Familiar before and after

This picture is from 1996. Let me point out some of the 'details'. Notice the missing porch columns. Somewhere in the past the porch roof was extended and the columns on the original short overhang were removed. A huge support bracket was fabricated and bolted to the wall. The railing was replaced with a flimsy metal 'wrought iron' type of ugliness. The middle post between the twins gives a clue as to what once was.

The second floor porch enclosure is the real wonderment here; what was the purpose of this room? the porch is about 2ft wide; what actual use could this room have provided? Fortunately, the original window sashes for the inside windows were saved, found in the basement, and restored. One of the windows, however, was a floor to ceiling version and this was replaced with a custom built multipane door to provide access to the porch.

South 6th

I've always liked this building. I think there was a facade removed some time ago; the brick was cleaned up and left bare. The trim was restored and painted, but allowed to fall into disrepair again. Just needs some attention.

This one just up from the other one is nice, but somehow lacking. Somewhat unadorned, could use some detailing.

This block is better than it used to be. Even when Weyerbacher was on this block, there were a lot of run down buildings. It's much better now that Dykes is here.

A Little Off The Top?

These twins SHOULD have dormers, perhaps two each. But I imagine sometimes in the distant past, they were removed. Maybe a fire? Roof rotted beyond repair? Whichever, the contractor took the easy route and just removed them. 

Notice too the shorter Windows on the right side. Very common to replace older tall windows with cheaper shorter windows that are in stock. Ridiculous.

N 8th non-fraternal twins

Now, I know lots of twin homes don't 'match', but the color contrast between these two is glaring. The green one was painted recently, and the misaligned gutters really stand out.

Asymmetry in Wilson

This house is huge. I didn't get up too close to it, but to be honest it's not obvious if it was just once a twin. I can't figure out what's going on with the sided enclosure on the right side of the balcony; is it a bedroom? Why no window?

This is another example of poorly executed apartment conversions on grand old homes. The owners had no vision, at a time when it was just another 'old house'.

Anyway, it's ugly.

Busted window

I think this was on Ferry St. The house looks solid enough, but the concrete porch and wrought iron railing is pretty ugly. Just so barren looking. 

I imagine sometimes what so many of these homes looked like with their original porches, before they rotted away and were replaced with more durable concrete and metal.

Tiny house living on Ferry

I've been on this block of Ferry many times, but never noticed this little house before. The bigger house, though with many updates, is the older of the pair. Is assume the smaller one was built as a garage? And then sometime converted into its own residence? 

There's a movement in 'tiny homes'; I think this one was ahead of the trend.

Sassafras Alley Life

Sometimes when you get out of your car and walk, you notice things you just don't see out of a car window. I would say most everyone in Easton wouldn't have opportunities to cruise our numerous alleyways, but there is much to see.

This one is interesting, especially when you notice the outline of the original garage. Could be a former carriage house? Could be an awesome loft apartment now if someone tried.

This one too has lots of potential. 

I don't understand how people who have garage space on the alley don't use them more, especially since street parking is tight. If I had a garage I wouldn't just be storing junk in it for sure. Well, some junk maybe.

Windows and ladders

I just liked this view, Butler St. The brickwork is in good shape, as are the windows. I like the angles and shapes, pretty cool.

Missing Crowns

S 11th St, four singles in a row. These are real nice homes for the area, much wider than typical. Its interesting how different owners over the years have changed things, perhaps for fashion, perhaps out of necessity. The built in gutters require a lot of maintenance so the second one from the right removed theirs some time ago. Only the last one still has the ornate crown and window trim.

Bold

I appreciate what was done here, just a splash of color on an otherwise bland block. 

Looking up

Some of the more interesting things in Easton are up high or down low. This dormer for instance:

Needs some love obviously, but it's beautiful. But the lower part of the house is not nearly as detailed:

Vinyl siding is bad, end of story.

S 11th at

This is a wonderful house. On the alley, it's a single, with lots of original details. Somehow it avoided being wrapped in aluminum or plastic.

So why is it 'ugly'? The aluminum awning needs to go, and OMG how hard is a coat of paint?

Washington st

This is a really nice single, older than the row homes around it. But I fear for how damaged it is, especially with the 3rd floor opened to the elements, to say nothing of vermin and bats! 

The vinyl siding is a major minus as well, but the potential is there, since lots of details remain.

Skinny little house

I kind of like this one, it's ugly in a charming sort of way. I imagine it would be an easy de-convert, and install a proper entrance and siding. It's cool that it's a single in a row home block. Can you believe I fogot what street it is?

So Sad

The first fire fatalities in Easton since 2001, no less tragic.

I blogged about the home on the right, if only in passing. this block of Spring Garden has some formerly stately twins, all now somewhat run down or in various states of repair and or decay.

The next twin to the right still has the tarp on the roof from Hurricane Sandy and a Board of Health placard on the door. that makes at least 4 homes uninhabitable on the block; there's another one across the street.

Could it be perhaps among the death and sadness that something good can come from this?

Perhaps everyone will take responsibility for making sure their home is safe?

Perhaps Landlords will take responsibility for making sure their properties are up to code? (this building is owned by

ELLEN M MOSKELLA  1564 FARMERSVILLE RD
BETHLEHEM, PA, 18020-9741
	Code REQUIRES a central fire alarm system in apartment buildings! I know this because when I bought my twin which was zoned as a two family, I was required to get such a system. but as I was deconverting to single family, this requirement no longer applied.

PLEASE, if the apartment you are living in seems unsafe, or if you don't have smoke detectors, do something about it!
Call Codes!
 610-250-6723
Call the Mayor!

610-250-6610

some other links:
http://eastoneccentric.blogspot.com/
http://easton.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/2-dead-in-fire-on-spring-garden-street

Spring Garden St getting worse

There are a few homes on Spring Garden  in the Heights that have fallen into disrepair. Some look like abandoned projects, like this one:

The one to the right has had the roof tarped for quite a while:

And there are too many signs like this:

Seems like some have just walked away...

Bats In My Belfry

(not a picture of my actual attic, but it may as well be...)

We've been dealing with bats in our home for as long as we've been here. Up until now, it has been limited to one or two strays in the summer that got down into our living space. But very lately, we've been hearing noises in the 3rd floor ceiling AND in the ceiling between the 2nd and 3rd floors!
Old tall Easton Heights homes are notorious for housing bat colonies. The buildup of guano is bad enough, but when they get into your living space, that's a major concern. Bats are at once a very helpful member of Earth's living creatures AND one of the scariest, fear inducing little mammal you're ever likely to encounter.
We have some professionals coming tomorrow to assess the situation. I need this to be fixed because I'm about ready to burn the place down or jump off the roof.

Acute, Quite

Love this building. It is so creatively built on its lot; the facade runs parallel to Walnut Ave, but the sides do not run perpendicular to the street (since Walnut itself is at an angle across the street grid). I'll have to see if I can get a pic from the alleyway, see if the whole building is a parallelogram.
It must be very odd looking inside the upper rooms, without having square corners.
The window framing and roof parapet look to be all formed tin, which is nice since it lasts so much better than wood, but the building has fallen into disrepair and cannot be appreciated properly.

Easton: It Has It's Ups And Downs

This is an odd post to make. We here at Ugly Easton like to focus on the ugly, the inappropriate, the tacky, the ill-designed homes around us. But this one is different because of the intent of the ugly in question.
A gentleman recently moved into this apartment in the West Ward. He has to use a wheelchair. This is an unfortunate reality for this gentleman and we can understand that his quality of life would be improved if certain allowances were made for him.
So the landlord installed a wheelchair elevator for him.

What at first looks like a refrigerator left at the curb, is in fact an elevator. The installers actually CUT OUT the fanciful century-old stonework and installed this monstrosity RIGHT THERE IN FRONT!
Now, a number of questions come up;
One: Why wasn't this installed in the yard? Or at the side of the house?
Two: Is it safe for kids? there are a lot of little kids in this neighborhood, and there are NO SAFEGUARDS around this thing!
Three: Why, with so many other much better suited properties nearby (Bushkill House for instance) would someone in a wheelchair choose to live on a steep hill? Remember, he's RENTING here!
Four: Why were none of the neighbors asked about this? If this was a Historical Neighborhood, it wouldn't fly, but the aesthetics are clearly affected nonetheless. Some years ago when a neighbor up the street wanted to install a garage, the neighbors were surveyed, but not in this case.

The sidewalk in this block is just a mess, and the DOT hasn't gotten around to installing ramps on any of the corners yet. What will this person do in the winter? He doesn't drive but uses his motorized chair to go everywhere.
But back to our whole reason for being: this thing is just plain ugly and impractical.

Discuss.