Blacksmith Shop

As Chairperson for Buckingham Township’s Historical and Architectural Review Board- HARB, I find the history of buildings extremely fascinating. The first Historic District of Buckingham Township was Spring Valley- at the intersection of Mill Road and Route 202. In addition to Spring Valley, there are now four (4) new districts within the Township which require a review by HARB for any exterior changes to a building.

Blacksmith shop as it appears today

A local builder and new member to HARB- John Gemmi is renovating a building in the Village of Spring Valley, and has researched the building’s history as the work has progressed. The structure was originally a blacksmith shop owned by a Patrick Barrett in the 1800’s and was located on the northeast corner at Mill Road and 202. Mr. Barrett also had a Hardware Store, a Wheelwright shop, resided above these shops, and eventually handed the business down to his son who brought it into the 20th century. As one views these images, the world was quite a different place then- please enjoy.

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Views of Doylestown

At Home in the American Barn

At Home in the AMERICAN BARN highlights a selection of barns renovated for residential use. My design was to restore and refurbish a classic 1800s banked barn in Solebury, Pennsylvania.

I incorporated large areas of glass at the exterior walls to reveal the unique heavy timber-peg & mortise construction within. From the outside, you can see this distinctive basic assembly of barn framing- known as ‘bents’. The renovations and additions to the barn expressed the Owner’s program “to provide interesting spaces, a sense of excitement for guests by the juxtapositions of materials and objects, and to continue offering a compatible exterior setting to the rural Bucks County countryside.”