In With the Old on Magnolia Network

     In With the Old on Magnolia Network is my kind of show. I really loved the series, and like The Craftsman, IWTO was recommended to me by someone who knows how passionate I am about saving old houses and how I approach my projects.

Radiator Springs

    In With the Old struck a chord with me on multiple levels. For example, one episode takes place in a small town that, like Radiator Springs in the animated movie Cars, was adversely impacted when the new freeway opened and dried up the robust flow of drivers passing through. I think this resonates with me because the small town where we filmed the Restoring Charleston houses is comparable. Yet for St. George, South Carolina, the Interstate system was twice as impactful; both I-95 (Florida to Maine) and I-26 (Charleston to Asheville, NC) take drivers around this rural village. Now travelers spend money at highway exit chain restaurants, gas stations, and hotels rather than in town at family-owned places like they did before the freeways were built, and this circumstance has devastated rural towns from coast to coast. I imagine the first episode of IWTO will inspire more than a few folks of seemingly forgotten towns now off the beaten path; people living in places that have empty buildings with potential.

The Creek House
in York County, Pennsylvania

    Another installment in this four-episode season is set in York County, Pennsylvania. A good many of my distant relatives were Pennsylvania Dutch, and I knew immediately that one of them was born in York County. Who knows, maybe my great grandmother's great grandma, Susie Gable Welty, was from the actual town of episode two. In a way, the borough of this episode serves as an example of a rural area dealing with the consequences of Americans traveling in cars instead of by train. When people stopped riding the rails, train stations closed up and eventually fell into disrepair before being demolished. Now, countless country towns are dealing with the long-drawn repercussions that have come from losing their train depots decades ago. And just like the first episode, I'll speculate that this small town in Pennsylvania will motivate some viewers to work together and restore a special building in their historical railroad village.     

    The third episode is in Wheeling, West Virginia, an old river city that enjoyed its heyday before the railway or interstate systems were ever imagined. I helped build water tanks in 'The Friendly City' in the summer of 1991, and our crews lived in a place called the McLure House. The project in episode 3 of IWTO is called 'The McLain House;' one small 'c' and a large 'L' just like the nice hotel where we stayed in downtown Wheeling. The McLain House brought back fond memories of my days as a student at The University of Cincinnati. The Ohio River towns remind me of going down a street where the houses are different yet look similar. This makes sense since cities like Wheeling and Cincinnati (between Pittsburgh and the Mississippi River), were built when the Ohio River was one of the nations' main thoroughfares and when our waterways were the best way to travel; as if the Ohio River was one big, wide, long street where all the nearby houses were built around the same time.

The Seam of The Hunger Games

   And finally, the fourth episode of In With the Old is here in the Carolinas. It's North Carolina on the fringes of the Appalachians, very different from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, but we're all still Carolinians. I'm not sure how I recognized the setting so quickly, and it's not mentioned throughout the episode, but if you've ever seen the Hunger Games movies, you'll know what I mean. The final episode takes place in Katniss' hometown, the 'Seam of District 12,' and the home they rehabilitate in the season finale is called 'House 12.'

    I'm intentionally being vague and leaving out the coolest points of the In With the Old series. More than home rehab shows, these are wonderful stories about people and families that are connected by a restoration project. I hope you are entertained and inspired as much as me.

THE CRAFTSMAN ON MAGNOLIA NETWORK

    

Eric Hollenbeck is The Craftsman

    The Craftsman, a new Magnolia Network show, was recently recommended to me. Viewers can meet Eric Hollenbeck on discovery+ or the Magnolia app. He is the owner of Blue Ox Mills in Eureka, California, a city nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the famous redwoods of Trinity National Forest.

    Those who know me will quickly understand why I enjoyed the show and am hoping Eric Hollenbeck and Team Magnolia make more episodes. You definitely need to check it out for yourself, but I'll go ahead and tell you that Eureka looks like an amazing place for old house lovers. The Carson Mansion is one of the most famous examples of extraordinary architecture in "The Lumber Baron Town." Mr. Eric

Carson Mansion

knows how to replicate and/or repair all the intricate pieces and parts of these Victorian gems, and in his shop, he has the tools for the job - I'm talking super cool tools. Now, you can see him using modern gadgets too, but the old school equipment to complete the featured restoration totally captured my attention. I can only imagine how these antiquated tools allow him to really feel what he's crafting. But again, you need to see this talented woodworker in action by watching.

    Besides Eric and Eureka, you'll get to meet the Hollenbeck Family and see the shop where the master operates. It's a half-hour episode that showcases a picturesque setting, great project, and an amazing transformation all framed around skilled craftsman Eric Hollenbeck, with experience and knowledge he shares in the aptly titled show.