Season 36 – The Lexington Colonial House

Season 36 – The Lexington Colonial House is one of those This Old House projects that proves a home does not need to be ancient, haunted, or held together by heroic wallpaper to deserve a serious renovation. The featured house was a 1966 Garrison Colonial in Lexington, Massachusetts, and at the time it was described as the youngest house ever tackled by the show. Young, of course, is relative. In house years, 1966 is old enough to have opinions about shag carpet, avocado appliances, and recessed lights that stare at you like sleepy raccoons.

The Lexington Colonial project followed homeowners Jody and Jeremy Kieval as they reshaped a family home for modern life. Their house had good bones, a historic New England setting, and plenty of room for improvement. It also had a cramped kitchen, a dated great room, children sharing tight upstairs spaces, and a property connected to protected wetlands. In other words, it was not simply a “pick a backsplash and call it a day” renovation. It was a full conversation between architecture, family needs, building codes, landscape responsibility, and the eternal question: where does a family of five put all the backpacks?

This article looks closely at the project, why it mattered, what homeowners can learn from it, and how the renovation turned a mid-century Garrison Colonial into a brighter, more practical, and more gracious home without erasing its character.

What Was the Lexington Colonial House Project?

The Lexington Colonial House was part of This Old House Season 36, a season that also included the Charlestown 2014 House and the Veteran’s Special House Project. The Lexington portion focused on a 1966 Garrison Colonial in the Boston suburb of Lexington, Massachusetts. The renovation centered on creating more functional space for the Kieval family, especially on the first floor and above the garage.

The scope was substantial. The plan included an over-the-garage addition, a kitchen expansion, a new mudroom, a farmer’s porch, a rear deck, a three-season porch, and improved connections between rooms. The project also had to respect the site’s natural surroundings because the property backed up to protected wetlands. That detail made the renovation more interesting than a standard suburban makeover. Every gutter, walkway, deck, plant, and drainage decision had to behave like a polite guest at a wetland dinner party: useful, attractive, and not dumping stormwater where it should not go.

Why a 1966 Garrison Colonial Was Worth Renovating

Garrison Colonials are recognizable for their two-story form and the slight overhang, or jetty, of the second floor over the first. The style was especially common in New England-inspired suburban development during the mid-20th century. It borrows from older Colonial imagery while packaging it in a practical family-house format. These homes are often sturdy, straightforward, and familiar, but they can also suffer from layouts that feel closed off by today’s standards.

That was part of the charm and challenge in Lexington. The house was not a museum piece. It was a lived-in family home from the 1960s that had already gone through earlier updates. It had enough architectural identity to preserve, but not so much sacred formality that the owners had to tiptoe around every baseboard with a velvet rope.

For many American homeowners, this is exactly the kind of house they recognize. It is not a grand mansion, and it is not a tiny cottage. It is a solid suburban home that worked well for one era and needed thoughtful changes for another. That makes the Lexington Colonial project highly useful as a case study in practical remodeling.

The Family Goals Behind the Renovation

Good renovations start with honest questions, not paint chips. The Kieval family had three young daughters and needed the house to function for daily life. The renovation addressed several common family-home problems: not enough kitchen space, not enough bedroom separation, a crowded bathroom arrangement, an underperforming mudroom, and a great room that was large but not especially useful.

The family wanted a brighter kitchen with better flow and professional-grade features for Jeremy, an avid cook. They needed more laundry capacity, more comfortable bedrooms for the girls, and a better way to move from the outdoors into the house without turning the entry into a snow-boot obstacle course. Anyone who has raised children in New England knows that a mudroom is not a luxury. It is a domestic airlock between civilization and mittens.

Kitchen Expansion: The Heart of the House Gets a Promotion

The original kitchen was cramped and dated, with limited room for the kind of cooking and gathering the family wanted. The renovation removed a large brick fireplace-and-indoor-grill structure, along with its chimney, to free up space. That move alone shows how older “features” can sometimes become layout villains. An indoor grill may sound glamorous until it is stealing square footage from the room where everyone wants to stand and ask, “What smells good?”

The expanded kitchen absorbed the existing sunroom area and created a brighter breakfast space overlooking the backyard. Kitchen designer Michele Kelly contributed to the final kitchen plan, which balanced family function with design intelligence. The finished kitchen became more than a place to cook. It became a command center, gathering zone, and daily-life engine.

Design Lesson: Remove What No Longer Serves the House

One of the smartest ideas in the Lexington Colonial renovation was the willingness to remove a dramatic but impractical element. Homeowners often feel guilty about taking out something large or “original-ish,” even when it ruins the flow. The question is not whether an element is big, expensive, or quirky. The question is whether it helps the house serve the people living in it now.

The Over-the-Garage Addition

The project added roughly 1,000 square feet of living space over the garage. That addition helped solve several second-floor issues, including crowded sleeping quarters and bathroom pressure among the children. The new space allowed for separate bedrooms and a more practical bath arrangement, including an adjoining vanity room with an extra sink.

Over-garage additions are popular because they appear to use “available” space, but they are rarely simple. The framing, load paths, insulation, heating, cooling, sound control, and connection to the original house all have to be carefully planned. In the Lexington project, viewers saw structural work such as new framing, gable walls, roof tie-ins, and load-bearing solutions. This was not a weekend project unless your weekend includes cranes, permits, and a very calm structural engineer.

From Curb Appeal to Farmer’s Porch

The front of the house received a farmer’s porch, a new walkway, and updated exterior details. These changes improved curb appeal while giving the Garrison Colonial a warmer and more welcoming presence. Colonial-style homes often benefit from strong entry features because symmetry and proportion are central to their appeal. A well-designed porch can make a plain facade feel intentional instead of merely rectangular.

The porch also helped bridge the old and new parts of the house. That is a recurring theme in the Lexington Colonial project: every addition needed to look as if it belonged, not as if it had arrived from another neighborhood and parked itself permanently.

Exterior Materials and the Art of Blending Old with New

Several episodes showed the care involved in matching new exterior elements to the existing house. New clapboards, roofing, trim, and porch columns had to work with the original structure. This kind of detail may not create dramatic television in the way demolition does, but it is what separates a thoughtful renovation from a house that looks like it is wearing mismatched socks.

The show also highlighted practical exterior decisions, including insulated garage doors, deck railings, gutter systems, and stonework. These choices matter because a home’s exterior is not just decoration. It is the weather shield, the first impression, and the part of the house that must face rain, snow, sun, and judgmental neighbors.

The Backyard: Deck, Three-Season Porch, and Wetland Views

The rear of the house opened toward protected wetlands, which gave the family beautiful views and a strong reason to improve outdoor living. The renovation included a Brazilian-hardwood deck and a three-season porch so the family could enjoy the setting more comfortably. The design connected the house to the landscape without treating the backyard like an afterthought.

Because wetlands were part of the property context, stormwater management and conservation concerns mattered. The project included drainage and infiltration strategies, native planting, and attention to runoff. That environmental layer gave the project a broader lesson: beautiful remodeling should not make the site work harder in unhealthy ways.

Design Lesson: Outdoor Space Is Part of the Floor Plan

A deck, porch, patio, or garden path is not just “outside stuff.” It changes how a family lives inside the house. When outdoor spaces are connected to the kitchen, mudroom, or family room, they become extensions of daily life. The Lexington project understood that the view deserved more than a window. It deserved a plan.

Conservation Concerns and Smart Water Management

One of the standout themes of the project was the need to work responsibly near protected wetlands. The show covered solutions such as a low-maintenance gutter system and infiltration methods to disperse water into the ground. The landscaping plan also incorporated native plants in areas where lawn was being turned back toward a more natural condition.

This is where the Lexington Colonial project feels especially relevant today. Homeowners are increasingly aware that stormwater runoff from roofs, driveways, patios, and compacted lawns can affect local waterways. Rain gardens, infiltration systems, native plantings, and thoughtful grading can reduce runoff while making a yard more attractive. The bonus is that native landscaping usually asks for fewer diva-level maintenance demands once established.

Mechanical Systems, Inspections, and the Unsexy Stuff That Matters

Viewers also saw the less glamorous side of renovation: inspections, rough plumbing, rough mechanicals, framing checks, electrical updates, heating decisions, and ventilation. This is the part of remodeling that rarely appears in glossy after photos, even though it determines whether the house is safe, comfortable, efficient, and durable.

The project dealt with aluminum wiring in the older part of the house and showed how electrical updates were handled safely. It also included new heating solutions, ventilation improvements, and mechanical room planning. These systems are the house’s invisible handshake. You do not notice them when they work, but when they fail, suddenly everyone becomes very interested in ducts, pipes, and breakers.

Design Lesson: Open Walls Are an Opportunity

When a renovation opens walls and ceilings, smart homeowners use the moment to improve wiring, insulation, plumbing, ventilation, and air sealing. Fresh paint is nice, but comfort and safety live behind the drywall. The Lexington project demonstrated how professional renovations address what is hidden as carefully as what is visible.

The Great Room: Big Does Not Always Mean Useful

The home’s great room was large, but it felt dated and underused. The renovation plan included a large wrought-iron chandelier, updated lighting, new furniture, and an entertainment center to make the room more intimate and functional. Interior designer Robin Gannon helped address the challenge of making an oversized 1980s-era space feel connected to the rest of the house.

This is a valuable point for homeowners: square footage alone does not create comfort. A room can be huge and still feel awkward. Good design uses lighting, furniture placement, built-ins, texture, color, and scale to make a large room feel like a place where humans might actually sit instead of echo.

Interior Design: Warmth, Function, and Personality

The Lexington Colonial renovation did not try to turn the home into a sterile showroom. The design direction leaned toward a family-friendly mix of comfort, polish, and personality. The kitchen, great room, children’s rooms, mudroom, and bathrooms all needed to work hard without feeling purely utilitarian.

That balance is a central lesson from the project. A family home should not be so precious that everyone is afraid to eat crackers. It should also not surrender entirely to chaos. The best interiors create systems for real life: places for coats, bags, homework, laundry, toys, shoes, and the mysterious single glove that appears every winter with no known partner.

Episode Highlights from Season 36

The Lexington Colonial episodes covered the renovation in a sequence that gave viewers both big-picture progress and technical detail. The early episodes introduced the house, the family, and the project goals. Later episodes followed footings, framing, roof connections, porch construction, inspections, exterior details, conservation issues, and interior finishes.

Memorable segments included the new prefab footings, roof and gable framing, the farmer’s porch, rough plumbing and mechanical inspections, gutter and infiltration systems, the use of antique granite for the front walk, the installation of insulated steel garage doors, and the final reveal in “Garrison No More.” The title of that final episode captured the transformation neatly: the home began as a recognizable Garrison Colonial, but it ended as a more expansive, better-functioning family house.

Why This Project Still Matters to Homeowners

The Lexington Colonial House remains useful because it sits in the sweet spot between ordinary and ambitious. Many homeowners live in houses from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. These homes are not always celebrated as historic treasures, yet they make up a huge part of American residential life. They often need better kitchens, more storage, improved energy performance, upgraded wiring, and smarter connections to the outdoors.

The project shows how to respect a home’s original identity while still making bold changes. It also demonstrates the importance of sequencing. Foundation work comes before framing, inspections before finishes, drainage before landscaping, and function before decorative frosting. Renovation is a cake, yes, but if you frost it before baking it, you have invented a problem.

Practical Remodeling Lessons from the Lexington Colonial House

1. Live in the House Before Renovating

The Kieval family lived in the house before undertaking the renovation. That gave them time to understand what worked and what did not. This is often smarter than rushing into construction immediately after closing. A home reveals its habits slowly: morning bottlenecks, dark corners, noisy rooms, awkward doors, and storage shortages.

2. Prioritize Flow Over Flash

The kitchen expansion, room connections, mudroom, and porch all improved movement through the home. Better flow makes a house feel larger even when the square footage stays the same. In this project, new square footage helped, but the real magic came from making spaces talk to each other.

3. Make the Exterior Earn Its Keep

The farmer’s porch, new walkway, deck, and three-season porch improved both appearance and usability. Curb appeal is not just about looking pretty in a real estate photo. It should improve how people arrive, gather, sit, and move between indoors and outdoors.

4. Respect the Site

The protected wetlands shaped the landscape plan and stormwater approach. This is a reminder that a house belongs to a larger environment. Good remodeling thinks beyond the walls and considers water, soil, plants, shade, drainage, and neighboring ecosystems.

5. Budget for What You Cannot See

Electrical updates, mechanical systems, insulation, ventilation, framing, and inspections may not be glamorous, but they are essential. A renovation that skips these fundamentals is like wearing a tuxedo over roller skates. Stylish, briefly impressive, and headed for trouble.

Experience-Based Reflections on the Lexington Colonial House

Watching or studying the Lexington Colonial House project feels different from looking at a perfect after photo on a design website. The value is in the process. You see the awkward middle stage where the house is open, muddy, unfinished, and full of decisions. That is the stage real homeowners remember most vividly. It is also the stage where the best lessons live.

One experience many homeowners can relate to is the discovery that one improvement creates three new questions. Expand the kitchen, and suddenly the sunroom, chimney, floor plan, lighting, ventilation, and outdoor view all enter the conversation. Add bedrooms over the garage, and now structure, stairs, bathroom placement, heating, cooling, and sound transfer matter. Build a porch, and you need to think about columns, rooflines, drainage, materials, and how the front entry feels in February when everyone is carrying groceries and one bag has definitely ripped.

The Lexington project also captures the emotional side of renovation. A family home is not just a structure. It is a container for routines. Children grow, hobbies change, cooking habits evolve, and the way a family uses space shifts over time. The Kievals did not simply need a prettier house; they needed a house that could keep up with their life. That is an important distinction. Pretty is nice. Useful-pretty is better. Useful-pretty with enough laundry capacity is basically poetry.

Another relatable experience is learning that older suburban houses often contain both hidden strengths and hidden complications. The Lexington Colonial had solid potential, a desirable setting, and a recognizable New England form. But it also had dated spaces, crowded rooms, an odd indoor grill, and systems that needed professional attention. Many homeowners face the same mix: they love the neighborhood and the general house, but the layout seems to have been designed by someone who never owned backpacks, sports gear, or a stand mixer.

The project shows that remodeling should begin with daily annoyances. Where do shoes pile up? Where does morning traffic jam? Where do guests enter? Where does homework happen? Where does wet dog smell go to become, regrettably, everyone’s problem? These humble questions often lead to better design than starting with trendy finishes. In the Lexington house, the mudroom, kitchen, laundry, bedroom, and bath improvements were rooted in how the family actually lived.

There is also a strong lesson in restraint. Even though the renovation was large, it did not discard the house’s identity entirely. The front porch, clapboards, rooflines, and Colonial vocabulary helped the home remain recognizable. The goal was not to make a 1966 Garrison Colonial pretend to be a glass box in Malibu. The goal was to let it become the best version of itself: brighter, more comfortable, more flexible, and better connected to the landscape.

For anyone planning a similar renovation, the Lexington Colonial House offers a practical mindset. Start with needs. Study the site. Respect the architecture, but do not worship bad layouts. Invest in systems. Give storage the dignity it deserves. Treat outdoor space as part of the home. And above all, remember that good renovation is not about freezing a house in the past. It is about helping it age gracefully into the future, ideally with fewer bottlenecks, better light, and a kitchen where everyone can gather without standing directly in front of the refrigerator.

Conclusion

Season 36 – The Lexington Colonial House remains a standout This Old House project because it takes a familiar American home type and shows how much potential can be unlocked through thoughtful design, careful construction, and realistic family priorities. The renovation expanded the house, improved the kitchen, added useful bedrooms and baths, upgraded exterior living, addressed conservation concerns, and brought warmth to spaces that had grown dated or awkward.

Its biggest lesson is simple: a successful remodel is not only about changing how a house looks. It is about changing how a house lives. The Lexington Colonial became brighter, smarter, more comfortable, and more connected to its setting. Not bad for the “youngest” old house on the block.