Philly homes = childproofing nightmares | Real Estate Newsletter
And homeowners fight foul balls.
A month ago, my cousins brought their newly 2-year-old son over for a visit — a break from the norm, since I usually go over to their house.
It wasn’t until I watched my cousin run after my nephew as he opened cabinets and reached for breakable decorations that I realized just how much my home isn’t childproofed.
Philly homes especially present some unique challenges when it comes to making them safe for kids. Today, we’re offering some tips for tackling childproofing in your home.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Foul situation: See why Cherry Hill homeowners are threatening legal action against the school district over flying baseballs.
Who’s on top?: Learn how Philly is bucking national trends right now when it comes to being a buyer’s or a seller’s market.
Addressing a hurdle: Learn about a new Philly program that’s covering renters’ up-front rental expenses when they move.
Bringing work home: Peek inside this Newtown Square home where a builder couple and their kids lived in the attic during renovations.
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Philly homes are old and can be quirky. So it’s not easy — or cheap — to make sure they’re safe for their littlest residents.
U.S. households spend an average of almost $400 on childproofing. The average in Philly is almost $700.
Childproofing would have been a real headache in my former Center City trinity home, a housing style unique to Philly.
Exposed radiators, antique stairs, and unpredictable wall materials are just some of the challenges Philly homeowners face when trying to protect their kids.
But they find ways. For example, mesh nets and acrylic slabs can prevent children from climbing ladder-style railings.
Keep reading for more childproofing tips from experts and parents.
Guy and Mirit Holzman saved for a down payment for years so they could buy their dream home. That turned out to be a five-bedroom, five-bath 5,000-square-foot house in Cherry Hill.
They moved into their home with their three young children early last year. A few months later, baseballs started flying into their backyard.
Cherry Hill High School East’s spring baseball season had started, and the homeowners discovered that living next to the school’s baseball field meant players’ foul balls would land in their fenced yard.
One day, a ball broke the windshield of their car parked in the driveway. Then, Mirit Holzman said a ball hit her in the shoulder while she was holding her 1-year-old son.
When she went over to the field, she faced angry baseball fans and school officials who told her she was trespassing. Parents and a school official said the Holzmans should have known this could happen when they bought a house next to the field.
The homeowners have been battling the school district ever since.
Keep reading to learn what the homeowners are demanding from the district and how the district has responded.
The latest news to pay attention to
Philly home sellers still have the upper hand as most of the country shifts to a buyer’s market.
Philadelphia has rolled out a new program that’s covering some renters’ up-front rental expenses when they move.
DOGE cut a $500,000 grant to plant trees and weatherize homes in a Philly neighborhood that’s hit hard by heat waves.
Delaware County plans to create a big new park with land once earmarked for homes and stores.
Toll Brothers bought a former Catholic school for $9.5 million and plans to replace it with a 55-plus community.
Severe coastal flooding could threaten these Jersey Shore towns in coming years.
Here’s why New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware rank among the best states for people who work from home.
The Trump administration has unfrozen money for the Philly Tree Plan — at least for now.
House of the week: For $905,000 in South Philly, a stand-alone rowhouse with a roof deck, parking space, and storage shed.
Erica Edwards owns a design-build company. Her husband, Joel, owns a construction company. So when they decided to move their family out of their Fishtown rowhouse during the pandemic, they were more than up to the task of reimagining the Newtown Square fixer-upper they found.
The 5,500-square-foot Georgian Colonial home was built in 1896 and needed a lot of work.
The homeowners and their three children lived in a nearby rental home for the first six months of renovations. For the last three, they and their rescue dog lived in their new home’s third-floor attic.
The owners wanted to add modern features, such as air-conditioning, while still maintaining the home’s character. For example, they kept the home’s original Dutch front door, which they call the “Mr. Ed” door.
The family also cleaned up the overgrown yard of the three-acre property and now has six chickens.
Peek inside the family’s home and find out what unexpected feature the homeowners called one of their greatest discoveries during renovations.
📷 Photo quiz
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📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Kudos to Bruce H. and Tim G. for correctly answering last week’s photo quiz, which showed a family posing in front of the LOVE statue at LOVE Park.
Bruce told me, “I have fond memories of eating lunch in LOVE Park on nice days when I worked at One Logan. That was some years back, before the anti-skateboard renovation, which opened up the park, but the skateboarders were fun to watch, at least for me.”
Also, it turns out I didn’t stump everyone two weeks ago. Because of an email issue, I missed a message from Caitlin J., who knew that beautiful photo in the March 27 newsletter showed a bench outside the Rodin Museum.
She said it’s her “favorite secret lunch break spot.”
I’ll have to try it now that the secret’s out. Enjoy the rest of your week.
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