A tired 1895 Queen Anne in Belmont, Massachusetts, enters This Old House with drafty windows, outdated systems, cramped rooms, and a mysteriously missing front porch. Sixteen episodes later, it emerges as a colorful, comfortable family home that respects its Victorian roots without forcing its owners to live like it is still 1895.
A Victorian House Ready for Its Second Act
The Belmont Victorian House episodes follow one of the most satisfying restoration stories from This Old House Season 37. The project centers on a three-story Queen Anne built in 1895 in the Boston suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts. At approximately 3,200 square feet, the house had plenty of room for homeowners Katherine and Murat Bicer and their two children. Unfortunately, it also had the sort of problems old houses collect while nobody is looking: little insulation, aging wiring, inefficient windows, awkward rooms, and a kitchen where family meals required strategic choreography.
The house still possessed valuable original elements, including five-panel doors, wood flooring, a marble-topped vanity, a claw-foot tub, bay windows, shingles, columns, and decorative details. The challenge was not simply to make everything new. It was to determine what deserved restoration, what needed replacement, and what could be adapted for modern family life. That balance between preservation and practicality becomes the central theme of the entire Belmont Victorian project.
Architect Mat Cummings developed the renovation plan, while general contractor Tom Silva and the construction crew handled the complicated structural work. Kitchen designer Linda Cloutier and interior designer Amanda Reid helped shape rooms that would feel connected to the home’s history without becoming a museum where touching the furniture might trigger an alarm.
Why the Belmont Victorian Project Stands Out
Belmont is sometimes described as a “Town of Homes,” and its neighborhoods contain a broad range of American architectural styles. Queen Anne houses were especially popular from roughly 1880 to 1910. Their defining qualities often include asymmetrical facades, varied shingles, projecting bays, decorative porches, unusual rooflines, and enough visual personality to make a plain rectangular house look slightly underdressed.
The Belmont Park area developed largely during the late 1890s, producing streets filled with Queen Anne, Shingle-style, and Colonial Revival influences. Restoring the project house therefore meant more than improving one property. The work also needed to reconnect the building with the architectural character of its neighborhood.
The missing wraparound porch was the most obvious example. An old town map showed that a porch had once extended across the front and around one side of the house. By the time the Bicers purchased it, only a modest set of front steps remained. Without the porch, the facade looked incomplete, almost as though the house had left home without its eyebrows.
The Belmont Victorian House Episode Guide
Episode 1: Dude, Where’s My Victorian?
The opening episode introduces the Bicer family, the 1895 house, and the restoration priorities. Plans include rebuilding the missing porch, refurbishing the original windows, improving the kitchen, and salvaging as many historic materials as possible. The episode establishes an important rule for the project: old does not automatically mean useless, and new does not automatically mean better.
Episode 2: The Kitchen Came Tumbling Down
Demolition begins in earnest. Tom Silva explains how the kitchen and dining spaces can be opened while preserving structural support. Roger Cook surveys the landscape with Katherine, identifying plants that can be moved during construction and returned later. Architectural historian Joe Cornish and Norm Abram tour Victorian houses around Belmont, placing the project within its local design context. Meanwhile, original window pulley systems receive careful repairs instead of a one-way trip to the dumpster.
Episode 3: Bracing the Basement
Temporary supports appear in the basement as the crew prepares to carry the weight of the reconfigured rear section of the house. The homeowners decide to save the second-floor bathroom’s marble sink and claw-foot tub. Richard Trethewey tours Belmont’s historic Homer House, while Tom removes flooring carefully enough to reuse the boards in damaged areas. It is restoration as architectural recycling, only with considerably more measuring.
Episode 4: It’s All About the Beams
Structural engineering takes center stage when Tom assembles and installs flitch beams in the kitchen. Kevin O’Connor visits a manufacturing facility to see how laminated veneer lumber is made. Back at the house, the temporary braces come down and the newly opened space is revealed. The episode demonstrates why an open floor plan is rarely created by enthusiastically swinging a sledgehammer at the nearest wall.
Episode 5: It’s Foundation Time
Excavation begins for the new porch footings. Inside, the kitchen layout starts to take shape, and framing proceeds for the master suite’s closet and bathroom. Old fiberglass insulation is removed with a large vacuum system. Norm and Tom also resize an existing door, reinforcing the project’s preference for adapting sound materials rather than replacing everything simply because a catalog contains shinier options.
Episode 6: Opening the Entry
Mason Mark McCullough lays the mudroom foundation, while Tom constructs a custom bay window for the kitchen. Viewers visit the workshop where the original windows are being restored. Tom also demonstrates a Dutchman repair, in which damaged wood is removed and replaced with a precisely fitted patch. Interior planning continues at the Boston Design Center as the homeowners consider the formal living room.
Episode 7: Victorian 2.0
The house’s mechanical systems begin moving into the modern era. The plan retains the boiler while adding ducted air conditioning. The crew replaces an aging steel water-service line, brickwork begins on the porch piers, and a thin concrete basement slab is poured. Bathroom selections also move forward. The episode proves that modernization is often most successful when the expensive work becomes nearly invisible after completion.
Episode 8: Antiques for an Antique House
Tom frames the porch and builds its stairs while the HVAC team finds routes for ductwork through a house that was never designed to accommodate it. Kevin and Katherine visit the Brimfield antiques market in search of furnishings. The shopping excursion supports one of the season’s smartest design ideas: a historic interior feels more convincing when it contains pieces with age, variation, and a few harmless imperfections.
Episode 9: True Colors
The mudroom addition is framed, and the owners review exterior color schemes with the architect. Richard visits the shop restoring the claw-foot tub. Electrician Allen Gallant examines remnants of knob-and-tube wiring and runs new electrical lines for modern fixtures. Tom also reproduces exterior molding to match the existing profiles. Old wiring, unlike old furniture, is not automatically charming just because it has survived several generations.
Episode 10: Victorian Warmth
Mahogany decking transforms the front porch, while decorative fixtures bring personality to the interior. Tom explains how open-cell and closed-cell foam insulation can be applied in different areas to improve comfort and help address ice-dam problems. Two gas fireplaces are installed on the first floor, and roof shingles go onto the new porch. Modern insulation and air sealing are especially important in older houses, where gaps around framing, windows, and roof assemblies can create uncomfortable drafts and substantial heat loss.
Episode 11: Grinding Out the Details
A salvaged glass-paneled storm door becomes a window for the mudroom and porch area. Amanda Reid selects Victorian-inspired interior colors, Tom shingles the porch piers, and marble tile is installed in the master shower. New white-oak flooring is laid in the kitchen and master suite. This episode captures the point when heavy construction begins giving way to finish workand everyone suddenly starts worrying about scratches.
Episode 12: This Old Tree House
Tom builds an arched porch-gable feature that echoes an existing gable on the house. Cedar columns and custom railings bring the porch closer to completion. Kevin visits a Vermont artisan producing a custom floorcloth for the kitchen, then begins constructing a tree house for the children. The railings require a subtle solution that preserves the intended Victorian silhouette while satisfying modern building-code requirements.
Episode 13: What’s Old Is New Again
The original windows return after restoration, accompanied by new storm windows that improve performance without erasing the historic appearance. Mauro Henrique prepares the century-old exterior shingles for paint. Reclaimed wood is used to patch parquet flooring in the foyer, and finishing work continues on the porch and tree house. Historic-window preservation can be practical as well as attractive, since traditional wood windows can often be repaired, weather-stripped, and upgraded with storm units.
Episode 14: Inside-Out Restoration
The landscape returns as saved trees and shrubs are replanted. Jenn Nawada completes the backyard design, while a craftsman carves replacement newel posts to match the staircase. Kitchen cabinets go in, the marble countertop arrives, and the restored claw-foot tub is installed. Even the children’s tree house reaches completion, giving the youngest family members their own miniature construction finale.
Episode 15: The Final Countdown
Kitchen countertops are installed, and Norm and Tom build a columned divider that defines the eating area without sealing it off. Richard reviews the new mechanical systems, decorative wall treatments begin, and the designers install window coverings. Tom walks through the nearly finished rooms with the homeowners. As with most final countdowns, the remaining list looks short until someone begins reading the fine print.
Episode 16: Good-bye, Tired Old House
The completed renovation is celebrated from the rebuilt porch. Landscaping, interior decoration, custom floor registers, bathroom features, the mudroom, and the tree house all receive their final reveal. The house now combines structural stability, efficient systems, restored materials, modern family spaces, and a facade that once again looks appropriate for an 1895 Queen Anne.
The Rebuilt Porch Restored the House’s Identity
Although the kitchen and mudroom probably had the greatest impact on daily life, the porch supplied the renovation’s emotional payoff. Architect Mat Cummings designed columns resting on shingled piers, a broad staircase, a decorative gable, and a sweeping railing inspired by Victorian forms found elsewhere in the neighborhood.
The crew installed fir beadboard overhead and mahogany decking below. The deck boards turned the corner with the wraparound structure, visually guiding visitors toward the entry. The piers received individually fitted shingles, while the gable incorporated a hand-built sunburst that echoed decorative shingles on the existing third story. Spanish cedar railings completed the design.
Modern code required a 36-inch guard height, but a conventional tall railing could have disturbed the intended proportions. Tom solved the problem with a nearly invisible steel cable positioned above the curved handrail. It is a small detail, but it summarizes the entire project: respect the architecture, meet present-day requirements, and avoid making the solution look like it arrived from a different planet.
Inside the Finished Belmont Victorian House
A Kitchen Designed for Real Family Life
The renovated kitchen stretches across the rear of the house and benefits from a large bay window overlooking the yard. White cabinetry and layered lighting make the room feel bright, while an eight-foot marble-topped island supplies work space and storage. Vintage bin pulls add age and texture without interfering with modern convenience.
The kitchen connects naturally to a casual eating area and the new mudroom. A column-topped partition gives the spaces definition, while nearby closets provide storage and charging stations. The arrangement is open enough for family interaction but structured enough to prevent the entire first floor from becoming one enormous room filled with mysterious echoes.
A Better Foyer and Formal Rooms
The original foyer had felt narrow and enclosed. Removing part of a wall and adding custom paneling and carved newel posts made it more welcoming. In the formal living and dining areas, columned half walls preserve visual connections while maintaining a sense of separate rooms. An antique mantel and colorful fireplace tile add character that feels collected rather than manufactured.
Bathrooms with History and Personality
The powder room was designed around a stained-glass panel the homeowners had purchased as newlyweds. It combines dramatic wallpaper, large marble floor tiles, and a marble vanity original to the house. Upstairs, the restored claw-foot tub and new master bathroom fixtures blend traditional forms with contemporary function.
Hidden Improvements That Matter
Behind the paint and millwork are the upgrades that make the renovation livable: structural beams, new wiring, modern ductwork, improved insulation, a copper water-service line, restored windows with storm protection, and updated heating and cooling. These elements may not dominate the final photographs, but they determine whether a historic house feels pleasantly authentic or authentically freezing.
What the Belmont Victorian Episodes Teach Renovators
The season repeatedly shows that preservation is a process of selection. Not every old component can remain, but demolition should not begin before the house has been studied. Doors stored in a basement, flooring hidden under later materials, reusable plumbing fixtures, distinctive trim, and original windows may all become important assets.
The project also demonstrates why structural and mechanical planning must come before decorative work. Opening the kitchen required engineered beams and temporary basement bracing. Adding air conditioning required careful duct routes. Installing insulation depended partly on resolving the electrical system. Beautiful wallpaper is wonderful, but it performs poorly as structural reinforcement.
Finally, the renovation proves that historic character does not require perfect historical reproduction. The new porch was based on evidence from an old map, neighborhood examples, surviving house details, and informed architectural judgment. It was not a literal reconstruction from a complete original drawing. The result succeeds because it looks believable, fits the building, and supports the way the family lives today.
Extended Experience: Watching and Learning from the Belmont Victorian Project
Watching the Belmont Victorian House episodes in order produces a different experience from viewing isolated renovation clips. Early episodes are dominated by uncertainty. Walls are opened, floors are removed, and temporary supports appear in the basement. The house briefly looks worse with every improvement, which is one of the most honest things a renovation show can reveal. Real restoration is rarely a smooth parade from “before” to “after.” For a while, the project resembles an expensive indoor lumberyard.
The sequence also helps viewers understand how construction decisions depend on one another. The open kitchen cannot exist until the loads above it are redirected. Insulation cannot be treated as a separate cosmetic upgrade when old wiring is present. Ductwork must travel through finished floors without destroying the details the team intends to save. The episodes make these relationships visible, helping homeowners recognize why experienced contractors spend so much time investigating before they start building.
Another rewarding part of the viewing experience is seeing salvaged elements return much later in the project. A marble sink or claw-foot tub may disappear during demolition, only to reappear after cleaning and refinishing. Flooring lifted in one room becomes repair material in another. An old storm door receives an entirely new purpose as a window. These delayed payoffs make the restoration feel coherent and remind viewers that reuse requires planning, storage, labeling, and patience. Tossing everything into a pile marked “maybe useful” is not technically a preservation system.
The season is also useful for anyone trying to combine historic design with modern family needs. The Bicers did not preserve every wall simply because it was old. They opened the rear of the first floor, created a mudroom, built a generous kitchen, improved bathroom access, added a master suite, and introduced air conditioning. At the same time, they retained formal rooms, restored windows, reused fixtures, reproduced trim, and rebuilt the missing porch. The lesson is not that homeowners must choose between history and comfort. The more useful question is how modern changes can be organized so the original building still makes sense.
For viewers planning an old-house renovation, the Belmont project encourages a practical checklist. Document existing details before demolition. Investigate structural loads early. Have old wiring, plumbing, and insulation evaluated by qualified professionals. Identify salvageable materials and decide where they will be reused. Study neighboring houses before inventing missing exterior features. Finally, reserve time and money for finish details, because those details are what keep a major addition or replacement feature from looking noticeably new.
The emotional experience of the season ultimately comes from seeing the house regain a recognizable identity. The restored windows, warmer color palette, repaired floors, and antique pieces all contribute, but the porch changes the way the entire building meets the street. It transforms the facade from a flat barrier into a welcoming transition between family life and the neighborhood.
That is why the Belmont Victorian remains memorable. Its most successful rooms are not frozen in the past, and its modern improvements do not erase the past. The finished house feels layered, as though it has continued evolving rather than being reset. For anyone who enjoys historic architecture, traditional craftsmanship, salvage, or detailed renovation storytelling, these episodes provide both entertainment and a remarkably useful education.
Conclusion
This Old House Season 37 turns the Belmont Victorian from a drafty, awkwardly altered Queen Anne into a functional family home with its architectural confidence restored. Across 16 episodes, viewers see the complete process: investigation, demolition, structural reinforcement, mechanical modernization, window restoration, interior planning, finish carpentry, landscaping, and the reconstruction of a defining wraparound porch.
The final result works because the crew does not treat history as decoration applied at the end. Historic details influence the structure, materials, room divisions, colors, furnishings, and exterior design from the beginning. At the same time, the house receives the systems and spaces a contemporary family actually needs. It is preservation without nostalgia goggles and modernization without architectural amnesia.
