South Jersey’s patterned brick homes | Real Estate Newsletter

Sure, we’ve all seen brick houses, but have you ever seen one with zigzag patterns built into the side using different colored bricks?

In the 18th century, Quaker farmers built more than 100 of these patterned brick houses in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties. That’s more than anywhere else in the country.

One historian said these houses are taken for granted. But he and others hope the country’s 250th birthday celebrations next year will make people look twice at Revolutionary War-era buildings like South Jersey’s patterned brick houses.

Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:

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Quaker farmers who could afford to commission skilled laborers are responsible for most of the patterned brick houses built in the early 1700s.

Laborers made the bricks on site and built intricate designs — often zigzags — into one side of the house. Some walls look like woven fabric.

Historian Robert L. Thompson spent five years researching houses with these distinctive architectural features for his book, Patterned Brick Architecture of West New Jersey. (I won’t comment on the existence of a “West New Jersey.”)

Thompson and his wife, Pat, crisscrossed rural Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and elsewhere to document and photograph these houses.

Keep reading to find out how South Jersey became the country’s capital of patterned brick architecture.

Philly’s real estate developers have been pumping the breaks recently for a variety of reasons. Rising interest rates. High construction costs. Cuts to the city’s 10-year property tax abatement.

Developers hoped 2025 would bring them some relief.

Then came the Trump administration’s tariffs. A lot of building materials come from other countries, including flooring and appliances from China. Chinese goods, especially, now are subject to high taxes.

Local developers also said the general uncertainty and volatility of Trump’s second term so far, including constantly changing trade policies, could keep builders from building.

But how vulnerable are Philly developers when it comes to tariffs? Keep reading to learn about the possible consequences at different ends of the housing market.

The 200-year-old townhouse in Rittenhouse had lived several lives by the time Allison and Jeff Barudin bought it a few years ago.

The four-story brownstone had been separated into apartments, had hosted businesses on the first floor, and was rented out as a single-family home.

The Barudins wanted to turn it into a fun space to host guests.

The first floor was made for hosting, but the homeowners had to put their new kitchen on the second floor. So they installed a two-story dumbwaiter to carry meals downstairs. Now, they don’t have to navigate their circular antique staircase with steaming dishes.

Other renovations included refinishing all the floors and restoring some of the home’s historic character with molding and wallpaper. The couple likes to cook, and the new kitchen features a quartz island, soapstone countertops, and checkerboard marble tile on the floor.

And the homeowners created dedicated spaces for their sheepadoodle, Pearl.

Peek inside the Barudins’ four-bedroom, 3,400-square-foot home and see why my colleague called it “a visual delight.”

We’re at the beginning of the spring homebuying and selling season, and early signs point to the spring market looking like dumped candy from plastic Easter eggs — a mixed bag.

“Falling mortgage rates could give the housing market a boost this spring,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at the multiple listing service Bright MLS, said in a statement. “But weakening economic conditions, more uncertainty, and growing consumer anxiety could have a dampening effect on the market.”

It’s too soon to know how all that will end up shaping the overall spring market. But the Philly region’s housing market was still pretty solid last month, according to data from Bright MLS.

In the Philly metro area in March:

🔺The median sales price was $368,000. That’s about 5% higher than it was at the same time last year.

🔺New pending home sales were up 4.5% from the same time last year.

🔺The number of new home listings was up almost 10% from last March.

🔻But the number of active home listings at the end of the month was still less than half what it was in 2019.

Falling mortgage interest rates throughout February and more homes hitting the market in March brought out buyers in the Philly area last month. But there still aren’t enough attainable homes for sale to meet demand.

Stay tuned for a look at April’s numbers in a few weeks. They’ll give us more of an idea of the strength of the spring market.

Do you know the location this photo shows?

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Shoutout to Michele G., Jane H., Lars W., Joann H., and Sean K. for knowing that last week’s photo showed friends hanging out in Rittenhouse Square.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

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