It's true, there are many homes in Francisville that are standard brick row homes with unfortunate vinyl covering their original cornices. They're like thousands of other row homes in Philadelphia, and similar structures can be found in countless other neighborhoods around town.
But Francisville also has a great collection of wonderful buildings with intact cornices, brownstone facing, and/or all kinds of amazing architectural details. Some of these homes have been well maintained over the years, and others not so much. Today we want to bring 877 and 879 Perkiomen St. to your attention, homes that are actually on the same block as the building pictured above. It's possible that, even if you live nearby, you've never come upon these amazing homes.
A little less than a year ago, we brought a home that was then under construction at 875 Perkiomen St. to your attention and casually mentioned these two beauts, but we passed by them earlier this week and felt compelled to mention them again. They just don't build 'em like this anymore. More often, they build 'em like the home next door, which by the way sold for $525K last summer. Or they build 'em like the large contemporary project across the street which went up a few years ago.
We have a pretty good handle on how much it costs to build a standard new construction home with modern building materials, but we'd be very curious to know how much more it would cost to build something that looks like these two amazing homes on Perkiomen Street. Or is cost not even a consideration, as the artisans who can do this kind of work just don't exist anymore?