Plot Synopsis

Executive produced by Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott, BREAKING NEW GROUND is a six-episode reality series that follows Broadway performer, entrepreneur, and educator Robert Hartwell, who takes on the challenge of transforming a 200-year-old house with a complicated history into a home filled with love in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The renovation of this house unlocks stories of his own history and leads him down a path of discovery about himself, his culture, and the Black creatives who inspire the ensuing designs. "I wish I could've told my ancestors when they were breaking their backs in 1820 to build this house that 200 years later a free gay Black man was going to own it and fill it with love and say their name," Hartwell said about the home. BREAKING NEW GROUND premiered on Thursday, June 27, 2024 on Max, which released the first episode. A new installment dropped weekly through August 1.
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On Thursday, August 1, 2024, Max released "Mom's Suite," the season finale of BREAKING NEW GROUND. On a mission to finish his house, Robert works around the clock to make sure a suite for his mother is fit for a queen. Family, history, loss and perseverance brought Robert on this journey to build a home, and the culmination of love and joy is revealed.