OT: This Old House homeowner's profession?

[Heath Roberts]

Sorry for the off-topic subject, but I figure there are a lot of TOH watchers on rec.woodworking, so maybe y'all won't mind.

I've googled, but would really like to know what the homeowner (George Mabry) on the recent Cambridge series does (or did) for a living. Every time we see the show, we can't believe how much they've got to be spending... And, even in Cambridge, whether he'll recoup his investment on resale.

Not trying to be critical, mostly I'm just jealous (although modern architecture doesn't appeal to me).

Thanks, Heath

[mwbrown42]

Best I can find is "biotech bachelor"...

Mike Brown

Heath Roberts wrote:

[RicodJour]

Define investment. If you mean will the improvement cost fetch as much at the time of sale, including whatever interest he would have accrued on the money, no. Not even close. I'm sure that the house will sell for a premium just because it is now a "famous" house, and I'm sure George will get lots of mileage out of his 15 minutes of fame.

Instead of being jealous of a guy who's simply pouring money into a house, how about being jealous of a guy who sold software he didn't own to IBM, then went out and bought it at a bargain from the guy who developed the software, then proceded to amass the single largest fourtune of our age. He also poured money into his house, so that's a bonus. ;)

R

[Lew Hodgett]

Whatever it is, it creates a revenue stream sufficient to fund the project.

Lew

[John]

My favorite was one where at 360 thou, they were slightly "over budget".

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I've watched a few episodes. Last one I saw they were applying stone facade on a poured concrete wall. The stone was imported from Croatia. IIRC, it was a 42k job.

I guess he just has a bunch of money and wants what he wants.

[cgallery]

I don't know why, but this last season prompted the same questions in my head. Perhaps it was because everything kinda seemed like cost was no object. My theory at the time was that he inherited some $$$. But I have nothing to back that up.

Whatever the source, it was an > Sorry for the off-topic subject, but I figure there are a lot of TOH

[Roger Shoaf]

42 grand for a pile of Yugoslavian rocks. I wonder how much of the cost was postage?

[Leuf]

I wonder with all the rain and flooding we've had up here the last month and that house being at the bottom of bowl whether whatever they did for drainage worked.

-Leuf

[George]

Strange thing about having money. People resent you for having it or criticize you for spending it. Sometimes in the same post. Some primary candidate for president a few years back put it pretty well when he said he's never been employed by a poor man. Let's just say he's a developer who gives employment to contractors.

Makes no difference either way, I guess. Just another one of those "rich" folks indulging himself with his house rather than soaking up a couple of beers at the tavern.

[Odinn]

He didn't even purchase it from the developer, he purchased it from an OEM licensee.

[Owen Lawrence]

I have the same sort of questions about "Holmes on Homes". He typically arrives at a house where the homeowners have been taken for a very expensive ride by shyster contractors. Then he proceeds to demolish and rebuild everything in sight in the most expensive way available. My question is, who is paying for all this? If it's the homeowners, I can't figure out how they do it.

- Owen -

[Leon]

IMHO a pathetic series. IIRC the home owner did nothing as far as sweat equity is concerned.

[J. Clarke]

From whom was it licensed?

[John Emmons]

Since when have any of the home owners done any "sweat equity" on the show? The only time I've ever seen them do any work it's pretty obvious that it was simply posing for the camera crew.

It's not a do it yourself show, never was, never will be.

The spinoff, "ask this old house" is much more do-it yourself oriented. Even Norm's show is more hands on.

If the homeowners want to spend hundreds of thousands of their money on their own homes, I say let them, at least they're employing some local tradespeople.

I'm reminded of a photography shoot I worked on out in Palm Desert a few years ago, we were there just to shoot the neon lighting that had been installed in the house, well over $100,000.00 worth. The construction foreman had been gainfully employed for over 5 years, building and then rebuilding the place as the owner's kept changing their minds about what they wanted. It kept his family fed, the owners got what they wanted and it was their own money being spent, a win/win/win.

John E.

[Prometheus]

There are folks like that all over. I live pretty close to the edge of nowhere, and we did a series of jobs for a family that had a seemingly inexhaustable income. They paid almost $100g to add 6 feet to the garage, and just kept on going to things that were even larger and more expensive, never batting an eye about the mounting bill.

There was a bit of speculation about how they were doing it, but it turned out the husband just made that much money as a specialist doing cancer diagnosis. Kinda made me wish I'd had gone to medical school, even though I'm sure he paid his dues to get where he was.

[Lee Gordon]

Many, but certainly not all, of the TOH homeowners put in varying amounts of sweat equity. Don't you remember Mary Van, the southern lady with the bed & breakfast conversion in Lexington? She's probably still on a ladder with a paint brush.

Lee

[Leuf]

They used to be more involved at least in the demo and cleanup. But heck, even the hosts barely get their hands dirty anymore much less the owners.

-Leuf

[Leon]

Umm it started out as a home owner sweat equity program.

The spin off is more like the how TOH was and not what it has become in the last few years.

Whick if ifne but I prefer the way TOH was.

[Greg Guarino]

I remember it differently. When I first saw the show many years ago there was an emphasis on showing you things you could do yourself, or could at least understannd some of the nuts and bolts of before you hired a repairman. I think the success of the show and subsequent bigger budgets has led to what it is today.

"Ask..." is great. TOH has become more of a showcase show, like Better Homes and Gardens. I rarely watch it now.

Sure, but it doesn't make for informative or interesting TV, at least to me. "One Man's Way to Spend $42,000.00 on Stone" isn't a title that's likely to grab me.

I have no particular quarrel with people spending their money as they see fit. But it's not always interesting to watch.

Greg Guarino