Duvall Studios

06/11/2026

Was once the Architectural Center Bookstore, where I spent many a browse & conversation.
Photo by Paul Diebold.

06/10/2026

I love rowhouses!

On May 13, 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on a house. 🏚️

The target was MOVE, a Black liberation group that had been in a long, escalating conflict with city authorities. The bomb ignited a fire on the rooftop of 6221 Osage Avenue. What happened next is one of the most extraordinary decisions in American municipal history: city officials let it burn.

What's interesting is that this wasn't a remote location or an abandoned building. It was a residential block in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood, surrounded by homes where families lived. By the time it was over, 61 houses had burned to the ground. Eleven people died inside the MOVE compound, including five children. Approximately 250 people lost their homes overnight.

Here's where it gets complicated: the city later rebuilt the houses on Osage Avenue, and those rebuilt homes were found to be structurally deficient. Residents sued. Investigations followed. Commissions were formed. And for decades, the full accounting of what happened that day remained incomplete, contested, and deeply painful for the people who lived through it.

Philadelphia is a city with a complicated relationship with its own history. This is one of the chapters it has never fully closed.

Did you know about the MOVE bombing before today? 👇

06/10/2026

A rare example of an arcade atrium building in Indiana.

LAFAYETTE BUILDING FIRE UPDATE | Tuesday, 12:30 p.m.

Following Monday’s fire at the Lafayette Building, the South Bend Fire Department requested assistance from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office as part of the ongoing investigation.

A state fire investigator assigned to St. Joseph County met with SBFD personnel at the scene around 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and began examining the building.

As a precaution and to ensure a thorough investigation, the state fire investigator also requested a search-and-rescue cadaver dog to help in searching debris in the building. No victims were found. An accelerant detection canine was also requested.

Investigators are focusing their efforts on the rear portion of the 5th floor, which sustained the heaviest damage.

Members of the Clay Fire Territory are also assisting by using a special 3D camera to help document conditions in the building.

We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

06/08/2026

Built in 1471, Provand’s Lordship is Glasgow’s OLDEST surviving house and one of only four medieval buildings still standing in the city.

Its recent transformation may look dramatic, but the pale coating is not a modern cover-up. During the 2022–2024 conservation work, the exposed rubble sandstone was given a traditional lime harling render — a breathable protective finish historically used on buildings like this.

The aim was not to hide the medieval fabric, but to protect it from weather and damp while bringing the house closer to how it may have looked in the 15th century.

06/07/2026

This couple grows trees in the shape of chairs. They sell for $90K.
Gavin Munro and his wife are realizing his lifelong dream, taking about 10 years and painstaking effort for each chair.
By Sydney Page

Gavin Munro and his wife are realizing his lifelong dream, taking about 10 years and painstaking effort for each chair.

05/30/2026

From NYT

05/29/2026

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1402504645238264&id=100064362264961

Loving Your Old House is back with a special session! Join us on Wednesday, June 17, for a session featuring Benjamin L. Ross. He will be speaking on the hierarchy of space in historic buildings! This session will help attendees understand the importance of historic floor plans and how to view them through a modern lens. This session was a favorite in 2025, so if you didn’t attend, plan to now! Tickets are available now via Madtix. The event page is linked in the comments.

05/28/2026

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/realestate/the-last-bubble-house-wallace-neff.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Located in Pasadena, Calif., this futuristic dome — and affordable housing prototype — still stuns.