Powel House
The old houses!!! I love to walk the streets, just looking.
Philly has way more surviving 18th century buildings than New York does, many open to the public. Among my favorites: the Powel House on Third Street, where Philadelphia’s Revolutionary-era mayor entertained in an aqua dining room with orange silk curtains (and you thought the colonies were drab!)
Below right: This is George Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon in Virginia. Legend has it he copied the wall color from his friend Samuel Powel’s Philadelphia dining room, because he liked it so much.
I adore Society Hill‘s 19th century row houses, many made of two-tone brick for a checkerboard effect.
Society Hill brickwork
The whole city has more shutters than we’re used to seeing in NYC, and residents go all out with flowering window boxes in season. Totally charming.
Philaelphia is studded with architectural curiosities, like the 1728 home of John Bartram, a botanist who had a thriving mail-order nursery. It’s an eccentric mix of Colonial and Greek Revival, built by Bartram himself on the Schuykill River, about 15 minutes south of today’s Center City.
Bartram's quirky house
Just scratching the surface here…
4 comments
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January 9, 2009 at 4:14 am
danmihalache
I don’t know if it’s the merit of “Philly” as you say and it’s buildings or of photographer, but I like the photos (and I’m architect).
Best regards,
Dan, Romania, http://danmihalache.wordpress.com
January 9, 2009 at 9:33 am
cara
Hellooooo, Romania! Thanks for your comment, Dan – lots more photos of old houses to come, so keep checking!
January 9, 2009 at 11:29 am
Mary-Liz Campbell
What a great blog, Cara!!! I love your breezy style & outlook!! How about looking at some of the gardens attached to the houses?
January 9, 2009 at 12:22 pm
cara
Just wait till spring….then you’ll see some gardens – formal gardens, cottage gardens, kitchen gardens – I promise!