Architecture Wednesday: Tacony Saving Fund Safe Deposit & Title Company

This is the Tacony Saving Fund Safe Deposit & Title Company building at the corner of Tulip St and Longshore Ave in Philadelphia. Designed in a monumental style intended to instill confidence and trust in their customers, the building housed the trust on the first floor, a community library on the second, and a lodge room for Tacony Lodge No. 600 on the third.

Today the Tacony building is one of Philadelphia’s finest examples of adaptive reuse, offering the most discerning buyer a glorious melding of old and new, industrial and cozy, vintage and modern. Built in 1893, this handsome red brick building boasts prominent, full-story Sullivanesqe arched windows spanning both facades with a modern entrance at the west end.

Once inside, find everything you’d expect from such a commanding structure: sun-soaked open spaces, soaring ceilings, columns, steel beams, exposed ductwork and burnished metal. The patinaed hardwood floors, tin ceilings and vault honor the building’s previous lives and history and a freight elevator is a nod to turn-of-the-century industrial design.

At ground level is a spacious open floorplan filled with incredible architectural detail, yet uniquely suited to comfortable everyday living it features defined, cozy spaces while remaining open and loft-like. Here, a piano and music area take center stage against a backdrop of colorful art and plants. A gas fireplace in the corner reading nook anchors a cozy section of the room and provides a reprieve from the chill of crisp winter evenings.

The kitchen is practical and functional with painted black flooring, open shelving, and a door to the beautiful side garden. The industrial shelving, paper lantern light fixtures, wide transom windows, and corner fireplace meld seamlessly into the design of the room. A cheerful light-filled bedroom with a gold tin ceiling, an office, and a full bath fill out the main floor. Downstairs is a full basement with laundry, a workshop with elevator access.

On the second floor is a creative’s dream. Statement arched windows line the south wall, flooding the floor with natural light. Formerly the Jack Costello Boxing Club, this space holds a rich history in the neighborhood. A wide-open blank slate with columns and soaring ceilings allow for endless uses: a workshop, painting or ceramics studio, and gym are just a few ideas. A guest suite with a full kitchen and half bath are open to allow light to bounce throughout the space.

The third floor is currently home to a full-service recording studio carefully designed around the principles of room acoustics. A state-of-the-art control room and monitoring station, soundproof isolation booth, and a spectacular live room with exposed ductwork and vaulted tongue and groove ceilings create a wow factor. Also included on the floor is a traveling musician’s guest suite complete with a kitchenette, sunny bedroom, an office, and a renovated full bath.

Nestled in the Tacony a historic neighborhood along the Delaware River you’ll find a vibrant community with a rich history, industrial heritage, and a strong sense of civic pride. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016, the Tacony Disston District is distinguished by its large park and trail system and train access to New York and Philadelphia. In a neighborhood rife with historic architecture, this adaptive reuse is an architectural marvel. A truly exceptional property with charm and thoughtful renovations in a soul-filled building.

And for just $1M USD.

As always click to emBIGGERzate …

Dwell

Vote Blue. Here's Another Slew of Reasons Why

Here we are again, with a wee taste of the lunacy, racism, criminality, and bigotry and hate inside the GOP … and let’s start with the Dog Killer:

SOUTH DAKOTA

Y’all know that dog killing liar Kristi Noem, has a book coming out but now her office is saying she will go back and correct some errors … like when she claimed to have met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un:

“I remember when I met with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants—I’d been a children’s pastor after all.”

Except that never happened though Noem’s spokesperson claims it was an “error” to include Kim in a list of world leaders who Noem has met. And other “corrections” in future editions will include removing a false claim about a conversation with Nikki Haley that never happened, and the time Noem says she declined French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to sit in his box during an Armistice Day Parade because he supposedly made “pro-Hamas comments.” His office says that “never” happened.

Noem stands by her lies as being “small errors.”

It’s not a stretch from Republican to liar, or even dog killer to liar.

On the upside, a county Republican group in Colorado has cancelled a fundraiser featuring Kristi Noem after she wrote gleefully about murdering her dog.

Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Nancy Pallozzi said that the group’s fundraising dinner was being cancelled “due to safety concerns” after the group, the governor and her staff, and the hotel hosting the event received “numerous threats and/or death threats.”

People don’t like dog killers.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto pushed back on a claim by Nancy Mace, the GOP Representative from South Carolina, who says that progressive billionaire George Soros funded the groups involved in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. Mace claimed:

“You’ve got groups that are funded by George Soros. There are Palestinian rights groups that I believe are involved, funded by George Soros, and they need to be off of our college campuses if they’re committing violence, full stop.”

 Cavuto, no stranger to dealing with lying Republicans like Nancy Mace, said:

“There’s no proof that these are funded by George Soros, by the way… their folks have denied that.”

“We’ll agree to disagree, I guess.”

“I’ve just looked for the checks and I haven’t seen them yet.”

Nancy Mace is a Kristi Noem wannabe.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The New Hampshire House passed a bill to raise the legal age of marriage to 18; Senate Bill 359 states that “no person below the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.” Under present law, that age is 16.

But GOP Representative Jess Edwards argued that taking away the possibility of marriage could lead more 16- and 17-year-olds to abortion:

“If we continually restrict the freedom of marriage as a legitimate social option, when we do this to people who are a ripe, fertile age and may have a pregnancy and a baby involved, are we not in fact making abortion a much more desirable alternative, when marriage might be the right solution for some freedom-loving couples?”

Yes, he’s worried about sixteen-year-olds having abortions as opposed to forcing them to marry at that age.

ALABAMA

The House voted to make school and public library staff criminally liable for distributing “sexual or gender-oriented material” to minors without parental consent, placing libraries in the same category as “adult-only” stores, movies and entertainment. GOP Representative Arnold Mooney sponsored the legislation.

Seriously. And it would force school and public librarians to remove a book that someone finds obscene or harmful to minors within seven days of written notice to the library director or principal. If they don’t they could face a misdemeanor.

It’s unclear who will determine if the book is obscene.

SOUTH CAROLINA

During an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, GOP Senator Tim Scott—his head still up Hair Furor’s ass looking for that VP nod—repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election.

Yes, the election that hasn’t happened yet, he says will be rigged if Hair Furor doesn’t win. Welker tried, and tried, and tried again to get Scott to say he will accept the results of the 2024 election:

“Will you commit to accepting the election results of 2024: Bottom line?”

“At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be President Donald Trump.”

“Yes or no? Will you accept the election results of 2024 no matter who wins?”

“That is my statement.”

No, the statement is Tim Scott is a pandering, goose-stepping asshat who is doing Hair Furor’s bidding because he wants a high-profile spot in the Traitor’s administration.

TENNESSEE

GOP Governor Bill Lee plans to sign a bill state legislators sent to his desk that would allow school staff members to carry concealed handguns on school grounds:

“What’s important to me is that we give districts tools and the option to use a tool that will keep their children safe in their schools.”

No money for books or computers or more teachers to reduce class size, but a bill to allow teachers to carry weapons.

PENNSYLVANIA

GOP Representative Mike Kelly, an outspoken critic of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, used the law to receive a grant to install solar panels at one of his car dealerships. 

Kelly has long derided the Inflation Reduction Act, which made his grant possible, saying:

“The bill provides $375 billion in so-called ‘climate change’ legislation, which include $7,500 tax credits for wealthy Americans to purchase electric vehicles (EV).”

He voted that you can’t benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act, but he can.

GOP hypocrisy, and the fact that they think their constituents are stupid enough to fall for his lies.

TEXAS

GOP Representative Troy Nehls has repeatedly claimed to be the recipient of two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge from his time serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a review of his service record by the Pentagon show Nehls received one—not two—Bronze Star medals. And his Combat Infantryman Badge from Afghanistan was revoked from his service record in 2023 because Nehls served as a civil affairs officer, not as an infantryman or Special Forces soldier.

Emily Matthews, Nehls’ press secretary, declined to discuss the matter or provide any explanation for the discrepancies.

More lies from Republicans.

GOODNEWS

GOP CONVENTION

NBC News interviewed more than 15 major corporate fundraisers and consultants with corporate clients, and many have expressed concern over a charged political climate that they worry could backfire on their brand or where an investment would not pay off.

They say that Hair Furor and the baggage that comes with backing him, and that slew of GOP liars, hypocrites and thieves I just mentioned, was most often cited as a consideration by many of the corporate donors and consultants to avoid any connection with the GOP and RNC.

Uh oh; if the RNC doesn’t get corporate sponsorship coins, how with they ever pay Hair Furor’s legal bills?

UTAH

Less than 72 hours after the launch of a reporting form to help Utah enforce its transgender bathroom ban, the Utah auditor’s office says it has received nearly 4,000 complaints. And all of them appear to be “bogus.”

Utah Auditor John Dougall says his office created the online reporting tool to comply with GOP Representative Kera Birkeland’s “Sex-based Designations for Privacy, Anti-bullying and Women’s Opportunities.

Birkeland is a former Mrs. Utah beauty pageant contestant and her sole previous legislative record is a successful resolution that criticizes Shaquille O’Neal’s free throw record and mocks his movie’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Really.

Oh, and last year she introduced an anti-abortion bill that was condemned by her own sister, who is a rape survivor.

CNN

News anchor Kaitlan Collins caught GOP Senator J.D. Vance flat-footed during a line of questioning on the current pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the country.

Collins quizzed the pro-Hair Furor senator on his views regarding the value of free speech versus the safety and well-being of students whose lives have been disrupted by the protests on campus—to which Vance replied that police should only become involved if protesters are breaking the law:

“My view on this is that Israel’s our ally, that we should support them, but you can’t police people for being anti-Israel or pro-Israel. You can police people for violating the law, and we have seen some of that with some of these protests.”

“OK. So you agree that people who break in and vandalize the building should be prosecuted?”

“Exactly.”

Collins then brought up Vance’s past support for the pro-Hair Furor insurrectionists who broke into the US Capitol on January 6.

And Vance gave :::crickets:::

KANSAS

State Republican legislators in Kansas failed to override Democrat Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors; the vote was two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority.

The vote in the House was expected to be close after LGBTQ+ rights advocates raised questions about whether the provision against promoting social transitioning is written broadly enough to apply to public school teachers who show empathy for transgender students.

And that’s just a small taste of GOP lunacy ... dog killing liars, fearmongering liars, those in favor of child marriage so teens cannot get an abortion, book banning librarian jailers, those who are already saying the 2024 election is rigged, arming teachers, GOP hypocrisy, more liars about their military service … but there is some spots of Good News.

pardoning traitors for political points; gibberish speakers; anti-military criminals; lunatics and Big Liars; Christian Nationalist Nazi sympathizers; party over country fools; unfit for political office; liars and flip-floppers; and Arizona.

So what do we do if we want more Good News? We ...

Bobservations

As is usual around Casa Bob y Carlos I do the Christmas decorations. One could say it’s because of Carlos’ eyesight, which could be true; or it might be because he doesn’t enjoy it like I do, which is also somewhat accurate; or you could say it’s because I become a demon at Christmas and direct him where to put ornaments and such because one time he lined up three … THREE … blue ornaments in a row; the paramedics took an hour to revive me.

So Carlos says I am a combination of Martha Stewart, Joan Crawford and Adolf Hitler when I decorate the tree so for these past several years he disappears when the ornaments come out. But, he does his part; we have an artificial tree—we are surrounded by pine trees and so I don’t want a dead one in my house—and he puts it together before he disappears. This weekend we got the tree, the ornaments, the decorations, lights, holiday bric-a-brac from the garage and I went back to blog as Carlos assembled the tree. I was minding my own business when  I heard him say:

“Hey Jon Stewart, the tree is ready!”

Jon Stewart? Comedian? Political activist? Christmas? Then it hit me … Joan Crawford sounds a little John Crawford with his accent and then  he’d stirred in Martha Stewart.

John. Stewart.

Carlos, the gift that keeps on giving.

This Tuxedo memory is from April 2012:

"Caturday

This is the Smallville version of Neighborhood Watch.

Not as much Yin-and-Yang as it is Yin-and-Yin."

There was always something in the yard to keep Consuelo and Tuxedo watching, and I miss my two boys and their cuddle time.

I swear when I saw this post on JoeMyGod I thought someone had purchased Hawaiian Air for $1.98 and instantly wondered why I missed that chance.

In Pennsylvania, while most of the newly sworn in members to the Central Bucks school board chose to swear their oaths on a bible, incumbent Karen Smith brought a stack of other books to the ceremony … and took her oath of office with her hand placed on top of six frequently banned and challenged books.

The tide may be changing; keep that in mind and vote accordingly.

The same crowd that has carried a grudge against Jane Fonda for 50 years think we should "get past" Jan 6^th.

A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of St. Petere at the Pearly Gates he noticed a huge wall of clocks and asked:

“What are those clocks?”

St. Peter answered:

“Those are Lie Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie Clock and every time someone lies the hands on their clock moves forward.”

‘Whose clock is that?”

“That’s Mother Teresa’s. The hands on her clock have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.”

“Incredible.”

“And that’s Abraham Lincoln’s clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Lincoln told two lies during his entire life.”

“Where’s, um, Thing 45’s clock?”

“Oh, Jesus took it to his office. He’s using it as a ceiling fan.”

How fast is your clock moving?

The New Hampshire GOP just introduced a bill to ban abortion after just fifteen days; days, not weeks. 

Remember that when you go to the polls; most Americans believe in a woman’s right to choose but still the GOP stands in her way.

She’s quite sweet and affectionate and loves to be petted and held but, man, does Rosita have Resting Bitch Face or what?

Moms for Liberty Bigotry and Hate co-founder Bridget Ziegler has left her position at the conservative Leadership Institute, which has already removed her name from its website in wake of a three-way sex scandal and criminal probe involving her husband.

Ziegler and her husband liked adding another woman to their sexual escapades, which is not a bad thing among consenting adults, but when you paint yourself as the model of Christianity and Liberty and all that other balderdash, you just look like a lying, hypocritical fool. Bye.

Alexandre Faucon is an Italian artist, originally from Tuscany who now lives in Brussels; all well and good, but Would You Hit It?