It took us three tries to correctly type Coral & Firth and not Colin & Firth in the title of this post, and even now, looking at Coral & Firth, it just looks wrong. We’re going to try to get this right throughout, but if we have a slip up, we hope you’re in a forgiving mood.

With that out of the way, let’s look at a couple of construction projects near this particular intersection. First, let’s take a peek at two homes that were recently framed out on Firth Street. Developers purchased the vacant lots at 2031-33 E. Firth St. earlier this year, along with a double-wide property behind them, on Sergeant Street. This parcel was used for parking for many years, with drivers accessing the lot from Sergeant Street. Parking is no longer an option here though, as two new homes have appeared on the scene. These homes have some unique features, including a round window on the first floor, fewer windows than you might expect on the upper floors, and an odd pitch to the roof. It’s also a little strange that the developers are maintaining the two story building Sergeant Street and not tearing it down and replacing it with new homes, but maybe this just means there will be rear-access parking for the homes on Firth.

The story is much less exciting on Colin, er, Coral Street, where different developers are further along building a one-off single family home. 2506 Coral St. had been sitting vacant for a long time, now it’s a skinny new home with empty lots on either side. Since neither of those empty lots have changed hands in the last decade, it’s possible they’ll remain empty for the immediate future. Then again, there are some diligent developers out there, so it’s probably just as likely that they’re both already under agreement and they’ll be redeveloped in the next year.

Even though neither project is particularly standard, we’re certain that the buyers will come, as the market has shown that people are moving to East Kensington in droves. Skinny home? No problem! First floor looks like it belongs on a ship? Bring it on. In most developing neighborhoods in Philadelphia, developers err toward conservative homes that are similar to others around the neighborhood. It’s great that, at least in this neighborhood, developers are allowing their architects use a little creativity, adding to the architectural diversity in East Kensington. Will these homes hold up in fifty years? Who knows. Guess we’ll have to check back then, and let you know.