Old House My House

I spent a couple hours at Roma Tile with our interior designers, Andrew and Dee, of Terrat Elms Interior Design.  I went in with a general idea of what I wanted to do with the master bath...I was thinking about using small “penny tiles” in white, with splashes of colorful blue mosaic tile as highlights.

I’ve never worked with an interior designer before, and I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical since I went into this project with a clear vision of how I want our home to look. I was unsure what the designers could add to the vision that our architect and I have had for the space. 

But while we were at the tile store, I got to see a glimmer of what working with an interior designer could offer. Dee and Andrew took my ideas and came up with suggestions of ways to make the tile choices pack more punch. For example, in the kids’ bathroom, Andrew suggested that we use a traditional subway field tile on the walls and then use the small white penny rounds on the back of the tub wall for an added dramatic punch, to let those tiles stand out as a focal point. 

Dee and Andrew also pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone in considering some very striking square white tiles with black “X”s on them for the master bath floor. In the end, I decided not to go with that choice, but I don’t think I would have seriously entertained the idea without their nudging me, and I'm glad that they expanded my horizons a bit.  

On days when This Old House is filming, it’s a whole different story from a regular construction day. The house is teeming with people—a couple of producers and guys who move heavy equipment and lighting; Dino, the cameraman; and Thom Draught, the director. Those people are all in addition to host Kevin O'Connor and the other folks who star on the show. We are grateful that they're all incredibly accommodating of our family.

On one filming day, I brought my kids to the house to watch the show film a scene where Tom and Kevin cut a hole in the roof to put the skylight in the master bedroom.  My girls love being around the crew and all the excitement of filming! They were hanging around with Deb Hood, the show's producer, and Thom, the director, peeking over their shoulders at the monitors they watch to see what was happening up on the roof.

My kids are too young to realize what “being famous” means. They talk about Tom, Norm, Kevin, Roger, and Richard like they are old friends. And I think part of that is because the guys are such genuine, real people that John and I feel like they are old friends too.  

We still can’t believe that Tom Silva is renovating our house! Often when I have unrealistically high expectations about someone, the person falls short. But in this case, Tom has more than lived up to our admittedly high expectations. In keeping with our project that is a mix of old (exterior) and new (interior), Tom brings the best of both worlds. He has a deep knowledge of old houses and what makes them work, and a willingness to make use of new technologies to improve on the old when and where it makes sense. 

Another thing that surprised us about our project is how small the work crew is. Most of the time thus far, it has been Tom and one other helper, Dan. You can see how Tom produces such impeccable results—he only has people whose work he trusts working on the project. At first I was surprised when I would arrive at the house only to find Dan there by himself. I kept waiting for the big crew to arrive! This may change down the line as the project starts coming together, but for now it's been 

On some days there are more people working, like when the roofers and house framers did their jobs. But the sense of ownership and continuity by always having Dan and Tom there gives us so much confidence in the quality of the work that’s being done.

I know our house will be not only infinitely prettier and more livable when they're done, but that it will also be more structurally sound, well insulated, and all around well-built than it was originally. I think that’s pretty rare in renovations of old houses.  

Last week, I was at my friend Amy’s house for bookgroup. She introduced me to her husband, John, because he’s a big fan of "This Old House." While we were chatting, he mentioned that his father grew up on the same street where our house is. When I asked which street number, John wasn’t sure, so he called his father. Turns out that his father, Web, grew up in “our” house!

At that point, John put me on the phone with his father. Web was amazed to hear that the house was going to be renovated by "This Old House," because he is a long-time fan, and we were both stunned at the improbability of us making this connection.  

My conversation with Web helped us answer some of the questions we had about the house. Web’s grandparents bought the house in 1909. They were the second owners, and lived there for more than 60 years. Web’s mother was raised in the house. Right before the Great Depression, Web’s grandfather invited Web’s parents to move in with their new baby (Web). They lived upstairs on the second floor while the grandparents lived downstairs. There were two separate apartments, with a kitchen in each unit. The house was built on a former pear orchard, and there were still two or three pear trees in the yard when Web lived there.

Shortly after we made the connection, Web, his wife Sylvia, and a total of three generations of their family came to see the house. Web told us many stories about living in the house—where people slept, and how the rooms were used. He said the house was full of good memories for his family, and he wished our family many years of happiness there. 

The Essex cottage sits on a wooded hillside lot with views to Essex Bay and beyond to the Atlantic. The property is currently 6.3 acres, but at one time it was closer to 10 acres, as three lots were sold off for development by a prior owner. We have taken steps to restrict any future land divestiture, but the larger story is the restoration of the current landscape.

Part of what makes old houses special is that great care was taken regarding their location. The range of factors that guided the decision of where to build was, of course, limitless, but homes were generally sited to take advantage of the sun (critical in the pre-AC days and to enhance natural light), and to optimize a scenic view or vista. That was certainly the case in a small town like Essex, Massachusetts, where homebuilders had their pick of open land. 

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One of our daughters asked, “Can I be there when they blow the house up?” We had to explain to her that demolition doesn’t mean “blow up,” and that our house would be taken apart piece by piece so  every usable part could be salvaged for re-use in other homes. 

We were able to stop by periodically during the week as the deconstruction crew worked. We couldn’t go in the house because of hazardous dust, but we were able to watch as materials that couldn’t be re-used were sent down the long yellow tubes into the dumpster. It was fun to be able to check in on the progress through the webcams when they went live, too. Even more interesting for our whole family was watching the piles of salvaged materials accumulate in the yard—bookshelves, light fixtures, toilets, a stove, pine floors, interior doors, and even the outlet covers.

Now that the deconstruction is complete we've finally been able to go inside. With the entire structure empty, we can better visualize what the new space will look like, since we’re going to have an open floor plan. In a way, it's actually kind of beautiful (in some places, the light shines through the cracks in the exterior siding). Finally, the process of constructing our new home begins!

It’s not every day that you get to appear on your favorite TV show—one that you've watched faithfully for years—but fate has dealt us a good hand. Our project is the restoration of a 1935 three-bedroom cottage in Essex, Massachusetts. The house has seen better days, but it sits beautifully on six-plus acres on the side of a wooded hilltop, with great views of Essex Bay and the Atlantic beyond. Well, at least we think the views are great. Right now, they're a bit obscured pending the arrival of Roger Cook and his team. No doubt I’ll be contributing some sweat equity once they get here, and I have a chain saw at the ready!

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So, why am I so obsessed with Swedish style and craftsmanship? Maybe it has something to do with my ancestry. My great grandparents immigrated to Connecticut from Sweden in the 1890s, and I grew up hearing stories about Sweden from my grandmother. I also had lots of visual reminders of our Swedish ancestry at Christmastime, when my grandmother, mother and aunt would bring out the many Swedish ornaments that decorated our home. We always had strings of tiny Swedish flags on our Christmas tree, which my father topped off with a set of painted wooden Dala horses—one to represent each family member. 

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A few days after the disappointment of realizing we had lost out on buying "The House Around the Corner (HAC)," our Realtor, Carol Kelly, emailed me with the news that there was another house listed in the same neighborhood. Within minutes, my neighbor, Bliss, had emailed me about the house, too. When John and I looked up the location, we were thrilled. But we were warned that the house needed some “upgrading” on the inside. 

We went to see the house that afternoon, and immediately saw the potential: high ceilings, a relatively large side yard, a pretty exterior, lots of light streaming through the windows, a finished attic space with cathedral ceilings, and a roof deck! Best of all, we liked the location even better than the HAC. We knew pretty much immediately that we were going to make an offer. 

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First, let me say how excited my husband, John, and I are that our house has been chosen to be remodeled on "This Old House!" We still need to pinch ourselves several times a day to believe that we are really going to have our house and yard done by Tom, Norm, Richard and Roger! We have no idea how we got so lucky. 

The Thursday in October before we bought our house on Avon Hill, in Cambridge we had seen another house on the market just around the corner (pictured above). There was a feeding frenzy at this "House Around the Corner (HAC)," with many potential buyers milling about, whispering with their realtors—including a very pregnant looking woman and her husband.

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