Tag: East Kensington

Through the 1960s, Kensington was a manufacturing hub known as “the Workshop of the World.” Step into Jayme Guokas’s rowhomes, and you might think it still is. With Solo, Jayme bought property in East Kensington early and often, securing them at low prices and transforming the interiors.

Jayme was Solo realtor Jeff Carpineta’s first client, back in 2004. Jeff was, and still is, a champion of the East Kensington neighborhood, himself a resident, a leader of the East Kensington Neighbors Association (EKNA), and helped start the Kensington Community Food Co-op. Jayme knew he wanted to buy in the area because he had been priced out of West Philadelphia.

“Jeff did a lot of work for his money for that house,” he recalls with a smile. Together they looked at 18-20 places in the area. East Kensington was affordable at the time, but there was aggreesive competition from speculative buyers pricing out aspiring homeowners on almost every deal. They ended up putting in three offers total, the third time being the charm. Jayme was able to beat the competition and closed in early 2005.

Jeff recalls, “I knew Jayme was a great soul with multiple tremendous talents and wanted to help him drop anchor here. I’m blessed to have him as a neighbor, a client and now a close friend. He’s a bright light in the community.”

When he decided to purchase the house next door a few years later, he reached out to Jeff again, and successfully closed on that property as well. A little over five years ago, he acquired the house on the other side of his original property, and that’s the one you see here; the one that he and his wife call home.

Inside, no surface is left untouched by his unique, sustainability-minded craftsmanship. Hardly any original features remained (or remained in tact) in the property when Jayme purchased it, so he had a blank canvas, and carpentry and other skills to apply to it.

One would assume Jayme has been a carpenter and concrete-pourer from a young age—surprisingly, not the case. His art history degree led him to an administrative job at the University of the Arts, where he was able to take classes free of charge. So he took woodworking. And then took it again. And again. Eventually, Jayme had advanced to the point where he could do the highly skilled work you see here, with the collaboration with his friend, architect Stephen Sedalis.

The living room is decked out in locally-milled wood—including a custom-built window seat—exposed brick galore, restored hardwood floors, and the original mantle, which were some of the only original features salvageable.

Proceeding further into the house yields a truly one-of-a-kind kitchen. While conventional home design aesthetics become increasingly sleek and monochrome, Jayme’s kitchen is refreshingly rustic yet modern, and radiates with the warm earth tones of cast concrete, wood cabinets, and ceramic subway tile.

At the top of the stairs, what looks like (and was) the front door to another house actually leads you into the bathroom. Peak through the mail slot or open the door to find a delightful interplay between a minimal cast concrete and wood vanity and the seafoam-hued penny tile shower stall.

More exposed brick and locally milled wood characterize the music recording room and practice space. Jayme kept the HVAC ducts visible so he didn’t have to sacrifice square footage or ceiling height to soffits. The vertical duct is cleverly hidden in a space built out between two bookcases, creating the illusion of built-in shelving.

The bedroom is soaked in natural light thanks to a massive window constituting most of the back wall, which Jayme resourcefully purchased on Craigslist for mere peanuts. Privacy from the rest of the house is afforded by another reclaimed door. “Contractors are happy to let you take those doors of their hands,” he advises, “I’ve also gotten several doors at ReStore in Port Richmond.”

The third floor houses an office/guest room hybrid, and a second bathroom with what it quite possibly the world’s funkiest shower. A galvanized cattle feeding trough forms the walls of the shower basin, with poured concrete forming the base, which a cedar platform perches atop. “Everyone wants to use that shower when they stay over,” he jokes.

Even the backyard is completely customized, with a handmade fence and slate slabs that Jayme salvaged from Palmer Cemetery.

If you’re wondering how your house could ever undergo such a transformation, you’re in luck! Jayme runs a design firm called Craftwork Home that specializes in custom furniture and cabinets, ergonomic modern kitchens, and cast concrete countertops.

His work is inspired by his Bucks County origins, drawing on woodworker and designer George Nakashima, and the arts and crafts aesthetic of Henry Mercer. But the results are right at home here in the former workshop of the world, East Kensington.

“The difference between New York City and Philadelphia is the difference between perpetually renting and actually setting down roots.” That wisdom comes from Gregorio, an art director, who after living for years in New York City made the decision to embrace home ownership in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Before his move to the City of Brotherly Love, Gregorio spent nearly a decade living in a loft apartment in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Those familiar with Bushwick know that the area, once one of that city’s roughest, has recently experienced tremendous redevelopment and gentrification. For all the good that development has done though, Gregorio ultimately came to feel pushed out by the community’s rapid change “My landlord wanted to raise my rent from $1500 to $1900, and honestly I didn’t want to be around the people who would pay that for 500 square feet in Bushwick.” While he considered buying an apartment in the area, the city’s runaway real estate prices ultimately made Gregorio feel like he was fighting a losing battle.

With his dreams of owning a home on the back burner, Gregorio made a fateful trip to Philadelphia’s Rodin Museum. As a Southern California native, he had little experience with our city, but was immediately impressed by Philadelphia’s authenticity, lack of pretension and deep cultural heritage. Gregorio is quick to note that, as someone who used lived in Italy, Philadelphia feels to him like “the most European city in the United States.”

With his visits to Philadelphia becoming more frequent, so too did Gregorio’s doubts about living in an increasingly expensive New York City. He eventually made the choice to contact Solo Realty, deciding he was ready to look in Philadelphia for a real house where he wouldn’t have to compromise on space or the little luxuries of home ownership.

Gregorio worked with Solo Real Estate’s Alex Franqui, asking to see rowhomes with outdoor spaces in great, up-and-coming Philadelphia neighborhoods. “I think we saw 20 houses in one day” Gregorio laughs, saying that he felt drawn to East Kensington both for its energy and sense of community. Eventually Alex called Gregorio, then back in Brooklyn, and told him he had found a great place that he needed to see immediately – “I rented a car, came down and knew it was perfect right away” Gregorio says with a smile.

After a quick negotiation, Gregorio purchased a three bedroom home not far from the El’s Berks Station. The home came with great built-ins, thanks in part to its woodworking former owner. And with his artist’s eye, Gregorio also made his own series of unique design choices, all complimented by the home’s beautiful hardwood floors.

As for his job as a freelance art director, Gregorio has found that Philadelphia makes a great base for his work, which can take him across the country. Best yet for this native Californian, he was able to purchase a car along with his new home, something he’d only fantasized about in Brooklyn. “I don’t use it that much because the area’s just so walkable” Gregorio says, adding however that “it’s still a great little perk of living here.” That choice seems to be indicative of Gregorio’s whole Philadelphia experience, using his new home here to enjoy the urban lifestyle to its fullest.

Buying a house is a huge financial decision. But it’s more than that too. Our homes and neighborhoods define who we are and the lives we’ll lead. In New Digs, our latest blog series, we speak with Solo clients about the lessons they learned finding a new place to call home.

The Milk Depot Lofts in East Kensington look like the too-good-to-be-true urban apartments you see on TV. With a collection of airy, industrial-chic dwellings housed in a 25,000 square foot converted milk processing plant, a loft here is the polar opposite of the kind you’d find in a typical, cookie-cutter city apartment building. And that’s just what arts educator Ruth McGee loves about her new home.

Ruth, a teacher at a local Quaker high school, spent the past three years living in a highrise building along the Delaware River. Eventually, she decided that the building’s short-term leases and separation from Center City kept it from having the community feel she craved. Contacting Solo Realty, Ruth was willing to look nearly everywhere to find an apartment that was both in a great neighborhood that would and also gave her room to practice her passion for clay sculpting. Bouncing from open house to open house, Ruth was focused on finding a space with which she truly connected, saying that “I figured I’d know it when I found the place for me.”

Ruth worked with Deborah Solo, who eventually brought her to East Kensington to see the Milk Depot Lofts. “I think Deborah had a really good sense of what I was looking for” Ruth notes. After scoping out the area (and being impressed by its short distance to the Market-Frankford line’s Berks Station), she got a chance to go inside and see building’s quirky charm, which includes two enormous vintage milk boilers and an inviting central courtyard. Impressed, Ruth continued on to Apartment 201 and knew she had found her new home.

With high ceilings and expansive windows, this corner unit gets hours of bright sunlight, something that Ruth, who has begun to paint in addition to her clay work, found to be a great asset. The apartment’s somewhat raw space also gave her room to adapt it to her needs. Finally, the building’s relatively small number of units, populated by artists and creative professionals, was a great antidote for the anonymity of her Delaware Avenue highrise. “I appreciated the fact that there are artistic people around. It really adds to the community feel of the building” Ruth says.

Quickly going into contract, Ruth says her neighbors in her old building were a little shocked, not just because she was moving to a loft, but because that loft was in Kensington. But with the building’s hip location and industrial charm, along with its ample room and bonus basement-studio space, Ruth says the decision was an easy one.

Ruth still has some changes to make to the apartment, but overall she’s very pleased with her decision. Better still, as an artist who draws inspiration from her environment, Ruth is excited by the ways in which the industrial aesthetic of her new home and neighborhood will influence her sculpting and painting. “I can’t wait to see what happens!” Ruth declares with a smile.