The floating home used as MacGyver’s ‘Houseboat’ in the iconic 80’s TV series has been given a new lease of life by its new owner Kevin Hill who purchased the 42 x 24 foot float home from it’s previous owners in January 2015. At that stage, the house had undergone some significant renovations and was almost unrecognizable as the original ‘MacGyver houseboat’.
Despite the previous renovations time had caught up with the floating home which required the entire house to be stripped back to its bare frame. As we can see from the above video Kevin took advantage of this extreme makeover to restore much of the bare wooden exterior of the house while also adding his own updates such as replacing the French and front door with sliding doors and fitting 2 large windows in the front wall of the house and along the wall we knew as the kitchen wall in the show. The upstairs windows on the corner of the house have also been increased in size, presumably to give the interior a much lighter and open feel.
As the camera follows Kevin around inside the house we see a cleaner minimalistic appearance and we hear him say that this represents a year of work.
Despite the term “Houseboat” being used in the show, the craft is actually designated as a floating home due to its lack of propulsion.
Update: As of 2022 the Houseboat had been sold again and is being privately rented out on the Fraser river.
Use these screen captures from the video to take a closer look
Are the plans for the houseboat accessible?