‘No fear with Vila’
Al Diaz, JM 1983, a photojournalist at The Miami Heraldfor 22 years, religiously watched Bob Vila, JM 1969, on “This Old House” in the late 1980s. The do-it-yourself, step-by-step restoration and construction projects motivated him and his wife Cindy Seip-Diaz to buy and renovate a shabby 1925 Spanish mission-style home in Coral Gables in 1987.
With Vila’s instruction, Diaz’s background in basic carpentry and a good deal of elbow grease, they transformed the house.
“Most people reserve that kind of enthusiasm for sports personalities and movie stars,” Diaz said in an e-mail interview. “Not us. By watching Vila’s shows, we were encouraged to choose the right home in the right neighborhood by renovating our dream home.”
For their next project, they took on an even bigger challenge, buying and renovating another 1925 Spanish mission-style home that made the first one look like a Martha Stewart guest house.
Their second fixer-upper was “ripe for demolition and the ugliest house on the block,” Diaz said. “No fear with Vila on the tube.”
Soon enough, HGTV noticed the project, which took seven years to
complete. The cable station featured the house twice, first on “Homes of Miami” and recently on “Generation Renovation.”
complete. The cable station featured the house twice, first on “Homes of Miami” and recently on “Generation Renovation.”
–Danielle Griss
STAGES 1 AND 2 : The house when Diaz bought it (bottom) and started renovating.
No comments:
Post a Comment