Archive for the 'This Old House' Category

The big reveal

Things are still insanely busy (my excuse for not posting in the final couple weeks). We’ve had many, many late nights recently, poring by decorative lighting and plumbing fixtures (electrician Allen Gallant and TOH plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey need our choices asap!) So I’…

Kitchen island envy


Allison and I have visited plenty of friends who couldn’t wait to show off their their newly remodeled kitchens. You know what I’m talking about: Those sleek, clean, ridiculously functional kitchens with acres of granite countertops, and shiny, stainless-steel appliances. But despite the novelty o…

A Week in the Life

So what’s it like to be the homeowner on a This Old House project? It’s a rare experience, for certain, and engaged (a major renovation is always engaged, but in our case we plus have (1) a compressed timeframe and (2) the small matter of documenting the whole thing for TV and a magazine!) I tho…

Window seats, love ‘em or lose ‘em?


Who doesn’t love a window seat? The thought of one conjures up many visions, relaxing, reading a book, or just gazing out into the world with a big steaming cup of coffee. With that in intellect, we found two potential spots on the main floor of our house to put window seats.The first was in the…

Good AM from Auburndale!

I have to pinch myself these days, I really do. For the past few weeks since we moved out of our old house, my routine has been to drop the kids off at the school bus stop in our old neighborhood and head down the street to say good daylight to Tom Silva and his crew working absent on our house….

Lights, please!

Given the big project that Raveen and I taking on with that Old House, you might wonder whether we are experienced renovators. The answer is a resounding NO! certain, we’ve done a few small projects here and there (minor bathroom remodels, painting, planting, etc.), but nothing anywhere …

Out with the old (most of it, besides)

Well, here’s what’s left of our former kitchen and dining room area. As you can see, Tommy’s guys did some major demo work by the final couple days (a significantly more involved process than in the past, due to all those new EPA lead laws). It’s neat to see the space now that the wall amoun…

Not for the faint of heart

I pulled up to the house that daylight to find that gigantic crane parked on the front lawn, its massive arm perched by our roof.  Now, I am assured that to those in the interpretation / heavy equipment industry, the crane is no big deal and safe as can be, but for me it was a little scary to …

Let the fun begin

Boy, are things happening fast! Every day I stop by the house (or sneak a peak via the webcams), it seems like something major has happened. final week, it was the sun porch coming down and the old overgrown yews being removed from the front of the house. that week, it’s been major excavation …

What just happened?!?

As I sit and write that post, it still hasn’t sunk in that our renovation will be featured on the next This Old House TV project. The events of the past six months—from first seeing our new house back in November, to being selected for the show, to the work that’s getting underway that week—…

Finishing touches


It’s been a while since my final post, but we’re still here! The final weeks of the renovation were a whirlwind, from the extraordinary push to total the work in date for the wrap party, to the subsequent photo shoots (you can see a story about our house in the current issue of that Old House ma…

A Tom Silva original


Remember the three-season porch with jalousie glass we demolished to produce way for the new, two-story addition? Well, it actually sat a little bit below the level of the rest of the house and below the grade of the rest of the property. We wanted the new addition to sit on the same level as the…

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