Manhattan Remodel and Cape Cod Affordable

Profiling New York City and Cape Cod, Bob Vila’s Home Again will show two very different housing projects in the second half of this 25th anniversary season.

The first show finds us in Manhattan, where Bob joins his son Chris Vila to rejuvenate an Upper West Side brownstone that was originally constructed as a high-end, single-family home. Bob looks at the materials and features that characterize Manhattan brownstones, then walks us through a single floor of the building, which was divided into two separate apartments in the 1940s. Bob identifies period details that remain in the building, including original wrought-iron doors, and mourns the loss of details that once existed in these homes, which featured the highest quality workmanship available.

Architect Brian O’Keefe joins Bob and Chris to review the plans to reconvert the two apartments to one single-floor apartment, bring light and open up space, and redefine the living areas to create a 21st-century urban home. The plan is to create the sleek and chic urban look so desired today. But the building catches up with them as demolition reveals the very bones and character of the place. Original cornices are discovered under drop ceilings, joist work is exposed, and the butchering of the original work is revealed through layers of deconstruction.

A decision is made to follow the context of the building, to keep the cornices and highlight them, to use wood flooring that suggests the floors that once graced the apartment, to reconnect the fireplace and search out an antique mantel, and to have an eye to the finishes that are representative of the high-quality work that characterized the building in the first place. Plasterers are brought on site instead of sheetrockers. Joists are sistered to build them back up and make them level. Throughout the project, Bob meets tradespeople who function more as craftspeople than mere installers. This is fitting for a building on the Upper West Side that sits on the doorstep of historic Central Park. Visiting the park, noting its treasures and its upkeep schedule, brings to mind the history and fabric of New York and this neighborhood.