The first project house was located in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The house was owned by the show's producers who had purchased it for a mere $18,000 and sold it once the project was complete. In 2004, when the show revisited the house as part of the 25th anniversary special, it was noted that the house was valued at over $500,000.
Original host Bob Vila left the show in 1989 following a dispute about doing commercials. According to news reporter Barbara Beck, Vila was fired by WGBH Boston over making TV commercials for Rickel Home Centers, Home Depot's competitor. Home Depot, the show's underwriter, dropped its local sponsorship for This Old House after Vila made the commercials. Vila was fired in an effort to have Home Depot return as a sponsor to the show. Cast members later complained that Vila took up too much screen time, and noted that the show became more of an ensemble production after he left.
This Old House was one of the earliest home improvement shows on national television. As such, it was initially controversial among building contractors, and the cast was afraid that they were giving away secrets of the building trades. However, as time passed, the show grew into a cultural icon. Producer-director Russell Morash became known as the "Father of How-To."
Although WGBH acquired the first two project houses (6 Percival Street in Dorchester and the Bigelow House in Newton) for renovation, the series then focused on renovating older houses, including those of modest size and value, with the homeowners doing some of the work, as a form of sweat equity. The series covering the renovation of the Westwood house (Weatherbee Farm) became something of a cult classic because of an escalating dispute between the hosts, Bob Vila and Norm Abram, and the homeowners over the direction the project was taking. Vila remarked at the end of the Westwood series that the owners could have contributed more "sweat equity."
Longtime tiling contractor Joe Ferrante passed away of a heart attack on November 9, 2007, during the midst of the show's project in Newton, Massachusetts. He had just completed work on an ornate mosaic tile floor for the house's master bath.