“Hi, I’m RPCV Bob Vila” (Panama)

I’ve spent my career helping people upgrade their homes and improve their lives.

You probably know me from TV, where for nearly 30 years I hosted a variety of shows—This Old House, Bob Vila’s Home Again, Bob Vila, and Restore America with Bob Vila. Oh, and let’s not forget my cameo appearances on Tim Allen’s sitcom, Home Improvement, where I got to star as myself. That was something else!

Before my life in broadcasting, I launched my own residential remodeling and design business. Earlier still, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer, building houses and communities in Panama 1969-70. I learned firsthand about home building from my father, who built our family home by hand.

Don’t forget the bible — This Old House!

I’ve written more than a dozen books about remodeling, buying your dream home, and visiting historic homes across America. It’s fair to say that buildings, especially homes, are my life’s work.

Over the years I’ve supported many causes dealing with housing and architectural preservation. I’ve been actively involved with Habitat for Humanity and helped them “blitz build” a house in Yonkers, New York, which we put on TV. I worked for years with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, supporting the work of many organizations throughout the country.

More recently I’ve helped out with the restoration of Ernest Hemingway’s home and collections at Finca Vigía near Havana, Cuba. I also serve as a member of the Palm Beach Architectural Commission and on the board of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in New York. In all things, in the community as on the jobsite, I’ve believed throughout my career that “a job worth doing is a job worth doing right.”

BobVila.com reflects all the experience and wisdom I’ve gleaned from my long career in and around construction and remodeling. I’ve studied and visited thousands of remarkable homes across the country and worked alongside pros, learning firsthand the challenges and tricks of their trades.

My mission has always been to educate and empower Americans to better understand and more confidently improve where they live—and to have fun and get satisfaction from doing it. Perhaps my greatest point of pride, though, is in continuing to inspire new generations to build, fix, chisel, or paint their way toward better living each day.

– Bob