Maison de la Brinvilliers rue de Bièvre by Jules-Adolphe Chauvet Over 1400 renderings of Paris street scenes from the late 1800s by the artist Jules Adolphe Chauvet can be seen at the Bibliotheque nationale de France. This body of work accidentally documents some of the buildings that were demolished by the urban development plans of […]
1400 renderings of Paris architecture before Baron Haussmann (1894) Read More »
While eating pizza at In Riva restaurant near Kelly Drive in Philadelphia after a self-guided tour of historic houses in Fairmount Park – and even walking through the parking lot between the buildings – we completely missed the newly restored diner south of the Rt. 1 overpass called the Trolley Car Cafe ((Trolley Car Cafe,
Restaurants on Kelly Drive, East Falls, Philadelphia Read More »
The world moved much slower before the automobile. So for thrills, Philadelphia “drivers” would saddle up and race down Chamounix Speedway, named for Chamounix Mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Soon after the horse speedway opened, the Quaker City Motor Club modified the horse track for automobile races. 1913 Chamounix Speedway An article from The Horse Review (1900)1 published in
Seven MPH on the Chamounix Speedway Read More »
Drive on the serpentine roads around the Fairmount Park Houses on the west of the Schuylkill River to find one of the first Beaux-Arts buildings in the United States. Memorial Hall was completed in 1876 as a permanent structure for the International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, now occupied by the Please Touch Museum.(( Please Touch
Memories of Memorial Hall 1876 Read More »
The last weekend in April is the perfect time to visit the Fairmount Park Houses in Philadelphia. Flowers and trees are blooming, everyone is getting over cabin fever from the winter months – and today Otto got a new bicycle. All the park buildings were open for business and the baseball fields were busy with
Dogwoods blooming in Fairmount Park Read More »
Ridgeland Built in 1762, Ridgeland is a Federal style farmhouse located in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia and a great example of adaptive reuse for historic buildings. Click through to the article and learn more about public programs from the current tenant that attract thousands of visitors from the park each year. The farmhouse is a snapshot of life
Escape yellow fever – oldest house in Fairmaount Park Read More »
Adapted from a popular pattern book, the Manship Residence in Jackson, Mississippi was completed in 1857 as a Gothic country house, and the current renovation aims to bring it back to the original condition. Besides the floor-length windows and the pointed gothic doorways that distinguish this residence, what is so interesting is seeing his whole
Returning to Jackson, Mississippi 1875 Read More »