Name: Jayme
Location: East Kensington - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This Philadelphia row house rehab was conceived as a showcase for my business, CraftworkHome, a design/build firm specializing in cabinetry and cast concrete. The starting point was an 1880 structure that had seen better days: once surrounded by a thriving textile industry, the neighborhood had slid into disrepair and the building was a blighted drug house for years. Our mission was to restore the house to a modern version of its former glory.
Hailing from Bucks County, my work is influenced by woodworker and designer George Nakashima, and the arts and crafts aesthetic of Henry Mercer. The house describes my firm's design principles as well as our ethic of sustainable building, using reclaimed and locally sourced materials wherever possible. Examples include reclaimed interior doors throughout the house, Heart Pine flooring from a South Philly factory building, locally milled wood, and slate tile from a PA slate quarry. The cast concrete throughout the house (countertops, windowsills, and sink) feature inlaid glass, stone, and antique tile. Indeed, the home itself is a reclaimed material. Three years later, the change is dramatic: a warm and inviting modernist home, ideal for sustainable living.
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Those ikea LED lamps in the first picture look like a million bucks.
What an amazing house. I'd love to see more of it. Am curious about the possible bathtub peeking out from behind the door in the last picture.
That bathtub is a water trough for cattle, a stock tank. It looks fantastic. Everything is perfect.
Yes, those lights are perfect! And that bathtub intrigues me as well. It looks amazing. Please post more pictures!
Window seat is gorgeous.
Oh gimme dat! This is one of the most gorgeous and perfect things I have seen on AT in a long time! Thank you for sharing, really inspirational! And I would love to see more of the house!
The bathtub. I die.
Everything BUT the tub for me.
I love this. I can barely see the bathtub. Why didn't we get more photos of this place?
When people talk about the 70's coming back, this is totally what I visualize. Handcrafted modern. 70's tones with teal thrown in on top of blue. Not cluttered. What I think of as japanese modern.
Love the color green and the look of those little green fish scale or penny tiles in the shower. All the textures are nice. Concrete, brick, wood. Lovely place. Was disappointed it was just a House Call.
More photos here: http://www.craftworkhome.com
The sink and the bath tub is to die!
The floors are woderful.
Wow! I love this! That tub is so awesome!
I really like this. It would annoy me to no end that the faucet is not centered on the tiles.
I'm pretty sure the bathroom sink is an ikea Lillangen with custom wood panels, or if its not, it seems like it be a good start for a DIY.
This home is a fabulous contrast of banged up old remnants of the past and some forward thinking, down to earth design. The old metal door hinge in the concrete counter slab made my heart sing.
I know little about sustainable building, so please educate me. But it looks like the ceilings and some of the shelving are made from pressed board, or whatever you call those cheap materials where it is compressed wood scraps or lots of thin layers of inexpensive wood sandwiched together. When I look at materials like that I think of formaldyhyde, off gassing, and a very temporary shelf life. Can you say a bit about these newer wood materials, why you chose them, and if I'm off base here - which I am guessing that I am.
Thanks for representing Philly on AT. I'm currently house hunting. If we get a fixer upper, I've now got your name in my rolodex!
This is incredible. That bathroom is to die for.
Love ALL of it. Awesome work!!
@Philly thanks for the link. Love love love it more.
@Thorndale, as a frequent visitor to Resource for my renovation, I learned a lot about recycling. It takes patience and planning to make things from found materials, but it's worth it. There is a good book named Salvage Style which I found some inspiration. Also Handcrafted Modern.
Curious...do the rocks in the kitchen serve a purpose? I like, but wonder about the livability of it. Dirt getting in them. Mop water. etc.
Isn't it funny how we insist on certain things-centered sinks. Why? I guess if this were a main bath and needed it to splash water on face, it would bother me, otherwise find it perfectly wabi sabi.
This beautiful rehab would almost make me want to move to scary Kensington:) Well done!!
this is my neighborhood. love it. its definitely a showroom, thats for sure. my house, in comparison - lets just say i went out during Sandy to re-hammer some of the aluminum flashing back around my windows. womp womp.
DETAILS OF THE KITCHEN ( CraftworkHome )
http://www.craftworkhome.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=5&p=0&a=0&at=0
This is so relaxing and beautiful.
DETAILS OF THE KITCHEN ( CraftworkHome )
http://www.craftworkhome.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=5&p=0&a=0&at=0
DETAILS OF THE KITCHEN ( CraftworkHome )
http://www.craftworkhome.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=5&p=0&a=0&at=0
Beautifully done. I especially like that it's such a mishmash of concrete, wood, and repurposed objects. I love the kitchen sink. By not centering the faucet, there are more uses for the sink - like bathing babies.
Very nice!
I dig it. Would love to see more.
Love the kitchen! And thanks, AT, for showing a row home. I also live in a late Victorian Philly row-home, or part of one at least. I don't think these would work in my space, but nevertheless I love them--they look so cozy.
I'm really curious to know what this person does for a living and on average how much does a house like this cost? I reside in Hawaii where cost of living is extremely high and having a house this nice means you're really well off. Does anyone know if a similar house like this costs more than $600k in Pennsylvania?
May I ask how much do houses like this go for in your area? I reside in Hawaii, something similar to this in a good neighborhood is close to a million dollars and maybe even more.
@nocturnal
I guess you've realized what the guy does for a living, but from the text, this is not a great neighborhood, either. XD In any case, don't you mean "how much will a rowhouse cost in philly, and how much would I have to pay you to make it look like this one?"
Love everything but the OSB! I am also in philly, so I guess this means I could drop by some day and wander in? Pretty cool....
Agree this is a beautiful blending of the new and old without looking 'ugly country' clashing with 'severe contemporary'. Nice!
What made those ugly was the use of fake materials, faux wood panelling, etc. Everything I have used here is the real deal, and will last for a hundred years. The only reason I got rid of the original historic details throughout the house is that they were too far gone to save. Doors were broken / rotten and covered in graffiti. I rehabbed an identical house next door, and had the luxury of carefully preserving original features.
Jayme's place is amazing! He's a wonderfully skilled craftsman and artisan, and I've hired him several times to build custom furniture; always worth it. All three of Jayme's houses are spectacularly renovated, with a unique perspective on preservation and innovation. Go team Philly!!
I'm sure that you, Jaime, are very talented. I also lIke the look, but not in the type of building you describe. . The " unconstructed look" has been around for more than a decade. Longer in more design forward countries such as Australia. It has a modern aesthetic which works well in loft interiors and Northern European styles. I would love it in a cabin. I think that it is out of place in your building.
Once again, a house that is not at all to my own taste but so charming that I can't help loving it. Thanks AT for helping me broaden my design sensibilities.
Definitely need to know more about the rocks along the side in the kitchen floor. I have often wished I could have something like that indoors and that it would somehow incorporate plants, and I have even had dreams about houses with such a feature. What is it and how does it "work", ie. is there some kind of drain or other feature that allows it to not be a gross dirt trap as others have suggested?
I want to see more pictures! I want detail on the bathtub and how to DIY it...is it installed plain, or is there some type of seating in it? I can't imagine a plain cattle trough is very comfy to sit in. Maybe I am wrong? Either way, what a COOL idea!!! It looks really nice. Better than the regular crap I'm sure a majority of the population has going on in their bathrooms.