Step Inside Two Homes Featured in "Zillow Gone Wild" Season 2

If you’re not yet familiar with HGTV’s “Zillow Gone Wild” based on the popular Instagram account, host Jack MacBrayer takes viewers inside some of America’s most extraordinary homes on Zillow. The show is back for its second season with a line-up of unique spaces, and among them are two highlights: a self-sustaining “Earthship” and a wonderfully whimsical residence, both located in New Mexico. We couldn’t wait until the new season came out, so Zillow headed to New Mexico to sit down with the owners of these striking properties. And since both homes really need to be seen from every angle to be fully appreciated, our Zillow partner agents gave these wild listings a Zillow® Showcase and SkyTour glow-up, which will let you virtually explore each property with a 360-degree, 3D view inside and out. 

An Earthship called “Peace”

What puts owner LaNeah Ashford’s self-described “fabulous eco-home” into the “wild” category is not an unconventional location or an undying commitment to a pirate theme, but the home’s extraordinary environmental self-sufficiency. Situated within an arrestingly beautiful natural landscape — seen from all sides of the home — this Earthship functions as a self-contained biodome. Ashford explains, "it takes care of itself [...] I don't pay for electricity, water, or utilities.” 

The Earthship uses a water reclamation system, which harvests rainwater, and that's coupled with solar power that provides electricity and heating. Some might imagine an entirely sustainable home that runs on the elements would feel cavelike, too cold, or too hot, but the home’s astounding greenhouse that runs the entire seventy-five foot length of the home raises indoor humidity levels, boosts oxygen, and helps regulate temperatures. This means the Earthship always stays between a comfortable high 60s and mid-70s.

The sprawling greenhouse doesn’t only act as the lungs — and thermostat — to the home, but as a grocery store, lushly populated with lemon trees, fig trees, bananas, blueberries, vegetables, and even coffee plants.

Explore the greenhouse yourself 

The sustainability factor extends throughout the residence in its eco-conscious design. Custom-made tiles, hand-crafted wooden beams, and rammed earth walls infused with sparkling mica come together to create an artistic, playful, yet cozy and almost cottage-like aesthetic. The home is not only beneficial to the earth, but born of it. 

As you explore every inch of this eco-paradise via Showcase, you may start wondering why you haven’t tried the off-grid life yourself. If you’re considering it, Ashford has some simple advice: “Jump in. Both feet. Do it. Don’t hesitate. [...] It's safe, it works, and it's doable. The only thing that's stopping you is you actually doing it.” 

LaNeah calls her home “Peace”... fitting, as what is more peaceful than total passivity? Than not just running off the land, but giving back to it? We of course believe every home is special, seems to live and breathe, but this one actually does… and has the lack of utility bills to prove it. 

From an artist’s wildest dreams

You’ll likely find your mouth involuntarily turning up at the corners the moment you set eyes on Diane and Dan Greenleaf’s whimsical home, which Dan affectionately describes as "a piece of art." And he means that literally, as the property — which boasts four additional rental casitas along with the main residence — was built in 1980 by renowned contemporary architect, carpenter, painter, sculptor, Malcolm Brown.

Living inside this particular piece of art isn’t just amusing, but practical and versatile, with spaces ideal for quiet reflection, entertaining guests, or simply appreciating the surrounding natural beauty — of which there is a lot. Like the plentiful landscape, the home looks as though it could have been grown rather than built; its design mimics the winding, unrestricted nature of the surrounding trees, the movement of the nearby river, and the loftiness of the distant mountains, giving the “wild” in “Zillow gone wild” a double meaning. 

To help you fully appreciate this, we looked to the all-new SkyTour feature on Zillow Showcase listings. SkyTour uses drone footage to create a lifelike (i.e. also interactive and 3D) view of the exterior of a property, so that interested home shoppers can really get the lay of the land. See it in action.

Once inside, of course you don’t climb boring old stairs to get to the fanciful widow’s walk that stands atop the fourth floor, but a series of ladders, each leading to cozier and cozier dens. Diane describes the journey: “It's kind of like a tree house [...] You go up this ladder through this hole up here and there's two built-in beds up there and there's a porch to go outside that you can sit at. Then you go up another ladder and there's a futon mattress on the ground, a little sleeping area. And then the fourth level, I call it the meditation room. Cuz it’s got glass on the ceiling so you can see out at the stars [...] And then if you climb out the window, there's a widow's walk up on the top that you can climb up and see.”

Take this enchanting journey to the top of the home yourself, in our Showcase listing.

If you find yourself falling in love during your virtual walk-through, you might be Diane’s dream buyer — “someone that likes the property for what it is and the uniqueness of it and that would keep it the way it is, but make improvements that they feel would make it more beautiful.” Maybe it’s time to relocate to an art installation?

Behind the scenes

Capturing LaNeah Ashford’s earthship and Dan and Diane’s artistic wonderland for Showcase in order to help tell their homes’ stories was simpler than you might expect. Once our wild home homeowners prepped their spaces, Zillow’s team of expert real estate photographers set off to capture high quality media, including drone footage, for interactive floorplans and 3D tours. In about the same time it takes to photograph a home with a still-photo camera, Zillow, the homeowners, and their listing agents created the basis for a fully immersive, highly detailed viewing experience for potential buyers and the real-estate-curious from anywhere in the world. 

Upon seeing “Peace” in all its 3D glory, LaNeah Ashford commented, “it's just wonderful to really see your home in such detail and be able to know that you are showing your buyers the best possible product you have.” We couldn’t agree more.

"Zillow Gone Wild" season two premieres Friday, July 18, at 9:30 pm ET/PT on HGTV and streams the next day on discovery+ and HBO Max.