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.