Dresser's Victorian Ornamentation: 150 Designs Book

This book made me feel sad although most of the buildings were demolished long before I was born but some I do recall. What is very sad about Philadelphia is that the (building) landscape is quickly changing from grand buildings into reflective window cigarette lighters and Storage Bin Modern monstrosities (some) that won't last 15 years let alone 150 years. Just recently, a local real estate guy arranged for an historically significant property (Frankford Chocolate) to be demolished and turned into more Storage Bin Modern monstrosities and that makes me feel so sad and mad at the same time. Once this was known as the City of Homes: "...Lining Philadelphia's straight, gridiron streets, the row house defines the vernacular architecture of the city and reflects the ambitions of the people who built and lived there. Row houses were built to fit all levels of taste and budgets, from single-room bandbox plans to grand town houses. The row house was easy to build on narrow lots and affordable to buy, and its pervasiveness resulted in Philadelphia becoming the "City of Homes" by the end of the nineteenth century. As Philadelphia emerged as an industrial epicenter, the row house became synonymous with the city and was held up as an exemplar for egalitarian housing for all..." (excerpt from "The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, Row Houses by Amanda Casper) Ah, well I do go on...

DD@Phila