- Bob Vila
Infobox actor
name = Bob Vila
imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Robert J. Vila
birthdate = birth date and age|1946|06|20
location =Miami, Florida , U.S.
othername =
homepage =
academyawards =
spouse =Robert J. "Bob" Vila (born
June 20 ,1946 ) is an Americanhome improvement television show host known for "This Old House " (1979–1989), "Bob Vila's Home Again" (1990–2005) and "Bob Vila" (2005–2007).Biography
Early life
Vila, a
Cuban American native of Miami,Florida , received aBachelor of Science degree injournalism from theUniversity of Florida in1969 . After graduating, he served as a volunteer in the United StatesPeace Corps , working inPanama from1971 to1973 .Career
Vila was hired as the host of "
This Old House " after receiving the "Heritage House of 1978" award by "Better Homes and Gardens" for his restoration of a Victorian Italianate house in Newton,Massachusetts . On "This Old House", Vila appeared with mastercarpenter Norm Abram as they, and others, renovated houses. In1989 he left the show, apparently due to a series of conflicts with "This Old House" executive producerRussell Morash arising from his involvement with outside commercial endorsements. He was replaced by Steve Thomas.After leaving "This Old House", Vila became a commercial spokesman for Sears and hosted the television program "Bob Vila's Home Again" which was renamed "Bob Vila" in
2005 . The series was canceled by CBS' King World unit on May 2007 citing poor ratings. ["A Very Special Goodbye: TV Exits," Washington Post, April 25, 2007] He has written ten books, including a five-book series titled "Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America". As of 2006, he still appears regularly on television. Vila has also appeared on various episodes of "Tool Time ", the fictional handyman cable TV show within thesituation comedy , "Home Improvement ". "Tool Time"'s host Tim Taylor (played byTim Allen ) sees him as a rival and periodically tries to best him in various activities, never succeeding in doing so. Vila also made a cameo in the 1993 comedy spoof "Hot Shots! Part Deux ".Vila can also be seen on the
Home Shopping Network , selling a range of tools under his own brand.Other productions
Bob Vila's less widely known productions include "Guide to Historic Homes of America" and "In Search of Palladio," for A&E, and "Restore America" for HGTV.
Historic Homes of America
"Guide to Historic Homes of America"cite web |url= http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/AE/America.html |title= "Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America." |author= Bob Vila |format=
html |work=A&E Network |date= 1996 |quote= ] included two-hour segments on each of four major regions of theUnited States : the Northeast, includingNew England and theMid-Atlantic States ,cite web |url= http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/AE/Atlantic.html |title= "Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of the Mid-Atlantic." |author= Bob Vila |format=html |work=A&E Network |quote= …some of the most magnificent architectural treasures in the original colonies ofMaryland ,Delaware , andWashington D.C. ] the South, the Midwest and the West.;"The Northeast"
*Morris-Jumel Mansion overlookingYankee Stadium inWashington Heights, Manhattan
*Dyckman House on Broadway inUpper Manhattan
* Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts.
*Strawbery Banke restoration inPortsmouth, New Hampshire .
* Olana - "a palatial amalgam of Middle-Eastern and European influences.";"The Mid-Atlantic States"
*Chesapeake Bay andAnnapolis, Maryland -William Paca House andHammond-Harwood House
*New Castle, Delaware - George Read II House, built by the son of George Read
*Baltimore, Maryland - Homewood House on theJohns Hopkins University Homewood campus
*Washington, D.C. -Decatur House onPresident's Park andTudor Place in Georgetown;"The South"
*Thomas Jefferson :*University of Virginia - ten residential pavilions surround the great, terraced Lawn.:*Ash Lawn-Highland :*Poplar Forest - octagonal house filmed while undergoing complete restoration:*Monticello - includes Dome Room at top of building (not open to the public) and Honeymoon Cottage.
*Natchez, Mississippi :* House on Endicott Hill - early trader's house :* Rosalie -Federal architecture mansioncite web |url= http://www.tylersterritory.com/travel/namerica/mississippi/antebellum/rosalie-01.html |title= Rosalie, Natchez, Mississippi |author= Tylers' Travels |format=html |date= photograph |quote= The white picket fence is of unusual construction, in that no nails exist in its entire structure. Rosalie is now the State Shrine of the Mississippi DAR. ] with John Henry Beltercite web |url= http://www.oldandsold.com/articles/article348.shtml |title= "John Henry Belter and His Rosewood Furniture." |author= Old And Sold Antiques Auction and Marketplace |format=html |quote= ] furniture and a panoramic view ofMississippi River .:* Stanton Hall - "perhaps the grandest Greek Revival house anywhere." Designed by Captain Thomas Rose.cite web |url= http://www.natchezcitycemetery.com/custom/webpage.cfm?content=content&id=77 |title= "Builders of antebellum mansions." |author= Natchez City Cemetery |format=html |quote= From England came Captain Thomas Rose who gained Natchez experience to design and build Stanton Hall in 1857. ] :* Longwood - begun in 1860 bySamuel Sloan . Never finished: construction halted in April 1861.cite web |url= http://www.stantonhall.com/ |title= Stanton Hall & Longwood |author= StantonHall.com |format=html |quote= Built for Frederick Stanton, wealthy cotton commission broker, Stanton Hall was completed in 1857 to the designs of Natchez architect Thomas Rose. Longwood, the largest octagonal house remaining in America, is a superb example of the mid-nineteenth century “villa in the oriental style.” ]
*Texarkana, Texas - the Ace of Clubs House.cite web |url= http://www.texarkanamuseums.org/aceofclubshouse.htm |title= Ace of Clubs House. |author= Texarkana Museums |format=html |quote= According to local legend, money to build the Ace of Clubs House came from the winnings of a poker game won with the draw of the ace of clubs. ];"The Midwest and West"
*Ellwood House - built bybarbed wire entrepreneur Isaac L. Ellwood inDeKalb, Illinois .
*Frank Lloyd Wright :*Dana-Thomas House inSpringfield, Illinois . "It's richer in detail than any other Wright home.":*Fallingwater in theLaurel Highlands of theAllegheny Mountains .
*Cooper-Molera Adobe - early Spanish Colonial owned by theNational Trust for Historic Preservation inMonterey State Historic Park .
*Filoli -Woodside, California in theSanta Cruz Mountains . Designed byWillis Polk .
*Tor House cite web |url= http://www.torhouse.org/history.htm |title= "Tor House: The Story Behind Granite Walls." |author= Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation |format=html |quote= ] - stone house and tower overlooking thePacific Ocean atCarmel-by-the-Sea, California , built byRobinson Jeffers .In Search of Palladio
"In Search of Palladio" is a three-part, six-hour study of the work and lasting influence of the sixteenth-century architect
Andrea Palladio . Palladio designed various types of buildings, but the series concentrates on his domestic architecture. (See also:Palladian Villas of the Veneto ).;I. "Villas of the Veneto":
*Villa Giustinian ,Roncade . - For Vila this building (not by Palladio) provides the context for Palladio's innovative thinking - gothicbattlement s,portcullis and stone walls concealing a Renaissance palace andfarm buildings.
* Villa Pisanicite web |url= http://www.cisapalladio.org/veneto/scheda.php?sezione=4&architettura=2&lingua=e |title= Villa Pisani - Montagnana |author= "Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio" |format=html |quote=Francesco Pisani , powerful and influential Venetian patrician, was the patron and friend ofartist s and letterati, fromPaolo Veronese to Giambattista Maganza, fromAlessandro Vittoria to Palladio himself … a villa on two floors: the upper floor for the seigniorial apartments; the lower for everyday life, where business is conducted [with] thetenant farmer s (both citypalace and countryvilla ) ] inMontagnana - a descendant of the original owners served as Vila's guide.
*Villa Cornaro - A suburban villa on a town street, a palatial residence which was also an on-site place of business for running a large farming enterprise.
*Villa Barbaro .
*Villa Emo - For Vila this is "perhaps the most dramatic farmhouse ever built".
* La Rocca Pisana - spectacular hilltopbelvedere by Palladio's pupilVincenzo Scamozzi .;II. "The Palladians in England and Ireland"
*London :Chiswick House ,Marble Hill House andStourhead .
*Bath, Somerset :Queen Square ,cite web |url= http://www.thebath.net/old/environment/queensquare/index.html |title= Queen Square. |format=html |work= The Bath Net |quote= Queen Square was the first of John Wood's urban set-pieces, laid out following his return to his native city in 1727 and the first significant expansion beyond the medieval walls. Pevsner declared the north terrace to be one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730. ] The Circus and theRoyal Crescent .
*Republic of Ireland :Casino at Marino - "the architectural equivalent of aFabergé egg ".
*Northern Ireland :Castle Ward - overlookingStrangford Lough with both Palladian and Gothic facades and interiors.;III. "The Palladian Legacy in America"
*Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Mount Pleasant.
* Marblehead andWaltham, Massachusetts :Jeremiah Lee Mansion andGore Place
*Hudson Valley , New York:Boscobel House Museum - purchased in 1955 for thirty-five dollars. Meticulously restored, situated on a bluff on the east bank of theHudson River opposite theUnited States Military Academy at West Point.cite web |url= http://www.boscobel.org/history.html |title= "A Brief History of Boscobel: A House Museum of the Federal Period." |author= Charles T. Lyle |format=html |work= boscobel.org |quote= ]
*Hartford, Connecticut :Austin House - built forWadsworth Atheneum directorArthur Everett Austin, Jr.
*South Bend, Indiana . In Indiana Vila looks atUniversity of Notre Dame architectural school "where Palladio and classical architecture are taken seriously indeed",Vitruvian House cite web |url= http://www.thomasgordonsmitharchitects.com/Residence/Vitruvian_House/Vitruv_MFrame.html |title= Vitruvian House. |author= Thomas Gordon Smith |quote= ] andVilla Indiana .cite web |url= http://stroik.com/portfolio/villaindiana.php |title= Villa Indiana. |author= Duncan G. Stroik |quote= In his innovative designs Palladio created a new type by combining the summer house or "castello " with vernacular farm buildings and by wedding them architecturally to the agricultural landscape.]Restore America
"Restore America"cite web |url= http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/HGTV/RestoreAmerica.html |title= "Restore America With Bob Vila." |author= Bob Vila |format=
html |work=HGTV (includes detailed descriptions of one-hour segments for each of the fiftyU.S. state s) |date=July 4 1999 throughJuly 4 2000 |quote= In celebration of the millennium, Bob Vila led viewers on an enlightening, year long, 50-state tour of hundreds of historic homes, public buildings, gardens and neighborhoods across America. Vila explored the nation's flourishing restoration boom, celebrating the people working to preserve the best of this country's rich culture, heritage and history as host of HGTV's "Restore America." HGTV periodically rebroadcasts this programming. ] consists of fifty one-hour segments which explorehistoric preservation andbuilding restoration in each of the fiftyU.S. state s. Anticipating the turn of the3rd millennium , it was first broadcast on HGTV betweenJuly 4 1999 andJuly 4 2000 .Bibliography
Bob Vila has written two dozen or more books, which include:
* 1980: "This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House." Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-31617-704-0.
* 1990: "Bob Vila's Guide to Buying Your Dream House." Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-31690-291-8.
* 1993-1994: "Bob Vila's Guides to Historic Homes of America." New York: Quill (HarperCollins imprint ).:* "Historic Homes of New England." ISBN 0-68812-493-3.:* "Historic Homes of the South." ISBN 0-68812-492-5.:* "Historic Homes of the Midwest and Great Plains." ISBN 0-68812-495-X.:* "Historic Homes of the West." ISBN 0-68812-496-8.:* "Historic Homes of the Mid-Atlantic." ISBN 0-68812-494-1.ee also
*List of Famous Cuban-Americans
References
External links
* [http://www.bobvila.com Bob Vila's Official Website]
* [http://www.bobvila.com/Global/About.html Bob Vila Biography at bobvila.com]
* [http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/Bob_Vila/index.html Bob Vila TV Show at bobvila.com]
* [http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/HomeAgain/ Bob Vila's Home Again at bobvila.com]
* [http://www.bobvilacontractors.com Bob Vila Contractor Referral] Website
* [http://blog.legendarylife.com/legendarylife-profile-bob-vila Bob Vila's Profile on LegendaryLife.com]
*imdb name|id=0897306|name=Bob Vila
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