Jayme’s Row House Rehab

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.

• Interested in sharing your home with Apartment Therapy? Contact the editors through our House Tour Submission Form.

• HOUSE TOUR ARCHIVE: Check out past house tours here