By: Chuck Hagee

Attendees at this year's Capital Home & Garden Show, February 25-28 at the Dulles Expo Center, are in for a special treat. They will have a chance to not only hear one of the nation's leading architects and designers but also have the opportunity to engage in a one-on-one question and answer session with him.

John Gidding of HGTV's "Designed to Sell" and "Curb Appeal: The Block" will appear at the show on Saturday, February 27, and Sunday, February 28. On Saturday he will make presentations at Noon, 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. Sunday's sessions are scheduled for Noon and 3 p.m.

Gidding has worked on such visible projects as the Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York City's Union Square, the campus plan for Carnegie Mellon University, and a pavilion at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And, his talents have been utilized by some of the world's best known celebrities to customize their personal homes.

At the other end of the financial spectrum, Gidding uses his expertise to improve individual homes and overall cityscapes as demonstrated on his HGTV shows. During his appearance at the show he will share his incites as he discusses architecture,landscaping, urban design and, a subject of particular timeliness in the present real estate market, putting value into your home.

"The recession has impacted everyone. In today's economy many people are looking to upgrade what they've got rather than move. They don't need to sell -- just renovate their present home to make it more appealing and livable," Gidding said in a recent telephone interview.

During his shows, "Design to Sell" and "Curb Appeal:The Block," which appear on Saturday nights at 9 p.m., that philosophy is brought to reality. "During Curb Appeal we select one house on a given block that is really in bad shape. Then we give it a $20,000 make over," Gidding said.


"The whole neighborhood gets involved and we also focus on whatever the entire block needs to make it more desirable. That helps everyone and improves the overall environment," he said.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1977, the 36 year old Gidding attended schools in Turkey and Switzerland before moving to the United States to attend Yale University, where he got is undergraduate degree, followed by his Masters in Architecture in 2003 from Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

"I originally thought I would major in either art or English. Then I took an architectural course and that changed everything.