This Old House – September 2019

40 Years

of Firsts

From that initial renovation of a

derelict house in a struggling urban

area, This Old House has stood apart

as the original home-improvement

TV show—and continues to be the

genre’s most groundbreaking

1979

1982

1983

1981

1986

After surviving more than one reno

himself, TV producer Russ Morash

persuades Boston’s WGBH to

underwrite a show demystifying

the process. Meet carpenter Norm

Abram, host Bob Vila, and plumber

Ron Trethewey! “I thought I’d be in

the background of a couple scenes

carrying around ladders,” Norm

recalls. The real star: a run-down

1860 house in Dorchester, MA,

that cost $17,000 to buy and

$30,000 to renovate.

Ignoring common wisdom, the

TV cast begins working directly

with homeowners on the Arlington

project. Miraculously, everyone

survives to tell the story.

THIS OLD HOUSE

LANDS ITS FIRST

EMMY AWARD!

THE CREW

DEMONSTRATES

ITS CHOPS WITH

ITS LARGEST-

EVER RENO,

CONVERTING A

LONG-NEGLECTED

MANSION

AND ITS

OUTBUILDINGS

INTO 10,000

SQUARE FEET

OF COVETED

CONDOS IN

NEWTON, MA.

The crew makes its fi rst foray

outside Massachusetts, traveling

south to spiff up a concrete-block-

and-stucco tract house in Tampa,

FL, and giving it a much-deserved

Florida room.

1980

After the series sets a new ratings

record for the local public TV

station, TOH airs nationally. The

plumber’s wrench is passed to

Richard Trethewey by his dad, who

decides he doesn’t enjoy sweating

pipes in the limelight.

1983

BIRTH OF A NOTION

HOME ALONE NO MORE

TOH builds a

solar-powered

house from the

ground up—no

biggie—billing the

Brookline project as

so effi cient it could

heat itself. Thrifty

Yankees, watching

TV in their down

coats, are glued to

their sets.

1986

Tom Silva

offi cially comes

on board

as This Old

House general

contractor.

19 and

Counting

1983

TOH, Outstanding

Talk/Service Series

1986

TOH, Outstanding Achievement

in Technical Direction/Electronic

Camerawork/Video Control

That’s the combined total of Daytime

Emmy Awards This Old House and Ask

This Old House have taken home so far.

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BY DEBORAH BALDWIN

58 THISOLDHOUSE.COM SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 40 YEARS