Jeff Devlin Builds His Future In Chester Springs

by Melissa Jacobs

Jeff Devlin is sitting still … and it’s unsettling. Known for his custom carpentry and home renovation expertise, Devlin is almost always in motion, typically with a tool in his hands or dangling from his person, and situated in one corner of a semi-demolished home surrounded by wood beams and possibly a plumbing appliance.

America fell in love with the charming, whirling dervish Devlin over four seasons of his “Stone House Revival” TV show, which now airs in reruns on the Magnolia network. In “Stone House Revival,” Devlin traveled to different historic homes and renovated them, preserving their heritage while improving their livability.

Throughout each episode – and in all of the TV and personal appearances Devlin has done in his 20-plus year career – he drops insanely interesting  jewels about historic preservation that belie his persona as a flannel-wearing everyman who is, as he claims, “just a carpenter.” From joists to hinges to electrical and plumbing, Devlin’s knowledge of carpentry and home renovation is not only encyclopedic but minutely detail oriented.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll remember to answer your text. He really does intend to, but Devlin’s phone never stops flashing with texts, calls and emails. His mind flashes as consistently, perhaps even more quickly, which has its benefits and drawbacks, as Devlin freely admits.

So Devlin sitting still is uncharacteristic. Granted, he’s sitting at a table that he built in a house that he renovated on property that he owns. And that’s what he wants to talk about: Sycamore & Stone, the Air B+B farmhouse he restored and the barn that he transformed into a charming retail space that hosts special events and craft-oriented workshops.  

Located on Conestoga Road in Chester Springs, the house and barn date back to 1735. Devlin bought the entire five-acre property in December 2021 after selling the Westtown Twp. home he’d lived and worked in for 16 years. Devlin got choked up when he gave a Facebook Live tour of the house on closing day. But he sold it – and put everything he had into Sycamore &  Stone.

“This is my entire life savings,” Devlin said. “Everything I’ve ever saved is in Sycamore & Stone. It’s an interesting hole that I’m in and I don’t mind climbing myself out of it.”

The investment is paying off; the B+B is continuously booked and the barn is a hive of activity. Plus, Devlin has Schoolhouse Woodworking, his custom furniture and general contractor business. But “Stone House Revival” is no longer in production. The show’s status was up in the air for quite some time because of the convoluted acquisitions of DIY which eventually ended up as part of Magnolia, the network owned and operated by Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Jeff Devlin and his wife Janelle were invited to a big network shindig at Magnolia Market at the Silos, the Gaines’ shopping and dining complex in Waco, TX. “It’s an amazing place and we met so many talented, inspiring people who had shows – or were about to – on Magnolia,” Devlin said. “Chip and Joanna wanted to make it a special experience for all of us and demonstrate that we were part of that family.”

Still, “Stone House Revival” was on the bubble. “I’ve never been on a network that respected me as much as Chip and Joanna Gaines did,” Devlin stated. “They were as genuine, upfront and sweet as you can get. But ‘Stone House’ wasn’t going to work for them. They kept saying they wanted to work with me, but didn’t know what form that would take. They asked what I wanted to do.”

The possibilities were almost endless because Devlin has done almost everything there is to do in the home renovation TV space. Devlin’s carpentry career started near his childhood home in Bucks County, and his TV career started behind the camera. For more than a decade, Devlin was a camera man and jib operator for DIY, HGTV, QVC and ESPN. He was still doing home renovations, and one day, a friend told Devlin to get in front of the camera and filmed him working.

Two weeks later, Devlin got an offer to be a carpenter on HGTV’s “Spice Up My Kitchen.” It was a lot of work. “There weren’t behind-the-scenes carpenters that did the work off-camera,” Devlin said. “We did everything. All of it. But I learned things that I wouldn’t have learned any other way, about being a general contractor and about TV production.”

From there, Devlin did six seasons of “I Hate My Bath” on DIY, then “Ellen’s Design Challenge.” It was all great, but wasn’t profitable. Devlin’s Schoolhouse Woodworking paid the bills and he could only do that several weeks per year because of TV filming schedules.

By 2015, Devlin had decided that he wanted to do a historic renovation show. DIY network honchos had to be convinced that there was a market for historic renovation content. “They said it wouldn’t work, so we did a pilot episode of ‘Stone House Revival’,” Devlin said. “It tested well and we were off to the races.”

He was the lead of “Stone House” and it became a template that other home renovation shows would model. Devlin credits the production team for that, but his affable authenticity pairs well with his camera-friendly charm and expertise in historic renovation. Still, it was a lot of work. “It was 40-50 hours of footage going into those episodes, most of which was edited out,” he said. “But we brought attention to these old homes, especially those in this area.”

So when Magnolia Network asked Devlin what he wanted to do after “Stone House Revival” was nixed, his answer was simple. “The truth I came to was that I only want to do this – restoring old homes,” he said. “If that wasn’t going to work for them, then it was time for us to part ways.”

That decision coincided with Devlin’s purchase of Sycamore & Stone. The place was in good shape, but the electrical needed to be completely redone and there were – and are – a host of restoration projects. However, Devlin sees potential where others see problems. “I wanted to set down roots – different roots,” he said. “I felt connected to this place immediately.”

It’s not an overstatement to say that Devlin is in a transition period. Now past life’s 50-yard line, Devlin’s two kids are young adults. Jeff Devlin and his wife, a doctor of audiology who has her own kids and career, got married at Sycamore & Stone in June 2024.

Will he return to TV? He’s not ruling it out, but he’s not developing any shows, either. “I want to slow down a bit,” he said. But then Devlin smiles and shakes his head, laughing at the idea that he’s going to slow down.

“Let me restate that,” he said. “I’m learning where I want to spend my time and where I don’t. For example, I only want to do a certain number of  restorations per year. Where I want to spend my time is with Janelle, our kids, and the people we work with. I want to be here, at Sycamore + Stone, with the people I love doing the work that I love.”

Want an exclusive look inside Sycamore & Stone? Find it here. For more information, visit Sycamore & Stone’s website.

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