Want to give your old house a televised facelift? You can submit your house in need of a renovation to appear on an upcoming season of This Old House. From downtown lofts, to ornate country Victorians, to bungalows in the suburbs, the series is accepting proposals for all housing types, styles and neighborhoods. Whether you are just in the dreaming phase, or well along with design, we want to hear from you!
Behind the Scenes: Producer Deborah Hood reveals what catches their attention: “We’re really driven to change it up from what we did the year before,” says Hood. The show actively seeks architectural diversity — if they recently featured a Federal-style house, they’d be looking for something quite different, maybe a Queen Anne or a Craftsman.
What Makes a Good Candidate: Beyond architectural interest, your house needs substantial work to fill an entire season. As a rule, TOH houses are old — but even 50 years old can satisfy that requirement. More important than age is having enough renovation work to document across up to 26 episodes, plus having architectural plans ready (though they don’t need to be final) and the capital to fund the project.
This Old House features two to three projects per season, and at least one of the projects is located in the New England area. We prefer projects located in climates where outdoor work may be undertaken during the winter months, and often we choose the geographic location first and then consider proposals in that area.
The geographic requirements stem from practical considerations. As the show explained in 1995: “The summer project, from late spring until Christmas, must be in or near Boston (so we can drive home at night). The winter project (New Year’s Day through St. Patrick’s Day) must be in a balmy locale, so we can work outdoors.” Previous winter locations have included the Napa Valley, Santa Fe, Miami, Hawaii, and Key West.
