Boston–– Starting February 3, 2022, This Old House®, the venerable home improvement television show, will begin airing a series of ten new episodes featuring a “West Roxbury
Victorian.”
This series of episodes chronicles a significant and imaginative renovation of a 128-year-old single-family home to prepare it for twenty-first century family living in Boston’s coziest
commuter suburb.
Teamwork, craftsmanship, and creative problem solving are involved in the updating of a wood-frame home which saw its last major transformation during the Second World War. Property records show the house was the first built in its subdivision in 1894 and was kept within only a handful of families across over a century and a quarter.
Homeowner-architect Derek Rubinoff and his wife Robyn Marder purchased the home for their family in 2012 with a long-term vision to correct the poor layout while augmenting
Victorian charm alongside strikingly modern updates. Architectural services to design this contemporary but sympathetic renovation were provided by the staff of Mr. Rubinoff’s award-winning firm, Derek Rubinoff, Architect, also based in West Roxbury.
“We wanted to make the interior spaces naturally flow in a way that unfolds our home’s history yet dramatizes modern conveniences,” says Derek Rubinoff. “The house never had installed kitchen cabinets; now you can appreciate restored stained glass alongside Instagramable kitchen, baths, and lighting,” adds Robyn Marder.
The realization of this architectural vision takes shape across the series. General Contractor Deliandro Dias Cruz, his crew at Alpha Smart Builders, and his subcontractors diligently work on transforming the house with both observation and guidance from This Old House® personalities, including fellow West Roxbury resident and landscape designer Jennifer Nawada Evans.
Homeowner-father and son participate in the renovation, skillfully guided by longtime TOH personality and master carpenter Tom Silva.
Founded in 2009, Derek Rubinoff, Architect is a boutique seven-person architectural practice specializing in residential additions, renovations, and new construction. DRA has completed hundreds of successful residential and commercial projects in the greater Boston area and across North America with a combined construction value of over $100,000,000.
