Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Breaking New Ground’ on Max, A Heartwarming and Vibrant Home Renovation Show About One Man’s Quest To Restore A 200-Year-Old House

Robert Hartwell has starred on Broadway in musicals like Memphis, Hello, Dolly! and Motown but his most dramatic job to date is home owner. In 2020, he purchased a run-down historical home and spent nine months renovating it for the new Discovery+ show on Max, Breaking New Ground. The show is a blend of history and design with Robert serving as both a storyteller and host, and the show comes to life thanks to his vibrant personality.

BREAKING NEW GROUND: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A montage of scenes shows Broadway performer Robert Hartwell walking down the street in New York City, dancing in a rehearsal, and laughing among friends and family. Hartwell narrates, explaining that he is a performer, entertainer, and entrepreneur; a “gay, Black man in America, and this is my White House,” and shows us an old, rustic looking home that he has set out to renovate from top to bottom.

The Gist: Robert Hartwell is a man who embraces every facet of who he is, among them, he is an entertainer, a businessman, and a Black American. After purchasing a beautiful but run-down home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts (on Juneteenth, he points out), he set out to chronicle his renovations over a nine-month period in order to create a multi-generational family homestead. The day he purchased the home, he posted about it on Instagram and Facebook, and between those two platforms, he garnered over 1 million likes.

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After the post went viral, Robert began to chronicle his journey at the house, from closing day on. The show focuses on both the actual renovation and decoration and features interviews with everyone from contractors to interior designers to Robert’s parents and friends as a way to create a bigger picture of what this venture is all about. Because on the one hand, it’s a story of a historical home, and on the other hand, it’s the story of Robert, whose own journeys – to Broadway stardom, to home ownership – have been grand adventures full of obstacles, but Robert’s not the type of person to take no for an answer when it comes to accomplishing something he’s dreaming of.

The first episode features the renovation of the home’s parlor room, but in the course of filming (during Covid), Robert’s aunt Paulette passed away from the virus, so he dedicated the room to her. Touches like that give the show a more personal element and some emotional heft (so, too does Robert’s quest to identify and name the servants that once lived in the house). The show is Robert’s journey, but he doesn’t travel alone.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The renovation aspect of Breaking New Ground is essentially a variation on This Old House; every episode details the restoration and history behind specific rooms, and the show focuses on just the one single home during the season. But because Hartwell dives so much into the home’s past, there’s also a bit of Houses With History in there too, with an emphasis on learning about the previous occupants of the home, while restoring and preserving whatever original features existed in the house.

Our Take: Hartwell’s enthusiasm for his new home and his desire to honor the legacy of both the house and the people, but especially the servants, who once lived there, is exuberant and infectious. He is a vibrant human, and he wants his home to reflect that, so this is a renovation that’s not just about uncovering original floorboards and hidden newspapers in the walls, it’s about taking this grand, historic thing and putting his own modern stamp on it, too.

By focusing on one room at a time, each episode ends with a satisfying reveal. It’s obvious that the house is being renovated pretty much all at once, but for TV purposes, we get to see completed rooms one by one so there’s some sense of completion in every episode. This means that we also get to see the unexpected problems and budget-busting surprises that typically arise on shows like this, but in Robert’s case, burst pipes and busted flooring results in major increases to his budget and a bit of an emotional toll.

While at is core this is a show about the transformation of a home (after all, it’s co-produced by the Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott), it represents the symbolic transformation of a culture too; Hartwell is a gay, Black man who is now the owner of a home that housed Black servants. As the owner of this home, he considers himself a steward of their history, and he is reclaiming this home for them as much as he is for himself.

Parting Shot: After showing off the finished parlor room to his mother and step-mother, Robert hugs them both and explains that all of the struggles and budget overages were worth it just to see their reaction to the room. He adds, “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Performance Worth Watching: Hartwell is the clear star here, he’s got an effervescent personalty, but you can also see where he gets it when his mother is interviewed for the show, too.

Memorable Dialogue: “Y’all, I had no idea that buying the house would be the easiest part,” Robert says at the beginning of the show, foreshadowing the many hurdles he’d eventually have to face during his renovation.

Our Call: STREAM IT! Breaking New Ground is more than a home design and renovation show, it’s also essentially a multi-part human interest story. Hartwell is the ideal narrator for this kind of show, too, his willingness to learn and share and be himself is infectious and fun, and even when the show – which filmed during Covid and amid national protests against police brutality – takes serious turns, he still manages to keep his message positive and life-affirming.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.