apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

It's a beautiful home!
I'm not a fan of wall paper but the dining room wall paper(assuming it is) is very elegant looking.
I would like to see "before" pics of the home and the kitchen.
was that truly a library or did you make the shelves and transform it?
Lovely Quaker kitty, too.
Thanks for sharing.

Howdy, neighbor! What a beautiful house! So glad to see a Germantown beauty on here. You have done a beautiful job on your home. I live near you and know that there are so many beautiful homes (of all kinds and sizes) just waiting to be given the attention you have given to yours. It is really nice to see a mansard roof beauty that has not been gutted to within an inch of it's life and "renovated". Well done.

I agree with sassydo, your wall coverings are truly beautifully done. I wanted to ask the condition when you moved in, too! So many are in disrepair, I'd love to see some before pictures. I know your block and almost rented right around the corner a bit back. So many pretty houses, yours is stunning. Thank you for sharing.

you pretty much had me at the first photo of the exterior. I would LOVE to live in a house like this. Completely not my style on the inside, but lovely and comfortable-seeming in a style that it's hard to accomplish that with.

It's funny, but I can tell there has been no female input on this house...there are things here and there in your photos that caught my eye that are perfect examples of the man brain vs. woman brain thing. Like that toilet supply line? Whoever installed that and left the crazy piping/put the valve there should be spanked. Turn off your water, cut that off and replace the shutoff on the stub where it comes out of the wall. Please, because it's ruining your lovely bathroom.

Love the bathroom sink/vanity! gorgeous!

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This is magic! Thank you for working with the style of the house.

If only Sunrise had a better eplanation to why she did not like it.

I think the house is great. keep up the good work.

Absolutely gorgeous! I used to drive past these homes and wondered what they looked like inside...thanks for giving me a peek.

Sunrise, I'm also wondering what you meant. I know in the story they said the home was remodeled but the baseboards, moldings, floors, doors, windows, lights & medallions (not sure about the one in the dining room) look original to me. I'm not an expert on home styles and time-appropriate furnishings but I like it.

I think they've done a fine job on the home, I like that they've incorporated antique furnishings with a few modern pieces and topped it off with African-American and African art (I covet the MLK painting). This looks like a home to me, not a museum - warm and inviting, especially on a cold or rainy afternoon.

I just wish that they'd get a bigger dining room table; preferably, long, rectangle and in a darker wood. But I really like the chairs and the black & gold mirror really pops against the wallpaper.

Not crazy about the bathroom but still big kudos to Darrell and James and thank you for sharing your beautiful home!!!

I love the library! Makes me want to grab a cup of coffee and just read all day! Beautiful, warm and comfortable home! Thanks for sharing!

It's nice to see Philly represented.

Great house! So warm and cozy.

I'm wishing that there was a larger table in the dining room, though. That little round table is cute, but it doesn't properly fill the room to me.

Love your library, and love your kitty!

So many chairs with shapely legs. I love me some shapely legs.

What? No kitchen?

Very pretty.....you mention you like 'modern touches', which I'm missing?
It looks like some wonderful author, like Willa Cather, or maybe Eudora Welty lived here, and is going to sweep in and offer a guest a glass of iced tea, and a good story.

Love the beautiful architecture of your home!

My God, I want to move in. I adore your home. What is the wallpaper that you used? I must know!

Lovely home, thanks for sharing. I love that the home tells a story. I was wondering if the painting/print in photo 7 (of the people dressed in black and white, walking in line, one woman has an umbrella) is the same one that hung in the Huxtable's living room on The Cosby Show?

Also, why is this home called Quaker? I understand that Germantown was a mainly Quaker settlement in the original 1700 settlement, but the above home is very clearly a Second Empire Victorian home; typical mansard roof,three-ranked openings, ornate brackets below eaves, and dormer windows on slope. Quaker homes are very simple; no shutters, small windows, side-gabled roofs, stone/brick exterior, and generally no decorative/ornate details.

Okay, just looked it up on google, and that is the same picture that hung in the Huxtable's living room. It's called Funeral Procession and is by Ellis Wilson. I always loved that painting on the show. Cool.

The outside reminds me of a classic haunted house. Cool. I think the home looks charming and comfortable.

I too am curious about why this home is Quaker. Having spent part of my life in a Quaker boarding school I'm not seeing anything historically Quaker about the architecture.
Are we going to start referring to Eichler homes as Jewish?

It sort of reminded me of a film set, say for 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. I am interested as to the ages of the owners. Thanks for the tour.

Thank you for maintaining the dignity and history of the home. I love the subtle updates.

I LOVE old homes and am usually horrified to see a DWR showroom inside after a "restoration".

Beautifully done and obviously filled with love and care.

Not my style but still looks like a place I would very comfortable and cozy while visiting. I agree, however, about the dining table being all wrong in material and size. The bathroom shown, while nice on its own, seems out of place with the rest of the house. It must be that it seems to be the only room with the 'modern touches'. And there aren't any accessories like on every other surface. I really don't like that faucet with sink cabinet either...it looks too much like one in a public restroom in my opinion. Would love to see the kitchen as well.

Congratulations on your home! Philadelphia has such a wonderful mix of styles over time... from Germantown to Rittenhouse Square, Elfreth Alley (oldest continually residential street in the US) to Society Hill and South Philly. Keep the Philadelphia houses coming!!!

You have a beautiful home. I especially love the walk-out window in the library. Though Victorian wallcoverings are not my style, you have beautifully decorated your rooms with them. Thanks for the tour.

I used to live right around the corner! Loved it there, lots of beautiful houses that were basically in ruins, so happy to see one of them given the TLC it deserves! More Philly stuff, please!

Yes yes yes. This is lovely.

Thanks, AT for showing a house that respects the past (i.e. before 1950).

modernlust, I had the same question you did but not the answer. Now I know what Second Empire Victorian means. I always called this style "Addams Family."

Great job, fellow Philadelphians!! Love that wallpaper!

Nice to see antiques on AT! However I'm with the others questioning the Quaker-ness. There is Quaker Meetinghouse architecture (but this is nothing like it) and a Quaker residence could look like anything (although I imagine houses of the era built for a Quaker family might've been simpler).

Awesome job! I, too, wish I could have seen some before pics. My taste is an eclectic hybrid of modern and Art Deco, featuring modern, pop, African and Asian art -- not at all like this. The fact that someone whose taste is dramatically different but still able to see all the beauty in your home shows what a great job you've done. No matter the interior, beauty is still beauty. And yes, Quaker kitty gets points, too. Bravo!

Go Philly! I love it. Reminds me of my parents' house in Mt. Airy, another great Philly neighborhood. Of course, theirs is not nearly as well-decorated!

Love the fieldstone farmhouses in Pennsylvania! I would pass by this house and wonder how it looked inside. It looks as nice inside as outside...very warm and lovely. I especially love the library! The house has so much charm and character and that staircase begs for a major entrance!

I knew this was Philly the second I saw a picture of the exterior. It's fabulous, looks like a labor of love and refreshingly not drawn from the Room and Board and DWR catalogues.

hutchhalo, that is called "bastardization" not "restoration," I get physically sick when I see that, argh!

And for those who are questioning the "Quaker-ness," I think that there was a mis-translation. Germantown was settled by Dutch settlers and the Dutch Quakers established the town in the late 1600's, so it's known for being a Quaker-town. But the architecture is Colonial, Georgian, and Federal, so obviously, something got lost in translation, either the owners or AT. Anyhow, I hope that helps! Wikipedia baby, love it.

I love the decor!

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