page_title: This Old House
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: This Old House / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Kevin O'Connor at the 2011 Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, United States.
context_page_description: This Old House is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine and a website, ThisOldHouse.com. The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the American television network Public Broadcasting Service and follows remodeling projects of houses over a number of weeks. Boston PBS station WGBH-TV originally created the program and produced it from its inception in 1979 until 2001 when Time Inc. acquired the television assets and formed This Old House Ventures. WGBH also distributed episodes to PBS until 2019 when WETA-TV became the distributor starting with the first episode of season 41. Warner Bros. Domestic Television distributes the series to commercial television stations in syndication. Time Inc. launched This Old House magazine in 1995, focusing on home how-to, know-how and inspiration.
  In 2016, Time Inc. sold This Old House Ventures to executive Eric Thorkilsen and private equity firm TZP Growth Partners.
context_section_description: Begun in 1979 as a one-time, 13-part series airing on WGBH, This Old House has grown into one of the most popular programs on the network. It has produced spin-offs (notably The New Yankee Workshop hosted by Norm Abram), a magazine, and for-profit web sites. The show has won 17 Emmy Awards and received 82 nominations.
  Although WGBH acquired the first two project houses (6 Percival Street in Dorchester and the Bigelow House in Newton) for renovation, the series then focused on renovating older houses, including those of modest size and value, with the homeowners doing some of the work, as a form of sweat equity. The series covering the renovation of the Westwood house (Weatherbee Farm) became something of a cult classic because of an escalating dispute between the hosts, Vila and Abram, and the homeowners over the direction the project was taking. Vila remarked at the end of the Westwood series that the owners could have contributed more "sweat equity." As the show evolved, it began to focus on higher-end, luxury homes with more of the work done by expert contractors and tradespeople.
  Vila left This Old House in 1989 following a dispute over his doing commercials, and created a similar show called Bob Vila's Home Again. According to news reporter Barbara Beck, Vila was fired by WGBH Boston over making TV commercials for Rickel Home Centers, The Home Depot's competitor. Home Depot, the show's underwriter, dropped its local sponsorship for This Old House after Vila made the commercials. Vila was fired in an effort to have Home Depot return as a sponsor to the show. During Vila's tenure, the show drew 11 million viewers and had won five Emmys. Weyerhauser, at this time a supplier for The Home Depot, stopped underwriting the show.  Steve Thomas took over hosting duties after Vila's departure, remaining with the program until 2003. Cast members later complained that Vila took up too much screen time, and noted that the show became more of an ensemble production after he left.
  Kevin O'Connor is the current host of This Old House. Before O'Connor joined the cast, he was a homeowner who appeared on Ask This Old House, having problems with wallpaper removal. While O'Connor has been the host, Abram's role has increased to that of a near co-host. In at least a couple of season opening episodes (Cambridge, Carlisle, and Austin), Abram has appeared with O'Connor to introduce the new project. Abram also filled in for O'Connor when his son was born during the Carlisle project.
  Beginning with the 2007–08 season, This Old House and Ask This Old House, were presented in a high-definition format.
  To celebrate its 30th anniversary season, This Old House worked with Nuestra Comunidad to renovate a foreclosed home in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Nuestra Comunidad is a non-profit development corporation that acquired this 1870s-era Second Empire home from a bank.
  In 2016, Time Inc. sold This Old House to a joint venture operating as This Old House Ventures, LLC.
  To celebrate the 40th season in 2019, a retrospective and revisit of some of the more notable projects was incorporated into a handful of episodes with some of the original homeowners providing tours. The first house highlighted was the original project house in Dorchester.
caption: Kevin O'Connor, current host since 2003
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