From the beginning, Bob has dedicated his career to community planning, historic preservation, central city revitalization and woodworking. In the mid 1970’s he bought his first house--a craftsman bungalow--to renovate. Since that time Bob has been involved in the restoration or renovation of over 140 historic homes, many of them award winning. He usually has two to three complete renovations going on at any given time.

Bob’s efforts in neighborhood revitalization of historic areas in the Midwest are renowned. Bob has been a historic property Realtor, owned a home inspection business and in 1991 was appointed the Housing Director for The Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation in Rock Island, Illinois. At Rock Island High School he started and taught a new voc-tech program to give students hands-on-experience in renovating historic homes. Bob and his family live in a 1906 Tudor Revival they are currently restoring in Davenport, Iowa.

Bob’s media career began in 1980s with a column in the Des Moines Register as The House Doctor. Soon after the column premiered he began a syndicated radio show also called The House Doctor. In 1994 Bob produced a pilot video called, The House Doctor, Top Ten Tips For a Healthy Home. It was picked up and nationally distributed as a fund raising special for PBS in 1995 and 1996. The special aired successfully around the country, ultimately resulting in a commitment by PBS to air 52 programs as an ongoing series called About Your House with Bob Yapp. Bob is currently a writer for Renovation Style Magazine.

In September 2002 Bob partnered with the Kentucky Heritage Council and the Pine Mountain Settlement School to start a hands-on training school to teach practical, cost effective restoration methodology. Located in S. E. Kentucky, The Pine Mountain School for Practical Historic Preservation will offer new sessions this July & August in window restoration, plastering, how to remove vinyl siding and how to achieve a 15-year, exterior paint job.

Bob also travels America speaking at seminars on historic preservation. Bob’s current project is an 1869 Gothic Revival house overlooking the Mississippi River. Endangered and chopped into several apartments, Bob is turning it back into a single family home. Bob’s first book, About Your House, was published by Bay Books in December 1997. His new book, Preservation Doesn’t Cost......It Pays, is due out in the Fall of 2003.