"I always thought if I win the lottery, I am going to restore the mansion and make it a bed and breakfast. Thank you thank you thank you for restoring this house." -- East Falls resident regarding Hohenadel House "Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I’ll take a memory tour of the house in my head….sooo many sleepovers and great times there." -- Kellie Flanagan Carroll (next door neighbor to Hohenadel House 1978 - 2003) Why would anyone want to...
We've walked a lot of people through Hohenadel House, and one of the first questions out of everyone's mouth is always: How old is this place?! A simple question, but a frustrating one. The land has been settled since colonial times so historical associations are tantalizing and plentiful. Unfortunately, Philadelphia's record-keeping has been maddeningly shoddy from the get-go. But then, it's not like the the area's first settlers arrived...
We've tracked down photos of the original chandelier that once hung in Hohenadel House's dining room. KIDDING! Ha! That antler one is NOT it -- this crystal one (above) is. An interesting development in the house's decorating options, for sure. What a coincidence, too, the same weekend they discovered the house's original window furnishings (more on that below). And yet another piece of Hohenadel House's history has turned up recently -- more...
Following up on our conversation with Lawrence Ponzek (our real live "Hohenadeler"), here's a list of cool stuff that didn't make it into the first installment, including: blue velvet, Grace Kelly, and a scary passage to... somewhere. Randomness from our Conversation with Lawrence Ponzek 1. Lawrence has no memory of the Dutch murals in the basement. He doesn't think they were there when he lived here. 7-16 UPDATE: He didn't know what we...
We recently caught up with Lawrence Ponzek, who had NO IDEA that listing an old family heirloom on eBay would launch him on a spontaneous little adventure back to his East Falls roots. We're delighted he reached out to us, and shared his memories of the house and neighborhood in the 70's. Lawrence Ponzek lived in Hohenadel House from 1960 to 1976. He was the oldest son of four boys who all eventually wound up working for the family business,...
Old houses attract passionate people – especially houses that are falling down and need rescue. Since we’ve been blogging about East Falls’ own fixer upper, we’ve encountered all kinds of other history nuts who’ve been thrilled to open their collections and share everything they know, including crazy theories, alternate histories, and dream scenarios. But they’ve also provided wonderful insights about the history of their found...
So Mike and his team were busy little bees this past Holiday weekend... While Felicte and crew went road trippin down I-95, a small army of floor refinishers tackled Hohenadel's House's poor abused hardwood floors in the steamy heat of Philadelphia in July. Once the first story was cleared out and sanded, we sneaked in for some "Before" pics and then waited for Sean's OK last night to grab the "After"s before they move furniture in and...
Howzabout 100 new high-definition Hohenadel House photos at Felicte's Flickr?! (compliments of the not-so-sunny Florida skies this weekend) A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a whole bunch of 'em together is like busy chat room history. So much to absorb! And so addicting! Old houses like Hohenadel House are ridiculously photogenic -- it's part of the fun of owning a house with so much history and character. But even the most...
So that "Hohen Adel" carriage stone was re-listed on eBay today, and we received an interesting email from the seller, in response to the inquiry we sent when we first encountered his listing: ------------------------------------------------------ eBay Seller has responded to your question about item: BEER ITEM -- HOHEN ADLE BREWERY CARRIGE STEP STONE ------------------------------------------------------ Hello Fillmores of the East Falls...
ITEM DESCRIPTION: A BEER COLLECTORS DREAM ITEM; OWN AN ORIGINAL PIECE OF PHILA PA BREWING HISTORY; CARRIAGE STEP STONE FROM THE LATE 1800'S; THESE STONES WERE USED AS A STEP TO GET OFF OF A HORSE-DRIVEN CARRIAGE ; THIS STONE WAS AT THE ORIGINAL BREWERY AT CONRAD STREET AND INDIAN QUEEN LANE IN PHILA PA; THEN IN THE EARLY 1950'S IT WAS MOVED TO THE HOHEN ADLE HOUSE ON INDIAN QUEEN LANE; THE STONE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION; A RARE RARE...
