Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse
First there was Tim. He was in the picture for a solid 2 years, and even though I had to put up with a lot of stupid shit I stuck with him. But he left me high and dry when a better option came along. I never gave him his stuff back. Then there was…
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2 big life changes since the beer tour. First, I’ve been eating those vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. And second, the joy of NOT working on the house isn’t strong enough to get me to shrug off certain glaringly unfinished pieces anymore. An aside, the Philly shrug is an important part of…
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I went home Monday after 4 nights with my parents. It was kind of late when I got home and I was tired so I put off unloading non-perishable groceries until right before my bedtime. And then I noticed green dust coating most of the bottom of the cabinet. It was always a little dirty…
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You’ve seen a lot that needs to stay in this house. What needs to change? The kitchen. Now, in the 20 or so years since I’ve first seen this I’ve come around to steel cabinets and chrome dinette sets. Retro Renovation often features people who send them out to auto body shops or powder coaters. But…
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Now that I’ve scrutinized every detail of the exterior let’s have a closer look inside. You’ve seen the magnificent hallway. Critically, I can’t see any water damage in here since I imagine that helical curved plaster would be especially hard to replace. The only big job to do with this plaster is make sure the…
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Back in imagination land, there are a lot of details on this house that (to me) absolutely cannot change – or have to be changed back – and some of that will be hard. But I like hard. So let’s start at the top. The roof is terra cotta tile glazed green. There are fancy…
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I’m terrible at picking favorites. Ask me my favorite color or food and I’ll tell you I can’t pick just one. You’d think I’d have just as much trouble with houses. But you’d be wrong. This has been my favorite house for a solid 20 years. It’s in Atlantic City. More specifically, it’s in the…
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I bit the bullet and hired the Irishman twice more. Here’s what I have to show for it. The oak counter next to the stove is in! I plan to sand off the old finish and oil it. (Also, the kitchen is getting tidier) The missing chip of wood on the banister has been patched.…
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Yep, I finally got someone to come work for me again! Remember how I abandoned cutting down the bookcases? This cut was me and my dad working together with a cutting fence. He freehanded all his cuts! Remember the too deep before? Now, they’re much more gracefully proportioned! And even more importantly, that hump in…
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So we’ve been through the brick and the cornice. Finishing off the Phase 2 façade work means replacing the windows. Remember what I have? Total junk. I was glad to learn how bad they were because I didn’t want vinyl windows under any circumstances and I can replace these without feeling guilty. To review: I…
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