In 25 years in the homebuilding business, Andy Tiplady has never advertised and instead relied on referrals. His relatively low profile may change next year, however, when the television show “This Old House” propels Tiplady’s small Barrington contracting firm into the national spotlight.
In January, public broadcasting stations around the country are slated to begin broadcasting a “This Old House” season highlighting the renovation of a Barrington home. With the 10 episodes arrives national exposure for a team of Rhode Island workers leading the project.
“The exposure obviously is something we look forward to and hopefully expanding the business,” said Tiplady, the general contractor on the job.
Filming started in August at the Cape-style home on Barrington Beach and represents the first time producers picked a Rhode Island home in the series’ 33-year history. Producers expect to feature Tiplady along with Providence-based architect Mary Brewster and other local subcontractors. Camera crews will also head to sites around Rhode Island to highlight the local culture and building expertise. Generally, PBS stations air the episodes in prime time.
“We’re going to make a lot of TV stars out of Rhode Islanders over the next couple months,” senior series producer Deborah Hood said.
Hood said that producers make a concentrated effort to involve local craftsmen in the series that films two projects a year: one in the Boston area and one on the road. The show does not charge contractors for their appearance. The Time Warner Co., which owns the series, does not pay contractors for appearing on the show or cover the costs of renovations.
But for some contractors a few minutes on the show translates to explosive growth. After “This Old House” featured spray-foam installer Icynene, the company grew to one of the largest spray-foam sellers in the country. For others the 15 minutes of fame has been just that.
No one, however, is complaining about “This Old House” cameras at the worksite. Brewster, a partner at Brewster Thornton Group Architects, said the series offers a chance to show the renovation potential of Rhode Island homes. It’s an area that her firm specializes in and one struggling during an economy marked by cautious homeowners holding tight to wallets.
“I think people can’t always imagine the transformations that can take place with an old house,” Brewster said. “This gives us the chance to do it on the national stage.”
Plans call for a complete overhaul of the interior of the 1,500-square-foot house constructed in 1925. Last updated during the 1970s, contractors plan to add modern amenities while preserving the historic charm of the home along Narragansett Bay. Workers will also construct a 450-square-foot addition and a deck off the master bedroom.
The project will also tackle the challenges of constructing a home that can withstand the salty air and strong winds up the bay. Hood said producers plan to lean on Tiplady for his experience in building along the shoreline.
Brewster calls the project one that a “typical client today can relate to.” A project not so grand as to appear unattainable to the average homeowner but one with enough twists to make good television.
Homeowners Geoff Allen and Michelle Forcier conceived the project long before “This Old House” arrived on the scene. They hired Brewster to draw up plans and retained Tiplady as the primary contractor. Neither of the contractors ever expected that a camera crew would arrive as part of the project.
But earlier this year, “This Old House” announced plans to film in Rhode Island. Hood said a change in the series production schedule opened the door to feature an Ocean State project. Until a few years ago, the series filmed one project in the Boston area during the warm months and went on the road during the winter. That forced producers to find projects in regions with warm climates during the New England winter. When producers decided to film two projects concurrently, New England became an option.
Hood said that producers looked for a combination of an architecturally appealing home, outgoing homeowners, a historic setting and a project timeline that fit with the series production timeline. Producers found all that at the Barrington home.
When the homeowners agreed, the cameras moved in. And although the show will not hit airwaves until next year, anxious viewers can monitor real-time progress thanks to cameras that feed to the series’ website. Producers also are promising to follow the project on blogs on the website.
And for those who miss the Barrington season on the show fear not, for Hood says the project will live on for years through rebroadcasts and syndication deals.
Tiplady, however, shrugs off any pressure brought by working on a house that will remain in the national spotlight for years to come. He’s been building in one form or another since his high school days and – except for the cameras – the Barrington project is business as usual.
“What we’re putting into this house is of incredible quality,” he said. “I’m not one to skimp.”
Better not – the nation is watching. •
