The Historic District

Thanks for the warm reception everyone. So happy to find an active community of old house lovers. I will be having some electrical work done on our new/old house and one of the things I plan to add is a box in the parlor (living room) ceiling so I can add a medallion. After getting the keys to the h...

...In my neighborhood, which was constructed between 1910 and 1925, it was Florida windows. Metal framed windows with horizontal glass louvers that open and shut using a crank. These were popular in beach houses during the post-WWII era through probably the early 1960s. Evidently one neighbor got t...

It was a pleasure looking through your pics. Did the stairwell go up one more level (ie. to the roof) at one time? Seeing the banister end in front of the window and attached via a metal angle bracket makes me wonder. The sudden termination of the baseboard makes me think that's where the stair str...

...If the K&T is only to the ceiling fixtures, I wouldn't necessarily make it a priority if it is in good condition and there haven't been any hack jobs done to it... ...Your vestibule is beautiful. I'm thinking the tilework in the vestibule was done in the 1890-1905 timeframe, as there are som...

What a great thread! We just bought a rowhouse in close-in South Philly. We jumped on it because after looking at hundreds of listings, it was very clear that flipping houses is big business in our area. The vast majority of homes in our area are pre-1900. Many of them retain exterior elements, but ...

Welcome ! Your new home looks fantastic. I love the encaustic tile entry and well, everything you've shown so far. Thanks Willa. We weren't sure if the entry tile was original, but a few days ago, I was walking past a neighbor's house a few doors down, and they have the same tile as ours, only in d...

Hello folks! I'm Devyn.... We just purchased a circa 1852* rowhouse in South Philly (Pennsport) and are super excited (and terrified) of all the projects we get to undertake to turn this 2,000 square foot, five bedroom, three story rowhouse into our home. I have always been an old house person, but ...