This Old House

Washington, DC | The Outside is Shaping Up, Too (27x24)

Air date: Mar 16, 2006

Host Kevin O'Connor meets local Rick Lee for a tour of the most famous block in the neighborhood, the "U Street Corridor," which includes stops at Ben's Chili bowl and the historic Lincoln Theatre. Back at the project house, work begins in the backyard as fencing specialist Phil Brennan and his crew install a neighbor-friendly shadowbox fence and saltbox shed, while landscape contractor Dan Barry preps the planting beds. Inside, master carpenter Norm Abram finds the curved stair coming together and interior trim going up. Countertop fabricator John Huzway makes templates for the new engineered quartz kitchen counters using state of the art computer technology. Norm takes Mi Casa's project director, Elin Zurbrigg, to Washington's premier architectural salvage yard in search of a fireplace mantle to replace the one that was stolen. Owner Ron Allan shows them several period-appropriate options. Without a homeowner to work with, interior designer Kate Dieterich beings selecting paint colors by taking her cues from the architecture.