Spring
2003
Volume 96, Number 3
C L O S E - U P
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Lights! Camera! Hammer! 
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| 73It
would probably be wise for Kim Whittemore ’73 to invest in dark
window shades and an unlisted phone number. Ever since the house she and husband Bruce Leasure bought in Winchester, Mass., last year was featured on the hit PBS-TV show “This Old House,” the couple has good-naturedly dealt with all the trappings of semi-celebrity. “We’ve had voyeurism, we’ve had people stop by to ask if Tom Silva [the general contractor] was here, we’ve had strangers call and ask us where we got our window treatments,” says Whittemore. “It’s funny, because it’s not like we’re stars. The show airs on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. We’re up against ‘Friends’!” Nevertheless, “This Old House” has a large and loyal following, most of whom would love to have the show’s team of professional handymen give their homes a makeover. The show receives hundreds of applications each year from eager viewers, but none as persistent as Whittemore. Whittemore, a native New Englander and daughter of Nancy Jeffers Whittemore ’49, was moving back to the area from Huntsville, Ala., last year when she fell in love with the 1922 Colonial Revival in Winchester. As soon as the former homeowners accepted her offer to buy it, she decided she wanted “This Old House” to fix it up. “I put together a huge proposal explaining why this house, why Winchester and why us, as well as a few of the home’s needs,” she says. “I hand delivered it to the TV station and then had our realtor deliver one to the show’s creator. That, plus a few phone calls and some stalking did the trick. I mean, I’m in management consulting! If I couldn’t convince them to do this project, I really stink.” She finally got the attention of Bruce Irving, the show’s producer, who convinced Russell Morash, the show’s executive producer-director, to take a look at the house. After a tour and a talk with Whittemore, Morash decided she and the house had just the right amount of small-town charm to make for good TV. A short time later, a kitchen handshake sealed the deal. “This Old House” was coming to Winchester. Whittemore was overjoyed. She’d just secured television’s dream team to fix up her house. There would be no worries about the quality of the workmanship or the time it would take to finish—the wrap party was scheduled for Dec. 20, so she knew before work even began when it would be over. But Whittemore had no idea how being in a television series would change her day-to-day life. Unable to move into their new home until filming was complete, Whittemore, her husband and their three Labrador retrievers spent a year living in the Summerfield Suites Hotel in Waltham. A partner in a management consulting firm, Whittemore had to cut back on her clients to make time for filming segments of the show and overseeing the work being done on the house. “Being on the show was like a full-time job,” she says. “Twice a week we filmed, then there were photo shoots for the ad campaign, articles for This Old House magazine, meetings with vendors and subcontractors, and that doesn’t even factor in doing some of the work. “And what a scheduling nightmare! There were so many variables with the TV crew, the vendors, the contractors, a traveling spouse, the weather, the neighbors and our own wants and desires for the house. It was an extraordinary experience all around.” For nine months, a construction crew worked around the clock to remove 10 layers of lead paint from the exterior of the house; update the heating, plumbing and electrical system; renovate and expand the kitchen; redo the master bedroom suite; and transform an unfinished basement into a media room, laundry room and full bath. A certified master gardener, Whittemore worked with a landscape architect to put together a landscaping plan for the house. Plans to install a wine cellar in the basement and a greenhouse in the backyard were scrapped due to budgetary restraints. Though some of the products used in fixing up the house were discounted or donated, Whittemore and her husband were responsible for the cost of all other materials, as well as the major contractors and architects. The advice of master carpenter Norm Abram routinely comes courtesy of the show. With almost everything said and done—there’s still the front yard to landscape and shutters to hang—Whittemore said she’s pleased with the results. She and her husband were finally able to move in mid-January, right around the time her furniture was shipped up from Alabama. “The minute our stuff was in,” she says, “I looked around and thought, “Oh, my gosh—it’s home.’” — Kennan
Daniel
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