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  • John Anderson, left, owner of John Anderson Service, speaks to Kevin O'Connor, host of "This Old House" during the North Georgia Home Show at the trade center on Sunday. (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen)

    o'connor at home show1.jpg

  • Kevin O'Connor, left, host of "This Old House" speaks to Joel Slater, of Chattanooga, Sunday at the North Georgia Home Show at the trade center. (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen)

    o'connor at home show2.jpg

  • Kevin O'Connor host of "This Old House" speaks at the North Georgia Home Show at the trade center on Sunday. (Misty Watson/The Daily Citizen)

    o'connor at home show3.jpg

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September 26, 2011

'This Old House' host speaks at home show

Misty Watson mistywatson@daltoncitizen.com

Kevin O’Connor didn’t work toward a career in television.

He was happy working a job in finance in Boston, Mass., when he wrote into “Ask This Old House” — one of his favorite shows — wanting help on an older home he had purchased with his wife, Kathleen.

“They came out, filmed the segment and a few months later called me up and asked me if I wanted to host,” O’Connor said on Sunday at the North Georgia Home Show at the trade center. “I actually liked finance. But I jumped at it. It was an adventure. It was one of those opportunities that rarely present themselves.”

O’Connor has been the host of “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House” since 2003. He is the third host in the show’s 32 years, following Bob Vila and Steve Thomas.

“I grew up watching it,” O’Connor said. “I was the guy in college whose roommates would try to wrestle the clicker away to watch football because I’d be watching ‘This Old House.’”

He describes himself as an “adventurous amateur” when it comes to home repair and remodeling.

“I’m still the rookie,” compared to others on the show, such as general contractor Tom Silva, O’Connor said. “I’ve learned a lot on the show.”

O’Connor spent Sunday answering people’s questions, previewing the upcoming season of “This Old House” and promoting his new book “The Best Homes from This Old House.”

The show will feature renovations at two homes this year, one in Bedford, Mass., and one in Barrington, R.I.

The home in Bedford was built in the early 1700s — one of the oldest the show has ever been a part of, O’Connor said. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the show will center on renovating an older home, he said.

The home in Barrington is along the coast, and the show will focus on renovating homes to withstand hurricane force winds and rain, O’Connor said.

O’Connor’s book, which was released this month, features 10 of the homes completed on the show.

“The show is all about the renovation, all about the sawdust, but we only show half the finished house,” he said. “The book showcases the homes. It’s the first time we’ve displayed them. I wrote it, but don’t buy it for that. Buy it for the photos (taken by Michael Casey).”

O’Connor said it’s difficult to be chosen for “This Old House” because they only do two renovations a year, one of which is always in the Boston area.

“It’s more likely that you can be on ‘Ask This Old House,’” he said. “It can happen. People send us real questions about real problems. We do 26 episodes a year, and each episode covers two to four projects. Thirty percent of those are outside (the Boston) area.”

Rick Loggins, and his wife, Mary, of Chattanooga, said they own an older home and are fans of “This Old House.” The Loggins watch the show for ideas on updating and remodeling their home, which was built in 1929.

“We watch all the shows,” Mary Loggins said.

“We’re not DIY (do it yourself) people,” Rick Loggins said. “But I watched the show even when Bob Villa was doing it.”

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