A combination of winter and spring are bringing Steve Thomas, the host of PBS’ “This Old House,” to Chicago next week. Thomas, who spends the winter off-season on the lecture circuit, will be speaking about home improvements at Chicago’s first taste of spring, the 2001 Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier. Tribune staff writer Mary Daniels talked to Thomas about what it takes to be a “This Old House” candidate as well as his own old house.
MD: In general, how are houses selected as candidates for the show?
ST: We always do one major project in the Boston area. And a second project somewhere else. We look for something that is different. The project has to be big enough to sustain 18 television episodes. Generally there has to be some historical interest. Homeowners have to conform to our schedule.
MD: How do you get leads on specific houses?
ST: People write in and ask [to have their houses selected] all the time. We do have a producer, Bruce Irving, who makes more cell phone calls than anyone else I’ve seen. He’s the guy that goes out and scouts. Russ Morash, the director, makes the final decision.
MD: Any special criteria that favors selection?
ST: It has to be an interesting project from a renovation standpoint as well as a television standpoint. We did a project in Milton, Mass., that included renovating a house and a barn and landscaping the grounds. It was a 1724 Colonial frame house, one of the earliest in Milton. The front of the house was close to original condition. The back of the house containing the kitchen was from the 1800s, pretty typical of the projects you find in New England. That project gave us a lot of variety. When things were slow on the house, we could shift to the barn, and when things were slow on the barn, we could shift to the house. Television likes a lot of variety, which is why we favor the larger projects.
MD: Do homeowners get any freebies out of having their homes renovated on “This Old House?”
ST: They contract directly with the contractor, who is Tommy Silva. But we do get a significant number of items, new technology, new materials, donated. We go to the manufacturers and ask [for donations]. But homeowners have to pay tax on the items. They do get significant benefits–first-class workmanship, first-class technology, the house is done on time and they get the prestige of having their homes on “This Old House.”
MD: What kind of house do you have?
ST: My house is a colonial from the 1700s, moved to its present site in Salem, Mass., in 1836.
MD: Who does the repairs at your old house?
ST: I do. Oh, yeah. I was a carpenter so I still prefer the carpentry. An old house is like an old boat: If you keep things maintained, you’ve got it under control. Keeping up with it is really the main thing.
———-
Steve Thomas will speak at noon March 11 at the 2001 Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. Call: 312-321-0077.
