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Intact Progressive Era house (1911)

last year

Another house which was maintained but left as it was

https://www.estately.com/listings/info/331-s-46th-street-philadelphia-pa-19143

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Comments (19)

palimpsest
Original Author
last year
I lived a block away 30 years ago.
bpath
last year
I think I need to create a new pastry called a ”Doorbell Twist”.
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1900ish Victorian - pretty bare bones!
Q
Comments (44)
Hi colorcrazy, thankfully, it's quite warm. We lost power a few weeks back for 14 hours, and the inside temperature dipped down to 7 celcius. When the power came back on, we were up to 15 celcius in less than two hours. All the walls have blown cellulose that was put in at some point. The kitchen is noticably the coldest room, probably because only one of it's three windows has a storm on it. I have some new pictures to share since I've last been around. Front window with it's fancy-ness: One of our upstairs originals: Our windows are double hung, but they do not have a weight and pulley system. They are simply held open by propping up the sash. The top sashes don't move right now because someone tacked in a block of wood preventing it. I'm not sure if that's how they were originally or not! I'm in the process of finishing up one of the spare bedrooms. The window you see above is in that room, and it is terribly, terribly rotten. I was vaccuuming out dead flies from between the window and the DIY permanent storm (insert eye roll here), and the vaccuum nozzle went right through the sill. Blech. All that's left to do in the room is the floor. And the window, but I'm ignoring it for now.
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What do you call this house style?
Q
Comments (20)
Thanks for everyone's help. It is a rare style here where I live in PA. I'd still love to see a picture of another one if any one has one. Not as run down as mine was, I hope. I originally thought I got in way over my head when I bought the place. You would never believe it! Holes in the plaster. Some simply covered with sheets of luan and left over scraps of paneling. (I don't know where it came from, but it wasn't this house.) Although it now has four functioning bedrooms, three with closets upstairs, when I moved in it only had one. We also have a bath and a half now, but are working on making it two fulls. The downstairs bath didn't work when we moved in. The downstairs bedroom was originally a sitting room and we are carving a closet out of the storage/ washroom/ bathroom that is attached. We actually tore out a large ugly pantry that was built into the corner of the kitchen and built one into what was the doorway to the washroom. We had to put doorway into the store/wash/bathroom from the bedroom. Luckily there was one there that had been covered up. That might explain the odd door in the upstairs closet we found. Believe it or not, that thought just occurred to me. HaHa. It has a small eat in kitchen that originally had no cabinets, just a one basin sink with a rust rotted metal base. We have made a lot of progress considering we have tried to use as much recycled material as possible. It would seem easy to find, but not here! We did get lucky with a set of old farn house cabinets that were abandoned in an old school. The people stored them and then left the state. The cabinets had to go somewhere. Better my kitchen than the landfill. We had to replumb the whole house, have a new well drilled, install a water softener, and rewire everything as we go. It was a total disaster! No wonder I got it so cheap. LOL. Sometimes I think the joke was on me. But after putting so much work into this little home, it's kind of growing on me. It is changing the way I look at home ownership. I have learned that a house can teach you, too. I have a few photos, but they are on film and I don't have a scanner, but as soon as I finish the kichen drywall(hopefully sometime this weekend, I will start a new post with some pics. This has been a real job. I haven't hired anyone to do any of the work. Thank goodness for a step-dad that is a contractor and can take care of making sure we pass code, and a mom that's an engineer. They have saved me from more mistakes than you could imagine. We have a simple rule. Fix first what needs it worst.
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Favorite feature or detail in your old house?
Q
Comments (48)
I love this thread too! So many beautiful homes! Amber, I just took a look at your photos... such a terrific home! I liked all your bay/alcove windows, your fireplaces and your stairs best! I'd love to see some pics of the exterior. Looks like you have a victorian? Our home is modest compared to many here, but I love the victorian door hardware, and we have a twist doorbell too. The bell is still there but it makes a clacking sound more than a ring most of the time. Needs new inside parts! I also love our heart pine floors, wood work and porch. Maybe I'll post some pics later, just for fun. Hope others will post more photos. I love looking! Cheers, -Kim
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Please help with layout of kitchen and other rooms in 1909 four square
Q
Comments (134)
Wow, thank you all for your kind comments! @cpartist and @P Banos, here is a pic of the exterior. I will update this thread once I have the front porch back on.
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pricklypearcactus
last year
Swoon! Everything is just amazing. The details are incredible, both inside and out. If anyone is looking for what to buy me for Christmas, this is now on my list.
Jilly
last year
last modified: last year
The craftsmanship in this house is out of this world. I keep going back and studying the details.

I hope it’s not ruined by old house destroyers. I hope the next owners don’t ask for advice on Houzz Design Dilemma. “Too dark! Do black and white!”
Fori
last year
I kind of have a thing for 1930s light fixtures, especially the slip shaded ones...they should pull those out and send them to me. They aren't original.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
another grande dame
barncatz
last year
Oh, wow, this house is gorgeous.
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
last year
That woodwork! Those windows! The fireplaces!!!
dedtired
last year
Wowee. Perfection. I lived a few blocks away at 48th and Baltimore, before Pal was born. This is a very nice neighborhood.
Kswl
last year
Love those bathrooms!
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
last year
I want the dog painting in the dining room. Love the bathrooms.
palimpsest
Original Author
last year
My mother lived on Springfield with an aunt by Francis De Sales in the 1950s when she was at Penn. Some of her other relatives had lived in the other half of the twin earlier on.
dedtired
last year
Pal, i missed them by 15 or 20 years. I loved living there. Spent many hours in Clark Park.
palimpsest
Original Author
last year
Clark Park bowl used to be a pond.
Feathers11
last year
It's beautiful. I love photo #20 not for the inlay detail but for the nails.
arcy_gw
last year
I am sooooo glad that the horror of the black paint in the kitchen convinced them to STOP and leave the rest of the wood work alone. Granted the cupboards were not original and heaven knows what the 70s reno looked like before paint but what a juxtaposition to prove the richness and beauty of the original!!!
Allison0704
last year
Stunning. The colors are too harsh for me, but gosh.. all the details, wood and windows. The exterior had me before I even went inside.
pugga
last year
I'm curious about the front entry and room. Is this where callers would be entertained? It appears the "family/living room" is on the second floor.

My grandparents' home was built around 1900-1905 (small town in southwestern Wisconsin). The entry area was large enough for a large hall tree and a settee but not an actual conversation area. To the right as you entered, through double pocket doors, was the front parlor. This was where they would have entertained callers. Off that room, through another set of pocket doors, was the back parlor that was less formal and used as the family living room. And then directly off that through another set of pocket doors was the dining room.
DawnInCal
last year
I love everything about that house (oh, all those beautiful windows!), except the kitchen. I don't like the black cabinets and the rest of it really deviates from the tone of the rest of the house. I consider it to be a small miracle that most of it seems to be in it's original state and that none of that glorious wood work has been covered in paint.

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