Times Union Spaces Cover Story: August 2021

Reality show filming historic home reconstruction in Saratoga Springs

“Forever home” has a deeper meaning for Evan Williamson. 

Williamson grew up in the Dutch Colonial he and his wife, Whitney, now own, as did his mother and five previous generations of his family, dating back to 1864. The home is full of memories for Williamson, and it's also full of “Yankee” engineering — additions and maintenance done with whatever the owners of the house had on hand at the time.

Now, the Williamson’s are paring the old house back down to its bones, with the help of Frost Hurff Architects and Whitbeck Construction. A crew from the Emmy Award-winning home renovation show “This Old House” is filming the whole thing.

“To me, I always thought most people lived in their family’s houses,” said Williamson, who bought the property from his mother and an aunt.

“After many discussions over several years, our family agreed selling the home (to me) and bringing the property back under one owner was the right thing to do.”

It had previously been divided into a duplex.

When Williamson met his now-wife, Whitney, he says she understood how much the house meant to him, and was up for the challenge to restore the home by tackling years’ worth of deferred structural maintenance and make it livable for future generations. They both recall the day last spring when they closed on the home, mid-pandemic, in the parking lot of a lawyer’s office.

“It was so windy that day, the papers were blowing everywhere and we had to go chase them down,” Whitney Williamson said. “But it was the moment we began to envision what this house could be for us and our future family. We went from renting an apartment to buying Evan’s family home. There was no starter home for us.”

Prior to being approached by the producers of “This Old House,” the Williamson’s learned their phased approach to updating the house would require the work of a full team of architectural and construction experts.

“We wanted to be hands-on, but also knew the condition of the house was over our heads by the time we owned it outright,” Evan Williamson said. “I’m attached to the structure and what can be salvaged from the existing layout to make it as close to what it was as possible.”

Matt Whitbeck, owner of Whitbeck Construction, said he is driven to complete the Williamsons’ vision. 

“In this case, it was known that we wanted to rehab this house as close to the existing image of it as possible — not to have this dramatic overhaul that changed the shape and dynamic of the home,” Whitbeck said.

As far as having a film crew on board, Whitbeck said for him and his team it’s business as usual. Some of the work included in the plan calls for a separate living space for Evan’s mother, Susan, who still plans to live in her original portion of the house. There will also be upgrades to the homeowners’ section, such as a new kitchen, living room, master suite with a balcony off to the rear yard, and a third-floor bonus space with an additional bedroom and bathroom.

“It’s been something having to tear apart so many different revisions of this house, but every project brings an obstacle or challenge you must plan to overcome,” said Whitbeck, referring to the cobbled-together nature of the previous generations’ work as “Yankee fashion.”

On a tour of the home, Evan Williamson pointed out uneven beams and shoddy woodwork, ancient-looking newspapers stuffed in the walls as insulation, and other quirky artifacts that nod to the house’s history and 157-year-old story. Their most recent find was a pair of cast-iron horses from a child’s toy, which the couple posted on their Instagram account, @tohsaratoga.

One perk of working with “This Old House,” aside from having a highlight reel to look back on when the work is done, is that sticking to a filming schedule has helped accelerate parts of the project — though this summer’s rainy weather has been a hindrance. They are expected to complete the project in February or March.

Both the Williamson’s say they have felt genuine excitement and interest from the television crew and talent on what a special project this is — though as of right now, most of the work has been demolition, concrete pouring and foundational updates that precede the more fun and creative parts, like selecting materials and finishes for the new spaces and continuing the landscape work Whitney Williamson has done in the backyard.

“We were going to move forward with this project without a TV show, and plus, we are pretty private people,” she said. “But, we were already so proud of this house, and loved working with our architect and construction team and knew being on the show could help provide invaluable exposure for their businesses as a way to thank them.”

The “This Old House” crew hosts regular meetings with the contractor and checks in with the architect to get an idea of what the overall process looks like. And as they came into the project understanding this is a house these owners are never going to sell, most of the filming is done with a fly-on-the-wall style. Sometimes the team might chime in and provide a solution to a problem while documenting the ups and downs of restoring the 4,200-square-foot house.

“For us, the point of this project is to be able to start our own family when we’re finished,”  Evan Williamson said. “We are excited for my mom to see the changes and return to the home she has lived in for 70-something years. And plus, nobody wants to chase a baby around a construction zone.”

The painstaking days of bad news as it relates to bumps in the construction process, more demolition than intended, or changes to the initial layout of the 1864 Dutch Colonial style are all worth it to the Williamson’s if it means providing a safe, functional house for years to come.

“If our future generations choose to make any modifications to the house that involve construction, they won’t be shaking their fists and wondering why previous generations put beams where they did,” he said.