About a year and a half ago, we decided to subscribe to the Discovery+ streaming service. We watch a lot of the Food Network and HGTV, so it seemed to make sense. Also, at the time, it was the only way to get Magnolia Network and we were curious about it. (By the way, we signed up for the commercial-free plan and it’s wonderful.)
We discovered various shows with various seasons. We had never seen any of them, so we had a lot of shows to catch up on. It’s funny, but they all revolve around renewal and history. You could say that we got hooked on the story!!
Path of Restoration
This show started it all for us. We found it on the Magnolia Network and initially, there were only a couple of episodes. They piqued our interest and then cut us off!
The host of this show is Clint Harp, who you’ll recognize as the furniture maker in Fixer Upper. He works with a couple of restoration experts who find centuries-old structures, learn how they were built, and usually take them apart, piece by piece, and put them back together elsewhere in the country.
We can see these old structures, typically barns, and learn the history behind them. It’s amazing what artifacts you can find around some of these barns. We also learn about the original owners and how the barns were used during that time. I love hearing about what was happening in our country when they were built.
We’ve seen two seasons and I see Season 3 is scheduled to start later in October. We have to ration the episodes otherwise we would watch them all in one night!
Best of all, we found one of the reconstructed barns. It’s from season 1 episode 2. We ran into him in Montana on our recent car trip. Greycliff was an old Dutch barn in upstate New York and was converted to a working mill. It’s open until 3:00 and we didn’t get there until 5:00, but the owner was around and let us in and look around. He also noticed a lot of buildings around the place and he said there was going to be another episode about it on Restoration Road. We can’t wait to see it!!
Looking at these photos, you would never guess that this is right along Interstate 90.
stone house revival
This program covers the work of Jeff Devlin restoring stone structures in Pennsylvania that are often older than our country. The treasures found behind the walls of the “restored” houses are amazing. His goal is to return it to its original state, which in many cases requires a lot of rebuilding. The final results are magnificent.
It didn’t take us long to get past four seasons of the show. All seasons can be watched on Discovery+ and it looks like it can also air on the Magnolia Network. However, you may want to record it as it is early in the morning.
restored
After finishing Stone House Revival, we searched for more of the same type of show and found Restored with Brett Waterman. Brett works in Southern California, restoring vintage Victorian and Craftsman style homes. He always tries to recreate the original features, while making the houses more functional.
Some of the houses are small, but others are quite large and require a lot of work. Owners are often interested in restoring history, but sometimes they will disagree with it in the name of functionality. He always seems to come to a great compromise. It can be said that he is not going to give up doing a restoration.
You might also need to work on the exterior of the house, especially if some of the original features have been removed or changed. Again, your goal is to make it look like it did when it was built, and to do that, you’ll even dig up historical photos. It’s amazing what you can find!
We got to watch five seasons of this show and even though we know there is a sixth season, we can’t seem to find it anywhere! According to something I found online dated August 1, 2022, Magnolia Network signed on for season seven. All it says are new episodes airing “soon”. Whatever that means. We’ll stay tuned and keep trying to find Season 6!!
Houses with History
The last program we found is called Houses with History. This show is set around Plymouth, Massachusetts and features a husband and wife team as well as their carpenter friend.
While this show hasn’t gotten us as hooked as the others, it’s still a great way to see and hear about the history associated with the homes they restore. They’re not as diligent as Brett in Restored, but they definitely care about making these houses livable again. Most are in pretty bad shape and you just don’t want to see them torn down.
Others?
Do you know of any other shows like this that we’ve missed? We’ve captured a few others that we like that are focused on restoration, but don’t have the same historical look. I think it’s learning about the history of these structures that has captured much of our attention.
If restoration is of interest to you, be sure to check out these shows. Maybe you’ll also be hooked!!
