When Buddy Valastro was a kid, he used to joke with his friends that one day he’d be so successful he’d have a house with a bowling alley in the basement. The Buddy vs. Duff star made that childhood dream a reality when he moved into this nearly 23,000-square-foot Montville, NJ, home with his wife Lisa and kids Sofia, 17, Bartolo, 16, Marco, 14, and Carlo, 10. “We knew this house was the one,” says Buddy. “The bowling alley was a sign.” Buddy is determined to get back to bowling someday — he suffered a serious hand injury last year while fixing the machinery — but between the injury and all the time at home, he has really been able to appreciate this house over the past year. There’s plenty of space for his family, plus a full-fledged movie theater, arcade, wine cellar and tasting room. “There are so many hidden treasures,” Buddy says. “That’s what keeps it exciting.”

Text written by Erica Finamore for Food Network Magazine.

All Photographs by Alison Gootee.