STILL GOING: Bob Vila, JM 1969, hosts

STILL GOING: Bob Vila, JM 1969, hosts "Bob Vila's Home Again."

Constructing a career

Bob Vila celebrates 25 years as a TV pioneer

By Danielle Griss

With 25 years under his tool-belt, home-improvement TV pioneer Bob Vila, JM 1969, shows no sign of wear or tear.

“Until I’m probably dead and buried, I will be involved with design and construction in one way or another,” Vila said. “The fact that we put a lot of it on TV is just icing on the cake.”

Vila spent 10 years hosting “This Old House,” 15 years hosting “Bob Vila’s Home Again” and 15 years as spokesman for Sears’ Craftsman tools. He ushered in a new genre, said Leigh Seaman, TEL 1989, a TV producer who adapted the British “Trading Spaces” for American audiences five years ago.   

When he started, Vila “really took a risk, and obviously it paid off,” said Seaman, a member of the Department of Telecommuni- cation Advisory Council. “He appealed to an untapped viewer population, and he did so in a very approachable manner.”

A fan of “This Old House,” Seaman had no idea she would end up producing a home-improvement TV series.

“I watched it as a fan and not as a student of the genre because it wasn’t really a genre yet,” she said. “He started it.”

“This Old House” combined old-world craftsmanship and modern technology to pave the way for countless home-improvement shows. Before its debut in 1979, how-to television focused on cooking, sewing and art, Seaman said. “[Vila] poured the foundation and the rest of it was just built on top.”

The one and only

In recent years, Vila has been facing increasing competition.

“They’re not necessarily instructional anymore,” Vila said. “And sometimes I get a little worried that they are inspiring people to do something that they will have limited success with.”

People often ask Seaman if former “Trading Spaces” heartthrob carpenter Ty Pennington is the next Bob Vila. He’s a spokesman for Sears and he hosts ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.”  

“There’s not going to be another Bob Vila,” Seaman said. “He stands alone, and I’m glad he’s paved the way for the rest of us to have success.”

Almost an architect

A Miami native, Vila went to UF to study architecture, but because he excelled in English and liked the challenge of reporting and writing, he enrolled in the College as a news-editing student.   

“Even though I have created this career in TV production and hosting these shows, which clearly is directly related to my studying journalism, architecture was always my first love,” Vila said.

After earning his bachelor’s degree, Vila spent a couple of years in the Peace Corps and a couple of years working and traveling in Europe. He briefly edited German-to-English translations in southern Germany. With a knack and a love for languages, Vila learned German in a few months. As a Cuban-American, Vila’s first language is Spanish.

When he returned to the United States, Vila attended Boston Architectural Center. There, he met his wife, Diana Barrett, a professor at the Harvard Business School. They’ve been married for 30 years and have three children, one of whom is a real estate developer.    

Vila soon opened a remodeling and design business. The Boston Globe ran a story about his restoration of a Victorian Italianate house in Newton Center. Before he knew it, he received an offer to host the WGBH-produced show, “This Old House.” PBS soon picked it up. He left a decade later to found BVTV, the production company that produces “Bob Vila’s Home Again.”

He’s written 11 books, including Bob Vila’s Complete Guide to Remodeling Your Home.

“It was just serendipity,” Vila said, “that I ended up in a career that combines communication and architecture.”