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Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities,

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a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and

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Mild. Our

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world is full of the unexplainable,

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and if history is an open book, all

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of these amazing tales are right

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there on display, just waiting

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for us to explore. Welcome

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to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

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Let's be honest. Homeownership can be

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a mixed blessing. On the one hand,

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it's a huge milestone in one's life,

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often feeling like a defining moment of

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becoming an adult. On the other

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hand, owning a home means no longer relying

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on a landlord to fix common issues. Are

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your cabinets old and chipped? Need your

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hot water heat replaced? It's all

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on you now, and it can get expensive.

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It sounds painful, for sure, But remember

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the word mortgage is old French and

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it literally means death pledge. But

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homeownership comes with freedom too, especially

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the freedom to change what you don't like about

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where you live. And Russ knew that

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he hailed from Lexington, Massachusetts,

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and got his start as a cameraman for Boston

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Public Television back in the nineteen sixties.

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While working on Julia Child's series The

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French Chef. Russ master the art

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of doing more with less. He used

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a small studio and spare equipment

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to shoot their episodes in a single take,

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with no room for error. It gave the show

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an authentic feel, and it paved the way

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for others like it to come from

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there, Russ climbed the corporate letter, going

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from cameraman to director and then

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to producer. He was always looking

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for the next French Chef, some

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educational program with a charismatic

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host showing the audience how to do everyday

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things, and he found such a person

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in Norman. Born in Rhode Island

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in ninety nine but raised in Massachusetts,

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Norman had gotten a taste of a carpenter's

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life when he was only nine years old. You

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see, his father was also a carpenter

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and taught his son everything he knew. On

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Christmas Eve of nineteen fifty eight, he

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invited Norman to join him on a job installing

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hardwood floors in a client's home. They

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placed a skill saw upside down on

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an old milk crate to slice the boards,

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and used cut nails or squared

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off nails with blunt heads to hold

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them in place. It was a little old

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fashioned, but it made for a sturdy floor

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that would last a lifetime. From

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then on, Norman was never seen without

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a hammer or a saw in his hand. He

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spent his weekends and summers off from

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school apprenticing under his father and

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learning the trade. He took shop safety

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very seriously and adhered religiously

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to that philosophy of measured twice

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cut once. Eventually, Norman

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struck out on his own doing jobs all

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around Massachusetts, including one four

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television producer Russ. He

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had wanted a barn built on his property,

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and so he reached out to Norman to construct

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it. When the job was finally done,

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Russ was gobsmacked by the craftsmanship.

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It was the finest barn he had ever seen, so

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he knew that Norman would be the perfect person

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for the project that he had been planning. The

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station he worked for had recently purchased

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a dilapidated home built in eighteen

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sixty in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

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It only cost seventeen thousand dollars,

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but the planned renovations would be extensive

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and expensive. His idea was

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to film the restoration over the course of thirteen

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episodes to be aired on w g b

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H in Boston. Norman,

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though had no television background, but

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Russ had one more ace up his sleeve. He

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recruited another expert named Robert

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to act as host for the program.

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The series debuted on w g b H in

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nineteen seventy nine and became an

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immediate hit, with Robert and Norman

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showing the audience a real behind the scenes

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look at what it took to restore a one hundred

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year old house. Years before

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homeowners would love it or list it, or

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travel the world in search of the perfect time me home.

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They could watch a couple of regular d I

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wires on TV and learned straight

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from the kinds of people who might fix up

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their homes one day. And Russell Morash

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placed that responsibility on Roberts and

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Norman, otherwise known as Bob Vila

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and Norm Abram, who would become synonymous

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with their little program called This Old

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House. Over the years, other tradesmen

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and women would join the cast, but the

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heart and soul of the show would always be

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Norm Abram, clad in his trademark

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plaid shirt. It was announced

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this year that Norm is leaving This Old House

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after forty three years and more than a thousand

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episodes. He taught homeowners and

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television audiences how to do everything

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from framing a deck to replacing a

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staircase. Home improvement

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television just won't be the same without him,

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but we'll always have reruns for decades

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worth. In fact, all courtesy of

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the house that norm built.

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There's a reason people say they don't make them

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like they used to, and our culture of mass

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produced and disposable goods, it can be

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difficult to find something made today that's as

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strong and long lasting as its equivalent

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made decades ago. From clothing and

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appliances to cookware and tools,

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the things from the past are still used today

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because they were made to last, and the sentiment

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extends beyond what we consume. Certain

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architecture has withstood the test of time

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as well, such as the Colisseum in Rome

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and Notre Dame in France, and

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if you tour Great Britain you'll find numerous

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medieval castles dotted throughout. Many

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of these structures were built during the eleventh

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and twelfth centuries, such as Kilkenny

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Castle in Ireland. The techniques used

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by the Irish there were adopted from the Normans

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who built these castles in Ireland using

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smooth cut stones rather than

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the more commonly used wood. This, of

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course made them more impervious to enemy

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attacks. The stones were all

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chiseled by hand into the shapes needed for

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construction, with wooden scaffolding

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erected to allow workers to build upward,

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much like they used today. Some

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castles were built using a dry stone method,

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meaning that the rocks were simply stacked on top

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of one another in an interlocking pattern until

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the different walls and sections were complete.

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Unfortunately, that also meant that they were more susceptible

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to attacks as well as damage from the

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elements. Castles built with mortar

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between the bricks, however, allowed for a better

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seal and stronger walls regardless

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of the techniques used. Though, these castles

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were constructed by teams of mason's working

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together for years at a time, but

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one castle eschewed all of that. It

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was built by just two men, standing

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today as a testament to their passion and

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maybe their obsession. They

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had originally tried building the castle in

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secret, away from the prying eyes of

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village elders. Unfortunately,

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the higher it grew, the more attention it received.

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The village wanted to know more about the structure

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and how tall the men planned to build it. For

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one, this castle was developed with more cutting

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edge techniques than others had been. They

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utilized steel rods embedded inside

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concrete blocks to reinforce the structure.

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They also carved out eighty eight windows

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around its perimeter, all of which were left

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open to the environment. The goal was to

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increase air circulation and let various

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weather phenomena blow in and out. By

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the time the castle shell was complete, the

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two men had poured about seven million

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pounds of concrete and built a castle

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roughly fifty feet tall. As for

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the inside, they hired a carpenter to

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outfit the interior with all sorts of

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intricate woodwork, such as staircases

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and pews. It took him three years

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to complete, and those who walked its halls

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afterward said it didn't feel like they were

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inside a castle at all. The

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castle is still around two by the way,

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but visiting this strange hybrid building doesn't

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require a trip to Ireland to see it. The

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builders, Rusty Ikes and Otis

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Sadler, broke ground back in ninety

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four in a little town called St.

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Augustine, Florida. Castle

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Otis, and that's with three tas mind

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you, was created as a landscape

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sculpture, not as a dwelling place.

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They had no intention of living inside the castle,

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which the town designated as a garage

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anyway. They simply wanted to construct

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an homage to Christianity, going so far

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as to consult with historians at the Catholic

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Diocese of Northeast Florida for the

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interior would work. Today,

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Castle Otis stands tall, overlooking

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the floor to landscape. It was even granted

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an award by the American Institute of Architects

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in which called it a

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new landmark. Visitors hoping

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to catch a glimpse of the interior can come to

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Castle Otis on the last Sunday of each

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month for a special service. All

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are welcome, regardless of their faith, and

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those lucky enough to get inside can see

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the handiwork done by the carpenter that Ikes

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and Sadler had hired. Oh and

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about that carpenter, his name was, in

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fact carpenter Lee

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Carpenter. To be precise and

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to be onst I feel like they really

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nailed that choice. I

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hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of

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the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe

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for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn

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more about the show by visiting Curiosities

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podcast dot com.

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The show was created by me Aaron

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Manky in partnership with how Stuff

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Works. I make another award

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winning show called Lore, which is a

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podcast, book series, and television

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show, and you can learn all about it over at

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the World of Lore dot com.

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And until next time, stay curious.

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Yeah,