Did I see it, right? You have two fire places, and one is in the bathroom???? I am so envying you!! =D I also thought it's so very creative of you to put up various of vintage make up boxes like that. nice!!!

THREE fireplaces! So fun. I love how cozy your place is.

Love it, especially the bathroom! Very unique layout! Just curious, what level is the kitchen on?

Not too keen on your decor, but the apartment itself is fabulous. Three fireplaces, and one in the bathroom! Love it!

I'm confused yet intrigued at the same time.

Oh dear. I don't know why, but the fireplace in the bath creeps me out. The house seems like it was cut up without thought. Rooms pulled together to try and squeeze out as many rentable space as possible. BUT you made it work.

Whut?! Fireplaces galore!

Okay, this is the first entry where I feel as though I need to see it in person, lol! Wow. Intrigue is the right word @Maiatweets.

Great space.

NO WAY. Is this a 4 story rental? Am I seeing that correctly? I would love a house tour on this! It's like a tower!

How wonderful your place is. I immediately saw myself having a long soak in the tub while watching the fire. Old houses are the best. Or, sitting with the cat in the chair by the window. Great job!

I love the deer head.

Love it. Definitely need a full house tour please!

I thought the toilet was in the living room. I did not realize that there is fireplace in the bathroom.

woah fireplace in the bathroom - how rad is that?? Love the suitcase collection above the john.

Thank you sharing your well-loved home. One can feel the coziness and warmth of the space. Love the vintage vanity cases for storage!

I love the quirkiness of your apartment/home. Three fireplaces and is it three floors? So cool. I'm a history buff so I would totally love to live in your home...love it all!

It's not cut up, it is just a tiny cool tower. Do any of your fireplaces work? A woodburning fire while taking a bath on a cold night would be great. But I guess it isn't woodburning, as that looks like an electric insert in there. I'd go with candles instead (though I wouldn't leave them burning ever when out of the room.) Smart to use them for AC storage...I hate carrying them downstairs, too, and have stored a big ole one in the space behind my couch, before you get to the bay window behind it, where it couldn't be seen. But I'd want to disguise the visible one somehow...even just with a colorful cloth or weaving.

@purplecharm-ME TOO!! I love this place, it's very cool!

Oh my, what fun space! I love the suitcases as well...I have some in my living room that I use to store, some, of my shoes in!! I can't say I have ever seen a fireplace right next to a toilet...but this is a very old building. Would love a full tour, even better a real life tour but since that won't happen I'll take an AT Tour...please!!!???

I think I've been in a similar house in Philly. It had a spiral staircase and each floor was a room; the kitchen being in the basement, the bedroom on the top floor. It didn't have fireplaces however. Nifty! Thanks for sharing your home!

I just realized that I saw a home very similar to this on an episode of Small Space, Big Style, down to the pie-wedge stairs. The home was also in Philadelphia. I will check to see if I can locate it again on Youtube.

I found the episode. His house is 590 sq feet and is also 1 room per floor. http://youtu.be/UWBe-cuL52o

Well, actually it appears to have separate rooms on some floors.

Interesting, but not very practical... Imagine you wake up hungry in the middle of the night and the fridge is three flights of stairs away. Imagine you`re hungover. I wouldn't like to live there, but I`d love a House Tour!

Nonie + MelanieEach: the kitchen is downstairs (like a basement, but with a window), and is almost impossible to photograph at a wide angle - so maybe some day I'll try and get some good shots. It's got some cute nooks and crannies (here: http://doggieeyes.blogspot.com/2012/03/daisy-up.html) but is REALLY small, with a low (6"5') ceiling.

Otilly: thanks! I know taxidermy is getting a little played out, but it's a family heirloom - my grandfather hunted that deer!

Lyonstill: it's actually not cut up at all. It's just a small, tall, house, with one room on top of the other. I think people just needed less room back then!

-Susan

Love Philly trinities! And that's a typical Philadelphia old house, where you end up with a toilet somewhere random. My husband lived in a south Philly rowhome where a toilet was in the closet off the kitchen. Very cute use of space. I'm sure it's a cozy and fun place to live!

Alright folks. Just a quick lesson on Philadelphia Trinities (also less often referred to as 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost Houses'). #1. This house was not "cut up" into such small spaces. It was built that way. In 1830. The only room that has been "cut up" is the floor with the bathroom, which was likely done after the house got indoor plumbing. #2. This is a typical example of a trinity. They are quite common in Philadelphia's oldest and most historic neighborhoods (think Queen Village, Society Hill, Washington Square West (probably has the biggest inventory), Northern Liberties, Fitler Square, Bella Vista, Rittenhouse, Kensington, and Fishtown), and almost non-existent elsewhere in the city. #3. They were initially built as tenement housing for immigrant workers who were coming to Philadelphia en masse during the Industrial Revolution. These are very compact homes, and many could be built in a small area to keep workers close to their factories. Early in it's history, Philadelphia also taxed property based on the width of it's street frontage, so that probably played a role in the small size as well. (This fact explains why the row house is the dominant building typology in Philadelphia). #4. They have 4 rooms. Basement = kitchen. First floor = Living Room. 2nd floor = Bathroom and at times, a small office/den/bedroom, depending on the floorplate of the trinity. 3rd floor = Master Bedroom. Fireplaces are common, usually stacked, and at times in all 4 rooms, though usually just in 2 or 3.

In outlying neighborhoods, many were demolished over the years as the city fell into decline, but in other more central, historic neighborhoods, they were preserved. They're clearly not for everyone, but they're beloved by their owners, and embraced by Philadelphians as a unique and quirky. And now that the city is growing, in many cases, because these are in what are among the most central and affluent of Philadelphia's residential neighborhoods, they are actually somewhat popular (especially for first time homebuyers and investors). The floor plates really do vary. I've seen some as small as about 9X9 in Queen Village, and others as big as 14X14 or 15X15 in Northern Liberties and Fitler Square. The rooms in the later actually feel somewhat generous given the total SF, though obviously, the rooms are still stacked. Finally, many have been "extended" over the years. I live in one such trinity. At some point, and addition was added to the back of my home, and the kitchen was brought up from the basement. My first floor is living room, separate kitchen. Second floor is master bedroom (above the kitchen in the new part of the house), bathroom (old part). Third floor is 2nd bedroom and in my case, sliders to a roof-deck over the addition. It's a great house.

Finally, the best gossip for the busy bodies. What do these crazy houses cost? In the best neighborhoods (Rittenhouse, Fitler, Wash West), trinities can sell for as much as $300,000, though $200,000 is more typical. In the old neighborhoods that are newest to the regentrification game (Fishtown, Kensington), a trinity can be had for $100,000 or less. Extended trinities sell for 30ish to 50ish% more, depending on the size of the addition.

Here are a few examples currently on the market.

Extended, Northern Liberties: http://www.everyhome.com/pa/ph/cd/t6003633.htm
Washington Square West: http://www.everyhome.com/pa/ph/ah/t6024368.htm
Extended, Washington Square West: http://www.everyhome.com/pa/ph/ah/t6023454.htm

Thanks 3rd&Brown!

I live in Philly and I would so prefer a trinity to the longer row homes that I can't figure out how to live in.

Living in a trinity on my own would be a dream.

I adore the quirkiness of the space!

Lovely trinity :-)

oooh...I loooooooooove this!

OMG I am soooo jealous!! I love your place. It looks so cozy and if I had your bathroom I'd live in it! Good job ;-)

3rd&Brown, that was really interesting! Thanks so much for sharing all that info for those of us who aren't as familiar with trinities.

My very first home in Philly was a trinity in Washington Square West (@3RD&BROWN, I feel like our houses may have been twins, that's exactly how mine was set up). It was a rental and the landlord didn't do very much to keep it up-to-date, which was unfortunate. But it did have fireplaces on the first and second floors and rooms stacked upon each other. And an awesome roof deck.

That being said, the small rooms, "choppy" feel, and that damn enclosed spiral staircase were enough to make me very happy to move into an apartment with a very open floor plan. (We had to bring up furniture through the french doors of the upstairs bedroom because nothing would fit up the stairwell.)

Prices must have come down, because the houses that were for sale in my area were upwards of $350K when I lived there a few years ago, pricing me out of buying there. Shame, I adored that neighborhood. The houses and area have so much character and charm. And mature trees. Lots of mature trees.

Interesting space!

But why in God's name, is there a fireplace next to the toilet?!!!!

I have the same question as ONIELIAD: What prompted you to choose this apartment?

Love this place!

I'm in love. I love the quirkiness and what you've done to work with it instead of fight it.

The train cases in the bathroom, the AC in the fireplace, The red in the hanging flag with the aqua details in the bedroom...I love it all.

Well done and good luck.

Francine and Onieliad; I choose this apartment for a few reasons. Great neighborhood (Queen Village, in Philly), affordable, and I find the space just right for one person. After living with roommates in big houses for years and years, I was ready for a change. I feel like my stuff fits perfectly in this spot.
It's full of funny quirks (did you see the "LOVE" brick in the bathroom fireplace? You have to look hard) that I like to wonder about.
The house also comes with a super darling yard where I can host lots of people.

Finally, the landlords are good friends who live on a neighboring property, so we get lots of easy hangouts!

I know the stairs are wacky, and my kitchen is a little dungeon-y, but I love it anyway.
-Susan

SO interesting, this layout. As a lifelong west-coaster, I've never seen such a thing.

@3rd&brown - Thanks for the info! Sad thing is, here in Washington, DC those houses would at least be 500K (in a crapy neighborhood & up)

wow, you learn something every day! I had no idea that these existed either. Neato!

Saw one of these in Toronto (Cabbagetown area) for around $450k. I wanted it so bad!!!! But it's really just for one person, and I was getting married at that point. Plus I wouldn't want to handle a $450k mortgage on my own.

I love your map of the moon!

3rd&Brown - you should write a guest post on the subject... oh, wait.. you have!

Love this. Love quirk.

Wow, this is really amazing. Thanks for the added history, so interesting. It'd would be really fun to live in one of these. Cool!

I have a slight trinity obsession. One of the best things about Philadelphia. And they usually have 4 fireplaces, one on each floor. My favorites ones still have the brick floor in the basement/kitchen.

now officially in LOVE with trinities! thanks for this entry and the info 3rd&brown.

OK, I FINALLY had to stop "lurking", register, and comment. Hi all, I'm 52, "physically challenged", and just this past 3 weeks had to pack up & move from a 1880's, NorthEastern PA, former rooming house that I had renovated-on my own. The building had been sold to new owners & I was told that it w as deemed uninhabitable because of damage done to the foundation during the August "trembler". Apparently it was already in poor condition-the original owner just neglected to tell me.

Having had lived in California for short periods in the 90's, I was accustomed to small quakes-but North East PA??!! When the quake happened, I had just been back from my most rececnt visit to the local hospital, (home away from home), for less than24hours and was just lying in bed contemplating a new project to start on, (to heck with my hip fracture-I had a headboard to make. When the quake started my first thought was "dammit, my neighbors in the studio apt, (the only other apt in the building), had gotten a washer & dryer-NOT good!! As the building, (a long, skinny building 3 stories high-the top floor had never been "finished", and was basically a dirty attack with resident bats-4 of them, which I eventually named. Don't ask-I'd held a "contest" on Facebook for my friends-many who are hyper-partisan, to name them. Use your imagination!! ;), jerked back and forth, I stormed down my 60ft hallway, out the door, and banged on my neighbors door-ignoring a note. "Out of town for a week or so". Uh oh...I ran back into my apt as things fell of shelves, grabbed my cat who's head was poked out from under my sheets-staring wide-eyed at my things falling, threw her in her "house", (fancy pet carrier), zipped it up & went down the stairs on my butt as fast as I possibly could-all with a broken hip & PJ's on. I went out the front door, then over to the side where there was a parking lot. (I lived literally on "Main St.", small town, USA). It was parking for a State Liquor store, and patrons were standing there staring at my building rocking back & forth. They couldn't feel the quake & had NO idea why this older lady had just run out of this rocking building in her PJ's carrying a cat carrier with a screaming cat inside. I DID try & tell them it was an earthquake, but most reactions were, "yea, right, and what have YOU been drinking??!!", (I don't drink, unfortunately, although I DID think about a glass of wine that day). One guy was sitting in his car, staring at the building, heard me, and took a swig from whatever was in his bag-muttering something about the "End of the World".
Anyways, back to being kicked out of my unstable building. One of the places I looked was Philly because there are actually Doctors there that are familiar with my genetic disorder which is causing so many of these problems. I'd decided to rent, because I anticipate having to move back to Florida in the next 10 years after my 90-something parents pass away. I looked at several of these "trinity homes", with elevators installed-however, the rent was over $3000/month and THAT didn't include the electric bill for the elevators!! The two I looked at were just 12-13ft across, and as the poster & commenter said, the kitchen was TINY, barely enough room for one person, and because it was in the basement, was VERY humid.
I'm still considering moving down there in the next 3 years or so, despite finding a nice, roomy, apt add-on to a farm house. I prefer the older buildings though-despite my challenges, there's nothing so fulfilling than renovating & preserving our history in these old family homes. ANY suggestions for areas of Phiily where I could find a nice, older apartment for less than$1500/month. (preferably NOT in "student" areas-no offense, I just have a very hard time sleeping because of dislocations!!) And Susan you've done a great job with this cute little historical gem!! elaine

Solopocono -
I haven't been in any trinities that have had elevators put in. Sounds interesting!
As far as finding a trinity in Philly, your best bet is either craigslist (with "trinity" in the search box, and your maximum price listed.)
Some neighborhoods to search in that aren't especially student-y are those others have listed - Queen Village, Washington Square, Nothern Liberties, Society Hill, Bella Vista. For $1500 you should be able to find a good one bedroom at least, but I have no experience with the elevator part, that might be a whole different game.

I'm in love with the pie-wedge staircase! It's a lovely home. The fireplace is def most needed in the bathroom!

3RD&BROWN - now that is a comment worth reading.
SUSAN - thanks to your home, if ever i make it to Philadelphia i would love to tour a trinity.

Wow! Thanks for all the history on trinities.