For three years, America's hunkiest carpenter, Ty Pennington, has been remodeling homes on TLC's hit series Trading Spaces. Now Star has learned (sorry, ladies!) that Ty shares his own home and life with his gorgeous girlfriend and manager, former model Drea Bock, 31. "She's an awesome gal," Ty, 38, tells Star. Originally from North Carolina, Drea first began dating Ty seven years ago, well before he was famous, when they were both living in Atlanta. "We met through mutual friends," Drea tells Star. "He hasn't changed at all. That's the great thing about him. He's charming and easygoing. I'm very proud of him." Adds Ty: "I don't think of myself as the whole sex symbol thing. I'm a little bit more like the class clown."

Ty and Drea bought an 1882 Victorian bungalow in Atlanta's Grant Park neighborhood in 1999. A year ago, they bought a second home in Venice, Calif. -- "We love to lay on the beach and go surfing," says Drea. They live there while Ty films Trading Spaces and his new ABC home-remodeling series, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, debuting Feb.15. But Ty won't be building his own wedding chapel anytime soon. "We don't need to get married," Drea reveals. "We're having such a good time now."

-- CAROLE GLINES