The Historic District

Hello, Everyone!

Just joined and been looking through the forums the past several days.

We purchased our first house, a 1925 “farmhouse” in the Northwest neighborhood of Philadelphia.
I use that term Farmhouse because thats what they are known as around these parts, though It’s not *exactly* a farmhouse. It's a modest place, not huge and not as old or ornate as some of the wonderful homes I've been reading about here, but we love it just the same and want to make it as perfect as possible.

Still not really sure what it is, even thru our research, but whatever it is, we are thrilled and so happy to finally be in! Been looking online for as much information about the house as possible since we first saw it, and plan on visiting the main library to see what else I can dig up to learn about the block, and how it evolved and the houses built here. Exciting stuff!

We are looking forward to making it our own and doing our best to repair wand restore what we can.
We are lucky to have a yard here, and an old fashion greenhouse, unlike any I’d seen before. Built with brick below and glass above, with a sloping roof, it needs more attention than the house! Right now it’s in need of all new wood and glass in the roof, which had been covered over years ago, but it still has its old crank mechanism that opens the side windows for ventilation. They seem operational, but need attention, so that project will begin as soon as the weather breaks.

Looking forward to being a part of the group, and have already found a bunch of tips in the forum I’ve bookmarked for future projects!

Big Blue

Welcome to the District Big Blue. A greenhouse, that is fantastic, I believe your the first here to have a period green house. As you probably noticed, we like pictures, lots of pictures. You mentioned the greenhouse is project number one, I sense a gardener in the home.

Yep!

In fact, we kept saying to each other, "I think we just bought a Greenhouse, what did the house look like?" Lol!

Only kidding, we loved the house, too, but the crazy home-made greenhouse sealed the deal. We are just dying to rebuild it! Again, it's not fancy, or ornate, but beautiful in our eyes for it's character and the past it must have had. Totally function over frills, but so very curious that to me it is just as interesting as the house.

When we first decided it was time to try and purchase, The first thing I did was start digging up my roses and relocate them wherever I could, parents yard, friends yards, etc..! Couldn't leave them behind!

By chance, the house came with a couple very mature rosebushes, still yet to be identified for sure, but come spring, I'm on it! They were still blooming in December upon closing, with our oddly mild early winter, so we had a few days of perfect blooms to welcome us.

There is a Concord Grape vine or two, as well as currant bushes and a couple established small beds. Looking forward to spring to see what mysteries the yard holds!

Pictures will follow...soon! First I have to go attend to the rotting wood shelves in the basement.
Rot=Bad!

Welcome to the District!

Welcome from your neighbor to the south!

You have quite a few architectural salvage and building material re-use warehouses in the Philadelphia area which should be good sources for original materials for your restoration.

Also, Kilian Hardware on Germantown Ave will be your best friend. They have all kinds of things there that you won't find at most of the corporate owned hardware stores.

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing some pictures.

Welcome from another but former Philadelphian, born and raised.

Hi, Big Blue! Can't wait to see the pics!

Greetings! Glad you've found us.
Eric

I was just talking to my next door neighbor about vintage domestic greenhouses! How funny.

It sounds like you have what's called a vernacular house, which is a posh way of referring to a nice normal house, built according to local standards.

We all look forward to reading about your progress. This is a great place to visit when you need cheating on in the middle of a grueling project. We love "before" pictures!