For those of you who haven’t spent much time in Francisville, it’s not as confusing as it first seems. But it’s still not simple to get around. At least not for those of us who have grown accustomed to the friendly grid found in much of Philadelphia, with its predictable square blocks only occasionally broken up by a diagonal street like Passyunk or Point Breeze Avenues. And even in those cases, the surrounding blocks (for the most part) seem to maintain their north/south/east/west flow, making it pretty tough to get lost.

Not so much in parts of Francisville, where diagonal streets like Ridge Ave. and Francis St. as well as a disappearing 18th St. can throw your sense of direction into a state of panic

Map of Francisville

One of the fascinating byproducts of this out-of-the-ordinary layout is the existence of a number of oddly shaped lots, formed by streets intersecting at unexpected angles. Today, we look at one such lot that’s currently being built upon.

It's a triangle!

1814 Francis St., located at the intersection of Francis and Shirley Sts., is a 475 sqft triangular lot that’s currently being developed. As recently as a couple of years ago, this lot, along with the two lots next door, were vacant and overgrown.

Overgrown indeed

In the years since this photo was taken, two luxury condo duplexes were built and ultimately sold. And now, the corner lot is being filled in. It’s always interesting to see what builders are able to come up with for unusual lots, and we’ll have our eyes on this place in the months to come, eagerly awaiting the finished product.