Our 20th year on public television began with the renovation of a circa 1886 Victorian with a large circa 1915 rear addition, in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Massachusetts. Essentially untouched since it was built, the house was recently purchased by a young couple from nearby Cambridge, Christian Noen and Susan Denny, who were attracted by the classic neighborhood, spacious yard, and the relative affordability of Watertown. Along with the This Old House gang and designer/architect team Sandra and Tony Fairbank, they plan to address the house's many problems: a boggy basement and backyard. paint-encrusted siding, crumbling chimneys, outdated heating and wiring, and a labyrinthine floorplan that masks the house's spacious 5,000 square feet.
The show opens with the This Old House team visiting a potential project project that the show decided to pass on: ac. 1720 colonial that was nearly destroyed by a chimney fire. They tour the house to see what a fire can do to a building, and meet
