At home with Mark Harmon
The actor talks trailers, boats, and remodeling with his wife, and reveals his favorite escape
On his Airstream trailer. It’s a 1972, 24-footer. I got itoff a horse ranch in Arizona. I originally figured I’d just replacethe cabinet fronts. But it got more expensive. I put in a custombird’s-eye maple and white-birch interior and the paintedcheckerboard floor. By film-set standards, the trailer is actuallypretty small. But it’s completely practical.
On carpentry. I used to hang out in my dad’s workshop onweekends. Later, when I was starting out as an actor, I became aroofer and a framer to make money. But what I really enjoyed wasfinish work. I like the longevity of it: If you do it right, itwill be around a lot longer than you are.
On renovating houses. I rebuilt my own house before I wasmarried. It had 3-foot stone walls―it had been a toolshed inthe 1930s. It took about two years. Our current house was acomplete redo. Probably everybody except us would have torn itdown. But if you give a house a chance to talk to you, you learnthings.
