This Old House: Season 21
The Billerica House; The Santa Barbara House
Season 21 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of This Old House Season 20.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Season overview
The Billerica House; The Santa Barbara House
Episode Guide
Season 21 Progress Shield
The Billerica House - 1
Sep 25, 1999
The new season starts with a visit to Chub Whitten's Colonial home in Ipswitch, Massachusetts, that we toured at the beginning of last season. Then it was a burned wreck; now, a ye
The Billerica House - 2
Oct 2, 1999
We visit the Billerica Fire Dept. to hear what it was like to fight the Silva fire, and how it might have been prevented or at least kept more manageable. Back at the house, our ho
The Billerica House - 3
Oct 9, 1999
Tom recounts the day the machines came to tear down Dick and Sandra's old house. All that's left is a hole in the ground. Arborist Matt Foti and his crew take down two 75-year-old
The Billerica House - 4
Oct 16, 1999
A full month after our last time on site, the foundation is just being completed, the construction schedule having fallen victim to a three-week soil cleanup process. With the comp
The Billerica House - 5
Oct 23, 1999
Homeowner Dick Silva gives a tour of the newly framed up first floor, and Tom Silva shows some of the hallmarks of a good framing system. In the basement, our master carpenter expl
The Billerica House - 6
Oct 30, 1999
Homeowner Dick Silva gives a tour of the framed and sheated house and reports that he and Sandra have recieved a very satisfactory insurance settlement on the structure; the settle
The Billerica House - 7
Nov 6, 1999
The new windows have arrived. They're made from an extruded composive of PVC and sawdust, and we visit Minnesota to see the factory. The crew puts up corner trim using two layers o
The Billerica House - 8
Nov 13, 1999
Our master carpenter and general contractor take over Dick's Quonset hut to set up a woodorking shop, forcing Dick to take his restored 1931 Ford Roadster pickup truck up to the ne
The Billerica House - 9
Nov 20, 1999
The local electric utility is on site to bring power across the street to a new pole positioned in a discrete spot along the front edge of the Silva's property. Far cheaper than di
The Billerica House - 10
Nov 27, 1999
As our master carpenter sets up the table saw to make a sample raised-panel door for the Silvas to consider for their new kitchen, our host sees Tom's system for flashing windows:
The Billerica House - 11
Dec 4, 1999
The site is abuzz as subcontractors hurry to complete their in-wall work before the insulation truck arrives. Tom Silva gives a tour of the wires, pipes, conduits and ducts, while
The Billerica House - 12
Dec 11, 1999
We arrive at the house to find the last of the wallboard shipment being loaded into the basement. In the rest of the house, it's already hung and plastering has begun, homeowner Di
The Billerica House - 13
Dec 18, 1999
Landscape contractor Roger Cook and his crew begin to install a stone wall along the driveway, using a split stome from North Carolina that is available at home centers nationwide.
The Billerica House - 14
Dec 25, 1999
We arrive to find Rich in the basement, where the forced air unit for first-floor heating and cooling hangs; the main source of first-floor heat, however, will be radiant floor hea
The Billerica House - 15
Jan 1, 2000
Master electrician Allen Gallant shows us the workings of the new emergency power generator, a quiet natural-gas-powered unit that will supply the house's ""essential services"" (h
The Billerica House - 16
Jan 8, 2000
Paving contractor Don Sloan shows Roger Cook a few different ways to pave the drive: plain black ashphalt with crushed stone rolled into a liquid ashphalt binder. Around back, Roge
The Billerica House - 17
Jan 15, 2000
Landscape designer Stephanie Hubbard oversees the placement of the new plants and trees with Roger Cook, while inisde our master carpenter talks to mill owner Charlie Wilson about
The Billerica House - 18
Jan 22, 2000
Our host arrives to see wooden shutter maker Peter Malone and crew installing shutters on the front facade, using traditional pintle hinges and shutter dogs. Inside, master electri
The Billerica House - 19
Jan 29, 2000
The final two days in Billerica find Dick returning his beloved Model A truck to the new garage, which is nice and warm thanks to a natural-gas heater. Roger Cook and his crew are
The Santa Barbara House - 1
Feb 5, 2000
Our host and master carpenter arrive in sytle, by sailboat, at This Old House's winter project location: Santa Barbara. Homeowner Jan Winford has waited 25 years to expand her tiny
The Santa Barbara House - 2
Feb 12, 2000
The guys revisit This Old House's winter 1988 Santa Barbara project: Dave and Susan Dickenson's bungalow. Upon arrival at This Old House's current jobsite, they find the building r
The Santa Barbara House - 3
Feb 19, 2000
We review the progress the crew has made in reframing the expansion of the Santa Barbara bungalow. Then we check out the new garage, built to comply with city code, and the new, sy
The Santa Barbara House - 4
Feb 26, 2000
We check out the framing of the Santa Barbara bungalow's new second-story master suite - and take in its stunning views of the Pacific. Then we head off to a small art-tile kiln in
The Santa Barbara House - 5
Mar 4, 2000
We check out the new custom windows, which feature cherry, wood interiors and true divided lights. Then we meet landscape architect Susan Van Atta who reviews her design for the hi
The Santa Barbara House - 6
Mar 11, 2000
The countdown to completion of the Santa Barbara bungalow renovation begins. The elements of the new kitchen arrive, as does the magnificent oak front entrance. The focal point of
The Santa Barbara House - 7
Mar 18, 2000
Homeowner Jan Winford finally realizes her dream of 25 years - the renovation of her 1907 bungalow - thanks in part to This Old House. The guys return to Santa Barbara after a coup