Robert Joseph Vila (born June 20, 1946) is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House (1979–1989), Bob Vila's Home Again (1990–2005), and Bob Vila (2005–2007).
Vila, a Cuban-American, is a native of Miami, Florida. When Vila was a child, his father built the family home by hand. Vila graduated from Miami Jackson High School and studied journalism at the University of Florida. After graduating in 1969, he served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, working in Panama in the late 1960s. He then went to Europe for two years to study and travel, before returning to the US and enrolling at the Boston Architectural Center.
Vila was hired as the host of This Old House in 1979, after receiving the "Heritage House of 1978" award by Better Homes and Gardens for his restoration of a Victorian Italianate house in Newton, Massachusetts. On This Old House, Vila appeared with carpenter Norm Abram as they and others renovated houses. In 1989, he left the show following a disagreement arising from his involvement with outside commercial endorsements for New Jersey–based Rickel Home Centers, and the subsequent retaliatory pulling of underwriting by Rickel's competitor, Home Depot, and lumber supplier Weyerhaeuser. He was replaced by Steve Thomas.
After leaving This Old House, Vila began hosting Bob Vila's Home Again (renamed to simply Bob Vila in 2005), a weekly syndicated home-improvement program. His series ran for 16 seasons in syndication before it was canceled by distributor CBS Television Distribution due to declining ratings; the series remains in reruns and on the Pluto TV streaming service. His relationship with Rickel was also short-lived, as he was signed to an endorsement deal with Sears in 1990 to pitch their line of Craftsman tools; the relationship ended acrimoniously in 2006 following a lawsuit settlement.
Vila also appeared on three episodes of the situation comedy Home Improvement during 1992 and 1993 as himself on Tool Time, a fictional show within the sitcom, where main character and cable TV host Tim Taylor (played by Tim Allen) saw him as a rival, and made futile attempts to outdo Vila. Contrary to Home Improvement, when Allen was interviewed by Nintendo Power and asked if he could make a video game, Allen proposed one about aspects of carpentry, and the end scene would be the player being featured on Bob Vila's Home Again. In truth, Allen would return the favor by appearing on Home Again with a home improvement project of his own in Beverly Hills, Michigan.
Vila made a cameo in the 1993 comedy spoof Hot Shots! Part Deux.
Vila has written 10 books, including a five-book series titled Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America.
Vila has appeared on the Home Shopping Network selling a range of tools under his own name brand that he founded in 2016.
Bob Vila's less widely known productions include: Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996), In Search of Palladio (1996) for A&E, and Restore America for HGTV.
Guide to Historic Homes of America
The Guide to Historic Homes of America (1996) includes two-hour segments on each of four major regions of the United States: the Northeast (including New England and the Mid-Atlantic States), the South, the Midwest, and the West.
Morris–Jumel Mansion overlooking the Polo Grounds in Washington Heights, Manhattan.
Dyckman House on Broadway in Upper Manhattan.
Hancock Shaker Village in western Massachusetts.
Strawbery Banke restoration in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Olana – "a palatial amalgam of Middle Eastern and European influences"
Chesapeake Bay and Annapolis, Maryland – William Paca House and Hammond–Harwood House.
New Castle, Delaware – George Read, Jr. House, built by the son of George Read.