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January 9, 2024 Devyn 3 Life

I know, I know… It’s been a minute. Actually, it’s been about nineteen months, and this post has been in…

Medallion from below

June 14, 2022 Devyn 5 Parlor (Living Room), Small Projects

Oh, hello…. Yes, I was planning to post this weeks ago… And I even wrote it weeks ago…. But here…

Lady Bust

May 16, 2022 Devyn 11 Life, Parlor (Living Room)

Wow! It’s now been way more than a minute! I know, things have been very quiet on this blog. It’s…

November 5, 2021 Devyn 7 Creative Studio, Uncategorized

My creative studio is NOT done… And I am okay with it… But it is done-ish. Let me re-phrase… The…

November 1, 2021 Devyn 8 Life, Life in Philadelphia

There is no doubt things things have been quiet around here. But I am super excited to reveal the primary…

September 7, 2021 Devyn 10 Life in Philadelphia

Way back in 2014, just after moving into our Half Classic Six in New York City, I was doing some…

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Just What is all this about?

About

Two former New Yorkers visited Philadelphia and fell in love…

Our Philly Row is our story about falling in love with Philadelphia and finding an amazing 1852 Greek Revival rowhouse after trading in our formerly chaotic lives in Manhattan for a slower, more fulfilling, and enriching life in the birthplace of America. It is also a story about old house love, restoration, renovation, decoration, and to be sure, old house woes.
(more…)

@OurPhillyRow

Instagram

anamericaninporto

Major changes to this account. OurPhillyRow is ch

Major changes to this account.
OurPhillyRow is changing to AnAmericanInPorto.
We have sold Our Philly Row and we will be moving to
Porto, Portugal in July.

I have been writing about our adventure for a few
months on my SubStack (link in bio)

Swipe through to see the view from our new apartment as well as some photos of our new city.

I realize this is a big change and my love of old houses has not changed. But we will not be living in an old house for a while. As such, my account will be focused on our move to our new city. Porto has amazing old houses, some going back to medieval times. I will post some house shots as well as other shots of the most beautify city on the Douro River.

A Crown Jewel Has Been Placed! (New post on the bl

A Crown Jewel Has Been Placed!
(New post on the blog, link in bio)
It took a few years, but I am super excited to finally have our vintage 1880(ish) plaster medallion installed in the parlor. It is so beautiful!
The paint color is Benjamin Moore; Aurora Borealis #565
There will be a chandelier after the rest of the room is completed
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#medallion #parlor #plastermedallion #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #oldhousedetails #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

I know! It’s been a minute… But I am still her

I know! It’s been a minute… But I am still here!
Four years after I scored a vintage 1870’s plaster medallion for the parlor, I am finally getting it ready to install. I still have several hours of work chipping away the loose paint added in later years.

UNFORTUNATELY… I was in the backyard grinding the excess plaster off of the back when at about 90% finished, the whole thing split in two 😳 It’s a clean break, so I should be able to still put it up.   Also… I am also finally getting my sh*t together and working on the parlor as a whole. I will be posting here as well as on the blog over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
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#medallion #parlor #plastermedallion #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #oldhousedetails #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

When not so much is going on at the house, I focus

When not so much is going on at the house, I focus on the things that I love about it…. Like our over-the-top fireplace mantle.

Not original to the house, it was installed in the 1880s during a Victorian era modernization by then owner, Daniel Farrow. Swipe to see it before we moved in.

The color is Caldwell Green by Benjamin Moore - HC-124

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#caldwellgreen #parlor #fireplace #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #oldhousedetails #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

The Creative Studio is Done-ish! New post on the b

The Creative Studio is Done-ish!
New post on the blog, link in bio.

18 months after I posted my plans, it is about as done as it’s going to be for a while. The good thing is, I love it!
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#creativestudio #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

Things have been awful quiet here on this IG accou

Things have been awful quiet here on this IG account ‘cause I have been super busy elsewhere in life…. Exciting things to come this next week, so stay tuned.

As for Our Philly Row? Let’s just say I can't wait to refocus on the house in 2022.  

In the meantime, enjoy this shot of one of our beautiful (and still unrestored) doorknobs from the third floor. They're commonly referred to as “Bennington knobs,” after the Vermont potteries that helped to popularize the trend. The popularity of brown mineral knobs was relatively short-lived (mostly mid 19th century), and they were most favored by owners of Greek Revival homes.

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#benningtonknobs #doorknob #phillyhistory #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

New post on the blog today (Link in bio) The Humbl

New post on the blog today (Link in bio)
The Humble Boot Scrapers of Philadelphia.
The older neighborhoods of Philadelphia are dotted with historic charm, but one thing stands out... The humble boot scrapers. Slide to see our boot scraper.
This post was inspired by Alex @oldtownhome Thanks!

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#bootscrapers #oldtownhome #phillyhistory #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

One wall of the parlor is the right color, looking

One wall of the parlor is the right color, looking forward to getting the rest of the room to match.
Wall color, B/M Caldwell Green.

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#longtermprocrastination #lifehasbeensuperbusylately #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

New blog post - Link in bio.  Things have been v

New blog post - Link in bio.  Things have been very quiet here because I have been in California this past couple of months helping my father prepare to move to be near us in Philadelphia. Read all about it on the blog - Link in bio.

While packing my father up, I came across a number of family photos. The first is my family’s homestead in Nebraska circa 1880’s. Next is my great great grandparents also from the 1880s. Then there is a shot of my grandfather in the early 1920’s when he graduated from Columbia University. Me and mom on my second birthday and the last shot is from my Senior Prom… So very 1980s!
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#oldfamilyphotos #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

Old Growth is Better… I started re-working the h

Old Growth is Better…
I started re-working the hatch door to our attic (so I can add improve the seal) and had to cut some of the original wood from 1852. I don’t know what kind of wood it is, but DAMN! It was very hard, and…
So… Many… Rings…

Enjoy @oldtownhome and @thecraftsmanblog  
It will look the same when I am done from the room, but will have a much better weather seal. BTW, I saved all the scraps.

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#oldgrowthtimber #oldgrowth #ourhouse #ourphillyrowblog #pandemicprojects #oldhousedetails #pandemicrenovations #1852house #ourphillyrow #rowhouselove #oldhouses #oldhousecharm #oldhouselife #greekrevival #restorationproject #renovationproject #diyblogger #doityourself #homeimprovement #ouroldhouse #oldhouselove #philadelphia #southphilly #pennsport #24gotham

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Photos

Staircase Before

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Day One Video Walk-Through

Just minutes after we took possession, our...
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Floor Plans

This is the main floor...
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Real Estate Listing Photos

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