Popular show features couple from Whitefish

“House Hunters” fans, listen up.

Your HGTV addiction showcases a Whitefish couple’s search for the perfect home on Aug. 1.

With Rhonda Kohl of Trails West Real Estate as their guide, Reed and Kelli Trontel, owners of The Red Caboose Frozen Yogurt + Coffee, star in the episode intriguingly hyped on the HGTV “House Hunters” website:

“Kelli and Reed left their music careers in Nashville to begin a new life in the scenic resort town of Whitefish, Montana.”

On the show, viewers learn that Reed, who grew up in the Flathead Valley, moved to Nashville eight years ago after graduating from the University of Montana in Missoula. He got interested in the Nashville scene after taking a class in entertainment management.

He hit pay dirt in the country music capital both financially and personally.

“I worked for a record label for a couple of years and then a booking agency,” he said.

Reed also met Kelli, a member of a three-girl country/Christian band COLMANblue that had both ambition and early success. A semifinalist on Star Search at age 13, Kelli moved from California to Phoenix, where she worked at a restaurant owned by Alice Cooper and sang  as a warm-up act for a couple of his shows.

“I was a country singer,” she said. “My goal was to be in Nashville by time I was 25.”

She met her goal and launched her career.

But after finding true love with Reed, Kelli became disenchanted with traveling and working nights and weekends. She rethought her goals and decided what she really wanted was a career that allowed a lot of contact with people.

Reed said they had another important consideration.

“We realized that we wanted to start a family and you can’t do that when you have to be on the road 300 days a year,” he said.

Reed also was disenchanted with Nashville. He said he missed his family, the mountains and the great outdoors of Montana.

 While Kelli understood his longing to move back, her practical side asked “What would we do there?” They found their answer when The Red Caboose, then a diner, went up for sale.

Reed and Kelli jumped at the opportunity. They bought the caboose, then rebranded the business by combining his background in the coffee business with her enthusiasm for frozen yogurt into The Red Caboose Frozen Yogurt+Coffee.

“House Hunters” captured and included some of this life-changing process in the upcoming episode.

“They shot the caboose when it was still a diner,” Reed said.

The couple began renovating the caboose with a rustic interior and considering their housing options since they were living with Reed’s parents, Ed and Shawn Trontel. The couple had second thoughts about buying a house just as they were starting the new business, but the bargains available pushed them to move.

“Because the housing market is so low, we thought if we don’t do it now, we could really lose out,” he said.

Kelli and Reed contacted Kohl at Trails West Real Estate’s Whitefish office to look for homes up to $375,000. As Kohl learned their history, she remembered an email sent out to real estate offices in the valley from the “House Hunters” production people.

Kohl recalled that the show was looking for fun people with a great story. She realized that the Trontels fit the bill and asked if they were interested in appearing on “House Hunters.”

“Kelli said ‘Oh my gosh that’s Reed’s favorite show,’” Kohl said. “It just went from getting Kelli and Reed on board, and one thing led to the next. It was a great experience.”

With a small budget for advertising, the Trontels  found the prospect of some 83 million viewers hearing about their Red Caboose concept enticing.

Since opening in February, their business has grown through savvy use of social media to sell their self-serve frozen yogurt offering 40 toppings, plus coffee. With inquiries for franchises, the Trontels saw “House Hunters” as a major opportunity.

Kelli said she was reassured by the show’s family-friendly content, unlike some reality shows such as “Jersey Shore.” Reed was very familiar with the program as his default choice to watch when he wants to relax.

“I think the coolest thing is how much they tell the story,” he said. “It’s the No. 1 show on HGTV.”

As a prerequisite, the two made a video about themselves that brought an invitation to make an episode. They became the second Whitefish couple featured on the program, just after John and Linda Kauffman with their Trails West Realtor Keven Guercio.

“House Hunters” producer Tom Brickner arrived in November with a camera and sound specialist to shoot the couple and Kohl going through the top three houses selected after touring about 15. The show reveals the couple sorting through their different wants and needs.

“My big thing was that we should get a little place — a condo or townhouse,” Reed said.

His ideal was a move-in ready house close to Whitefish, as they were in the midst of renovating their business before opening. Reed was excited about a condo in the historic Railway District with high-end finishes that hit all of his priorities.

“I loved that it was brand new,” he said.

Kelli, who grew up in a suburb, was looking for something with a cozy, rural feeling. The other two houses on their short list fell into that category.

One was a large house with land located about 10 minutes from Whitefish. The third was the smallest and least expensive house on a wooded lot next to a park and just minutes from Whitefish.

“It had that cozy Montana cabin feeling so different from the suburbs,” Kelli said.

Which did they pick? Watch “House Hunters” at either 5 a.m. or 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1, to find out.

After watching a DVD of the finished program, the Trontels were amazed at how well the crew edited hours of material shot over nine days in November and February into about 24 jam-packed minutes.

“I feel like they definitely portrayed us as who we are,” Kelli said.

 Brickner, who spends a lot of time in Bigfork, had told the couple that he had wanted to find people to feature in the Flathead Valley for years. He told them that this was his favorite episode in 10 years of producing shows.

“They were super stoked about this episode,” Kelli said. “I knew it would be a really great show.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.