
Other neighbors say that the show has a “lack of community outreach” and complained about hazardous construction sites, particularly around one of their Thomas Street locations. “We were not notified when they worked on the roof. This created hazardous conditions for not just us and our dog, but anyone in our yard. They routinely threw debris from the roof without letting us know or out of the front of the house. The debris included nails, old beam straps made of iron, wood, and metal shrapnel,” one Ukranian Village resident told Chicago Tribune. The resident created a petition and received over two dozen signatures from nearby residents.
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