Inside the estate sale of a 'very South Philly Italian grandma'

The living room at 1637 West Ritner St. looks almost exactly as it did 50 years ago, including the pink velvet couch (perfectly preserved under custom-made clear vinyl), the burgundy wall-to-wall carpet, and the tension rod lamp with its metal winged mermaids holding light bulbs aloft. It’s a regular South Philly rowhouse, packed with well-loved, well-maintained fixtures from the 1960s. But in an era of homes filled with mass-produced fast furniture and gray cabinets and countertops, that’s also what makes it special.