Mr. Vila, an authority on home improvement, is best known as the television show host for “This Old House”, “Bob Vila’s Home Again” and “Bob Vila”. A Miami native, he graduated from the College of Journalism and Communications at University of Florida, spent time in the Peace Corps, and then worked and traveled in Europe for two years. Mr. Vila returned to settle in Boston, where he studied at the Boston Architectural Center and established a residential remodeling and design business. His restoration of a Victorian Italianate house in Newton Center, MA, led to a pilot program on home renovation and then to the PBS series “This Old House”. In 1989, after 10 years as host, he left to found BVTV Inc., which produced “Bob Vila’s Home Again” in syndication with CBS.

Mr. Vila is the author of 11 books, including Bob Vila’s Guide to Historic Homes of America and Bob Vila’s Complete Guide to Remodeling Your Home. He is also active in several cultural organizations serving as trustee of The Hispanic Museum and Library in New York and The National Trust for Historic Preservation. He served on the Architectural Commission for the Town of Palm Beach for eight years and as its chairman for four years.

Additionally he is co-chair of the Board of the Finca Vigia foundation, preserving Ernest Hemingway’s home and library outside of Havana, Cuba.