The Concord Cottage: Creating a Safe and Beautiful Home for Elders

Host Kevin O'Connor finds landscape contractor Roger Cook inspecting a new shipment of select bluestone from Pennsylvania and cobblestones imported from India. Out back, Roger shows Kevin the right way to lay a bluestone patio using stone dust and cement over 3-feet of pack for drainage. Inside the cottage, general contractor Tom Silva shows Kevin how wallboard contractor Paul Landry is hanging wallboard - it' s a new product that's non-combustible, moisture resistant, and mold resistant - an important innovation as mold problems continue to plague the building industry. Plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey shows Kevin the air-to-air heat exchanger that will bring fresh air into the building and a new radiant heat system, installed in the outside walls going up the stairs. Kevin meets up with homeowner Janet Bernard and interior designer Tricia McDonagh for a preview of her design choices for the cottage. Architect Holly Cratsley takes Kevin to Acton, Massachusetts, to see the in-law suite that she created for homeowner Sylvia Arrom's 90-year-old parents. Back in the kitchen of the main house, family friends Joanne and Jordan Lovejoy show Kevin and Janet how to turn her ripe Concord grapes into jelly.