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35-406: Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House (1979–1989), Bob Vila's Home Again (1990–2005), and Bob Vila (2005–2007). Vila, a Cuban-American , is a native of Miami , Florida . When Vila was a child, his father built the family home by hand. Vila graduated from Miami Jackson High School and studied journalism at

70-509: A Victorian Italianate house in Newton , Massachusetts . On This Old House , Vila appeared with carpenter Norm Abram as they, and others, renovated houses. In 1989, he left the show following a disagreement arising from his involvement with outside commercial endorsements for New Jersey –based Rickel Home Centers , and the subsequent retaliatory pulling of underwriting by Rickel's competitor, Home Depot , and lumber supplier Weyerhaeuser . He

105-462: A loggia façade realised with stone piers and rusticated Doric pilasters; in his villa at Bertesina , the (briefly) wealthy minor noble and salt-tax farmer Taddeo Gazzotti had pilasters executed in brick, though the capitals and bases were carved in stone; Biagio Saraceno at Villa Saraceno had a loggia with three arched bays, but without any architectural order. In the Villa Saraceno as in

140-504: A contractor to work on their house. Because interior renovation will touch the change of the internal structure of the house, ceiling construction, circuit configuration and partition walls, etc., such work related to the structure of the house, of course, also includes renovation of wallpaper posting, furniture settings, lighting, etc. Aggregators are companies that bundle home improvement service offers and act as intermediary agency between service providers and customers. Home improvement

175-587: A designer of villas. Considerable damage had been done to houses, barns, and rural infrastructures during the War of the League of Cambrai (1509–1517). Recovery of former levels of prosperity in the countryside was probably slow, and it was only in the 1540s, with the growth of the urban market for foodstuffs and determination at government level to free Venice and the Veneto from dependence on imported grain, above all grain coming from

210-550: A five-book series titled Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America . Vila has appeared on the Home Shopping Network selling a range of tools under his own name brand that he founded in 2016. Bob Vila's less widely known productions include: Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996), In Search of Palladio (1996) for A&E , and Restore America for HGTV . The Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996) included two-hour segments on each of four major regions of

245-427: A home bigger by adding rooms/spaces, as a means of saving energy, or to improve safety. While "home improvement" often refers to building projects that alter the structure of an existing home, it can also include improvements to lawns, gardens, and outdoor structures, such as gazebos and garages. It also encompasses maintenance, repair, and general servicing tasks. Home improvement projects generally have one or more of

280-406: A large orchard ( brolo ) all were clustered around, or located inside the main courtyard. Palladio in his designs sought to co-ordinate all these varied elements, which in earlier complexes had usually found their place not on the basis of considerations of symmetry , vista, and architectural hierarchy, but of the shape of the available area, usually defined by roads and water courses. Orientation

315-408: A rival, and made futile attempts to outdo Vila. Contrary to Home Improvement , when Allen was interviewed by Nintendo Power and asked if he could make a video game, Allen proposed one about aspects of carpentry, and the end scene would be the player being featured on Bob Vila's Home Again . Vila made a cameo in the 1993 comedy spoof Hot Shots! Part Deux . Vila has written 10 books, including

350-524: A walled enclosure, which gave them some necessary protection from bandits and marauders. The enclosure ( cortivo ) contained barns, dovecote towers, bread ovens, chicken sheds, stables, accommodation for factors and domestic servants, places to make cheese, press grapes, etc. Already in the 15th century it was usual to create a court with a well in front of the house, separated from the farmyard with its barns, animals, and threshing-floor. Gardens, vegetable and herb gardens , fish ponds , and almost invariably

385-542: Is an almost $ 300 billion industry in the United States, and a $ 48 billion industry in Canada. The average cost per project is $ 3,000 in the United States and $ 11,000–15,000 in Canada. Professional home improvement is ancient and goes back to the beginning of recorded civilization. One example is Sergius Orata , who in the 1st century B.C. is said by the writer Vitruvius (in his famous book De architectura ) to have invented

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420-590: Is clear, for instance, that the curving barns which flank the majestic façade of the Villa Badoer were suggested by what was visible of the Forum of Augustus . In his book, Palladio usually shows villa layouts as symmetrical: he would have known however that often, unless the barns to the left and right of the house faced south, as at the Villa Barbaro at Maser, the complex would not have been built symmetrically. An example

455-644: Is the Villa Pojana, where the large barn, with fine Doric capitals, was certainly designed by Palladio. It faces south, and is not balanced by a similar element on the other side of the house. The World Heritage site includes the following villas: (23 site) Other villas designed by Palladio but actually not included in the World Heritage list: In the Quattro libri (1570), Palladio published other projects of villas, but unrealized. Among them Villa Mocenigo

490-488: Is the process of renovating , making improvements or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), exterior (masonry, concrete, siding, roofing) or other improvements to the property (i.e. garden work or garage maintenance/additions). Home improvement projects can be carried out for a number of different reasons; personal preference and comfort, maintenance or repair work, making

525-703: The University of Florida . After graduating, he served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps , working in Panama in the late 1960s. He then went to Europe for two years to study and travel, before returning to the US and enrolling at the Boston Architectural Center. Vila was hired as the host of This Old House in 1979, after receiving the “Heritage House of 1978” award by Better Homes and Gardens , for his restoration of

560-459: The Villa Caldogno . In their interior, Palladio distributed functions both vertically and horizontally. Kitchens, store-rooms, laundries and cellars were in the low ground floor; the ample space under the roof was used to store the most valuable product of the estate, grain, which incidentally also served to insulate the living rooms below. On the main living floor, used by family and their guests,

595-461: The Villa Pojana , Palladio gave presence and dignity to an exterior simply by the placing and orchestration of windows, pediments , and loggia arcades. His less wealthy patrons must have appreciated the possibility of being able to enjoy impressive buildings without having to spend much on stone and stone carving. Palladio's reputation initially, and after his death, has been founded on his skill as

630-460: The builders that have specialized credentials , licensing and experience to perform renovation services in specific municipalities . While there is a fairly large "grey market" of unlicensed companies, there are those that have membership in a reputable association and/or are accredited by a professional organization. Homeowners are recommended to perform checks such as verifying license and insurance and checking business references prior to hiring

665-483: The hypocaust . The hypocaust is an underfloor heating system that was used throughout the Roman Empire in villas of the wealthy. He is said to have become wealthy himself by buying villas at a low price, adding spas and his newly invented hypocaust, and reselling them at higher prices. Perhaps the most important or visible professionals in the renovation industry are renovation contractors or skilled trades. These are

700-730: The United States: the Northeast (including New England and the Mid-Atlantic States ), the South , the Midwest , and the West . In Search of Palladio (1996) was a three-part, six-hour study of the work and lasting influence of the 16th-century architect Andrea Palladio . Palladio designed various types of buildings, but the series concentrates on his domestic architecture. (see also: Palladian Villas of

735-444: The Veneto ). Restore America consisted of 50 one-hour segments which explored historic preservation and building restoration in each of the fifty U.S. states. Anticipating the turn of the 3rd millennium, it was first broadcast on HGTV between July 4, 1999, and July 4, 2000. Bob Vila has written over two dozen books, which include: Home improvement The concept of home improvement , home renovation or remodeling

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770-455: The always threatening Ottoman Empire , that a massive investment in agriculture and the structures necessary for agricultural production gathers pace. Landowners for decades had been steadily under stable Venetian rule, been buying up small holdings, and consolidating their estates not only by purchase, but by swaps of substantial properties with the other landowners. Investment in irrigation and land reclamation through drainage further increased

805-429: The city, which was always potentially unhealthy. Façades, dominated by pediments usually decorated with the owner's coat of arms, advertised a powerful presence across a largely flat territory, and to be seen did not need to be as high as the owner's city palace. Their loggie offered a pleasant place to eat, or talk, or perform music in the shade, activities which one can see celebrated in villa decoration, for instance in

840-472: The difficulties involved include: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy ; George Washington Slept Here (1942), featuring Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan ; and The Money Pit (1986), with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long . The sitcom Home Improvement used the home improvement theme for comedic purposes. Palladian Villas of the Veneto The term villa

875-430: The following goals: Maintenance projects can include: Additional living space may be added by: Homeowners may reduce utility costs with: The need to be safer or for better privacy or emergency management can be fulfilled with diversified measures which can be improved, maintained or added. Secret compartments and passages can also be conceived for privacy and security . Home or residential renovation

910-457: The income of wealthy landowners. Palladio's villas (that is, the houses of estate owners) met a need for a new type of country residence. His designs implicitly recognise that it was not necessary to have a great palace in the countryside, modeled directly on city palaces, as many late fifteenth-century villas (like the huge Palazzo Porto Colleoni Thiene , also called a "Villa") in fact are. Something smaller, often with only one main living floor

945-518: The more public rooms (loggia, sala) were on the central axis, while left and right were symmetrical suites of rooms, going from large rectangular chambers, via square middling sized rooms, to small rectangular ones, sometimes used by the owner as studies or offices for administering the estate. The owner's house was often not the only building for which Palladio was responsible. Villas, despite their unfortified appearance and their open loggie were still direct descendants of castles , and were surrounded by

980-481: The newer name "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto". This name reflects the fact that it includes villas designed by Palladio throughout the Veneto. By 1550, Palladio had produced a group of villas, whose scale and decoration can be seen as closely matching the wealth and social standing of the owners: the powerful and very rich Pisani family , bankers and Venetian patricians, had huge vaults and

1015-528: The site on the World Heritage List in 1994. At first the site was called "Vicenza, City of Palladio" and only buildings in the immediate area of Vicenza were included. Various types of buildings were represented in the original site, which included the Teatro Olimpico , some palazzi and a few villas. Because most of Palladio's surviving villas lay outside the site, in 1996 the site was expanded, hence

1050-411: Was adequate as a centre for controlling the productive activity from which much of the owner's income probably derived and for impressing tenants and neighbours as well as entertaining important guests. These residences, though sometimes smaller than earlier villas, were just as effective for establishing a social and political presence in the countryside, and for relaxing, hunting, and getting away from

1085-448: Was also important: Palladio states in I quattro libri dell'architettura that barns should face south so as to keep the hay dry, thus preventing it from fermenting and burning. Palladio found inspiration in large antique complexes which either resembled country houses surrounded by their outbuildings or which he actually considered residential layouts – an example is the temple of Hercules Victor at Tivoli , which he had surveyed. It

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1120-458: Was also short lived, as he was signed to an endorsement deal with Sears in 1990 to pitch their line of Craftsman tools ; the relationship ended acrimoniously in 2006 following a lawsuit settlement. Vila also appeared on three episodes of the situation comedy Home Improvement during 1992 and 1993 as himself on Tool Time , the fictional show within the sitcom, where main character and cable TV host Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen ) saw him as

1155-458: Was popularized on television in 1979 with the premiere of This Old House starring Bob Vila on PBS. American cable channel HGTV features many do-it-yourself shows, as does sister channel DIY Network . Danny Lipford hosts and produces the nationally syndicated Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford . Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete co-host the nationally syndicated The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show . Movies that poked fun at

1190-479: Was replaced by Steve Thomas . After leaving This Old House , Vila began hosting Bob Vila's Home Again (renamed to simply Bob Vila in 2005), a weekly syndicated home-improvement program. His series ran for 16 seasons in syndication before it was canceled by distributor CBS Television Distribution due to declining ratings; the series remains in reruns and on the PlutoTV streaming service. His relationship with Rickel

1225-640: Was used to describe a country house. Often rich families in the Veneto also had a house in town called palazzo . In most cases the owners named their palazzi and ville with the family surname, hence there is both a Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza and a Villa Chiericati in the countryside, similarly there is a Ca' Foscari in Venice and a Villa Foscari in the countryside. Somewhat confusingly, there are multiple Villa Pisani , including two by Palladio. UNESCO inscribed

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