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Craftsman Bungalow - Studio City, CA

Season 8 -

Craftsman Bungalow

Studio City, CA
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This 13 episode project centers around the remodel of a Studio City bungalow in Los Angeles, California. It's a vintage kit house, purchased from a Sears & Roebuck catalog in 1923 and built in Hollywood. When the construction of the Hollywood Freeway threatened to mow it down in 1929, the house was moved to its present location in what was then a budding community growing up around the first big studio lots in the San Fernando Valley.

The story of this house is poignant: a loving owner who had grown up in the house in the 30s and 40s preserved it in its original condition into the 1990s, renting it to single older women and leaving it virtually unchanged in honor of his deceased parents. After the most recent renter of thirteen years, retired Vaudeville actress Mary McDonnell, passed away, her daughter bought the house with her husband and vowed to preserve it in her memory. Michelle Langley, a Los Angeles dance teacher and actress, and her husband Gavin, an architect from Australia, have hired local contractor Cortney Lofton to help them carry on the tradition of preservation. A great deal of this series will focus on projects that reproduce and restore existing elements of the house while updating and improving it for comfortable living in the new millennium.

Projects include restructuring and strengthening the roof to support new Hardislate roofing and a cathedral ceiling in the living room, adapting details from the Craftsman style and custom milling them to add flair to the dining room and living room, updating the kitchen without destroying its original charm, re-enameling existing bathroom fixtures and digging up more of them from the local salvage yard.

Gavin's also adapted the design of the front porch to the back of the house to increase outdoor living space that will give onto a new subtly-finished swimming pool. Bob demonstrates how to fit modern appliances into out of the way places, where to find historically correct details for any house, and when it's important to bring an architect onto the job (even it you're not married to one) to be sure the effect you want is the effect you get from your home improvement
project.

In addition to useful weekly tips, Bob will treat viewers to frequent "field trips" in Studio City and beyond: visits to elegantly restored historical homes, shopping trips to showrooms, and even a peek inside the giant studios that gave the place its name.

*Editor's note: During the production of the Season 8 "Craftsman Bungalow" project for "Bob Vila's Home Again," the show (and subsequently this Web site) identified the project home as a Sears & Roebuck kit home. It has since been brought to our attention that this home was not purchased through Sears & Roebuck. While the origin of the kit from which the home was built is unknown, the processes for remodeling and repairing the home remain relevant.

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	Show Information:	View all videos from this project

	Project Introduction (HA0801) Dates Aired: September 1-7, 1997 \| March 2-8, 1998 Bob kicks off the Studio City project by meeting Gavin and Michelle Langley, happy new homeowners of a vintage Sears kit house. They have lots of plans for preserving both ... View show summary
	Wiring, Plumbing and Plastering (HA0802) Dates Aired: September 8-14, 1997 \| March 9-15, 1998 The electrician's snaking new wiring into the kitchen, and the plumber is roughing in for the addition of a real 'water closet'; the master bathroom will be built into an ... View show summary
	Reconditioning the Windows (HA0803) Dates Aired: September 15-21, 1997 \| March 16-22, 1998 Bob takes a look at how best to recondition the original Sears kit house windows, then takes us on a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, just over the ... View show summary
	Interior Trim and Porch Framing (HA0804) Dates Aired: September 22-28, 1997 \| March 23-29, 1998 Carpenter Brian Comeaux custom mills some interior trim details that have been specified by the architect; back on site, Bob and Cortney put them together to give the dining room ... View show summary
	Repairing the Front Facade (HA0805) Dates Aired: September 29-October 5, 1997 \| March 30-April 5, 1998 Bob and Cortney demolish the kitchen sink and cabinets to make room for the new ones, while homeowners Gavin & Michelle Langley shop for a vintage cabinet at Big 10 ... View show summary
	Swimming Pool and Porch (HA0806) Dates Aired: October 6-12, 1997 \| April 6-12, 1998 The pool crew's on site to finish up the rebar and start spraying on the gunnite. Bob talks about the budget with Gavin, and we take a look at how ... View show summary
	Working on the Pool (HA0807) Dates Aired: October 13-19, 1997 \| April 13-19, 1998 Progress continues on the outside of the house, as the pool crew returns to install the green Indian slate tile on the surround and porch steps. Cortney and crew are ... View show summary
	Exterior Paint Preparation (HA0808) Dates Aired: October 20-26, 1997 \| April 20-26, 1998 Preparation for exterior paint continues, as the crew sands, scrapes, grinds, and strips its way to a smooth surface before priming. Bob plays hooky and takes us on a tour ... View show summary
	Floor Tile and Cabinet Installation (HA0809) Dates Aired: October 27-November 2, 1997 \| April 27-May 3, 1998 The bathroom gets a real treat of a floor tile treatment: green, black, and white hexagonal tiles are laid in an eye catching pattern that brings the room right back ... View show summary
	Installing Custom Light Grids (HA0810) Dates Aired: November 3-9, 1997 \| May 4-10, 1998 We start the installation of the architect's craftsman-style custom light grids by installing the back lights with the electrician. Then, we go around the block to James Thomas Stained Glass, ... View show summary
	Installing Cabinets (HA0811) Dates Aired: November 10-16, 1997 \| May 11-17, 1998 Cabinetmaker Brian Comeaux takes us back to his shop to show how he framed the boxes for the new built-ins that are being installed in the living room to match ... View show summary
	Hardwood Floor Repair and Refinishing (HA0812) Dates Aired: November 17-23, 1997 \| May 18-24, 1998 Gavin and Cortney have a few tips for the do-it-yourselfer on repairing damaged hardwood floors and sanding them for refinishing. Bob takes us on a tour of the Japanese Garden ... View show summary
	House Tour (HA0813) Dates Aired: November 24-30, 1997 \| May 25-31, 1998 It's the final tour of the newly-remodeled Sears kit house in Studio City; we take a look at the newly-landscaped front yard and new exterior paint treatment, then head inside ... View show summary