Jennifer LeBow

Wharton Esherick House

November 7, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

philadelphia main line relocation — The Wharton Esherick Museum is like no other museum!

The Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern is one of the most unusual and little known treasures of the Main Line. Esherick was a sculptor who worked in wood and his residence/studio was turned into a museum soon after his death in the 1970. Surface decoration always to a back seat to functionality, but he was known to have quipped: “if it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth doing” and the joy and whimsy in his work is evident. He was born and raised in Philadelphia and trained in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as well as wood and metal working at Manual Training High School and drawing and printmaking at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art. He is known for his craftsman-like approach and for blurring the lines between sculpture and furniture. He even had a room featured in the 1940 Worlds Fair. While many people have never heard of him, he had several very loyal and devoted followers who repeatedly commissioned pieces from him over the course of his lifetime.

His home and studio allow visitors to understand his vision and what it was like to live amongst his sculptural interpretations of furniture and design. In his studio, you will find many of his smaller toys and art objects as well as tables and chairs and some examples of his earlier carving work. Being in the house feels like being on a ship, with well designed built-ins maximizing the space and following the contours of the walls. The staircase is a masterpiece, in my humble opinion. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for a fairly short time commitment and an unusual activity.

Relocating with Kids

October 29, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow 1 Comment

philadelphia main line relocation with kids — Relocating with kids isn’t easy–here are some tips.

Moving is hard enough; doing it with kids in tow adds an entire additional dimension to it. Between the concrete logistics like finding a school and place for ballet lessons to the much more complicated emotional piece of the puzzle, relocating with children can be incredibly challenging. It is especially hard on them. Just like you, they are moving away from friends and familiarity. Unlike you, they may never have faced this task before. Try to be understanding, patient and upbeat about a relocation. While I’m a real estate agent, I’m a mother, too and I understand how stressful it can be when your child is afraid or upset. A move can and often does trigger those feelings. Here are some of the best tips I’ve collected to reduce the emotional upheaval of a move for kids:

Explain what’s going to happen in advance. Give them some time to get used to the idea and ask questions. Make sure they understand that while they will make new friends and have new adventures, it doesn’t mean they won’t ever see their old friends and favorite places again.

If possible, visit the area several times prior to the move. Be sure to take them to places and events that they are likely to be excited about. For example, in the Philadelphia area, I’d be sure to visit the Franklin Institute, Smith Memorial Playground and, if you have a teenage daughter, the King of Prussia Mall. These visits will allow the kids to not only explore, but to begin to establish favorite activities and places. Having their own “haunts” will be an appealing part of moving.

Help them create a memory album. Encourage them to take pictures of special friends and meaningful places and make a scrapbook so that they can feel connected when they become lonely for their previous home.

Similarly, plan a “see you soon” party and make sure to talk to the kids enough in advance about it to be sure they have the opportunity to consider whom they want to invite and to get those invitations out well enough in advance to increase the likelihood of a good turnout.

Help your kids design their own change of address cards. It’s easy to make these on line and they can have their own to send to friends with the focus on kid-themed things—for example, their cards could include a message like: “When you come visit, we’ll go to the coolest science museum ever!” These kind of messages are great conversation points that can lead to phone calls or emails which helps your kids stay connected.

Maintain as many of your routines and traditions as you can. Those family dog walks on Sunday morning? Friday night pizza and movie night? Taking turns to choose what’s for dinner? Whatever consistency you can keep will anchor the kids—don’t underestimate the power of those kinds of things to make kids feel like their lives aren’t completely upside down.

Be positive but understanding. You are your child’s role model. If your attitude toward the move is negative, your child will share your feelings. That said, even if you are excited and try to share that excitement, they may well be unsettled. Telling them to “suck it up” or “be brave”, while tempting, is rarely effective. (It’s sort of like when someone says “Calm down.” In the history of the world, has that phrase EVER had the desired outcome?) Acknowledge their concerns and fears and don’t make them feel like you consider them babyish or cowardly. Relocating is scary!

Once you arrive, be sure to meet as many neighbors and people your kids could potentially befriend as possible. Nothing will make you feel at home more than knowing people (and places to go) in your community. Ask the neighbors for recommendations for a pediatrician, the best car wash or a great restaurant. It’ll help you get to know them learn your new area sooner.

Finally, if appropriate, let your children feel some ownership of their new home—let them pick out a bedside rug or new lamp for their night table or even new sheets. If they feel as though they’ve had any control over even a small part of a huge life change, it can mitigate some of the feelings of powerlessness that children often experience in a move.

For more on relocating with kids, try some of these articles:

Make moving easier on you and your kids

Parenting tips for moving with young children

Telling the kids we’re moving

Tips for moving with young children

Helping children adjust to a move

If you are facing the double challenge of relocating in the wake of a divorce, I recommend this article.

If you are relocating to the Philadelphia/Main Line area, please go to my blog page and search for posts using the relocation tag. Contact me to discuss your Philadelphia area relocation! jen@jenniferlebow.com/610 308-5973

Relocating and Buying a Home

October 20, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

philadelphia relocation home buying — Are you relocating and buying a house? Here are some things to consider.

Whether you’re relocating for a job or for personal reasons, there’s a ton of things to think about and a lot of planning that needs to happen for that move to be as painless as possible. If you plan to buy a home in your new area, you’ll need to do some research. First of all, troll the internet to get a general idea of what your budget will get you. Try to get some statistics on school districts and crime rates for neighborhoods you’re considering. Talk to some real estate agents to help you narrow your search according to your specific needs and then talk to a mortgage professional to learn about closing costs and other fees related to a purchase. For a more in-depth look at this topic, please refer to this article on relocating.

Wynnewood’s English Village

October 20, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever driventhrough the English Village tucked behind Lower Merion High School in Wynnewood, you know it. It’s a cluster of 29 houses built and organized on a couple of narrow, winding streets that was designed by the Love brothers to evoke the feeling of Shakespeare’s home village of Stratford-On-Avon. While built between 1925 and 1928, they are modeled after Tudor homes of a much earlier period. The houses, which include nine single family homes as well as ten twins (most attached by their garages) are quirky in their individuality. In order to best fit the challenges of each lot, the houses are not identical. There are unique nooks and crannies in each and the facades display inventive use of stone and brick to fill in gaps between the connected homes. Additionally, the local materials, including Mercer tiles, stained glass, locally-quarried stone and reclaimed lumber ensure that these are not “cookie cutter” dwellings. The brothers included a space for a studio in many of the homes, and several artists have lived in them over the years. Lower Merion Township has designated the houses in Arthur’s Round Table, as the village is known, as Class 1 historic buildings, which means that owners must maintain the original style of the exteriors, so we will be able to enjoy their aesthetic for the foreseeable future.

Jen LeBow’s Red Pepper Soup Recipe

October 18, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Jen LeBow’s Red Pepper Soup Recipe

My daughters LOVE this and it even freezes IF you omit the cream.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss in very large bowl:

3 pounds red bell peppers, cut into 1” wide strips

2 lbs. ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1” pieces (or used canned and include the tomato juice)

3 medium carrots, cut into 1” pieces

2 large sweet onions, cut into 8 wedges

6 torn up basil leaves (or about 2 t dried)

3/4 t dried thyme

1 t paprika

Salt and pepper (go light/ you can always add when you taste it at the end)

6 T olive oil

Once well-combined, dump onto 2 foil-lined cookie sheets and spread out to avoid as much overlap as possible. Bake 45-50 minutes, turning every 15 minutes.

Prepare:

3 cups vegetable broth (I use the bullion paste plus water)

Once the vegetables are cool enough to handle, put about 1/3 of them into a food processor with 1 cup vegetable broth. Repeat twice (for a total of 3 cups of broth and all the veggies).

Place all of the soup in a large bowl or pot.

Add & combine:

1 ½ T balsamic vinegar (reduced is best, but regular will do). I go heavy on this step.

Optional: ¼ cup heavy cream, mixed thoroughly

Cheap Cleaning Can Net You a Nice Profit

September 29, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Clean up by Cleaning Up! — Even if you can’t many many repairs or improvements, your net proceeds will increase with some old-fashioned cleaning.

Unless your home is brand new, recently remodeled or in otherwise pristine condition, chances are that, when you have a realtor in to discuss listing it, you will be furnished with a list of repairs/improvements to make. No matter how much cash you have lying around, I would caution every seller to consider the return on investment of any improvement. For example, putting in a $100,000 in order to sell the house is not a good idea. Why? You might get $50,000-$65.000 more for the house than pre-update. That’s a pretty big loss to take voluntarily. Roof leaking? If so, get it repaired, because few buyers will be interested in buying a house with a leaky roof, plus, it may suggest that the property is in bad condition in general–that kind of blanket assumption by buyers can result in appreciable lower offers. So, there are certainly repairs that have good enough return on investment to merit doing. That said, what if you don’t have the cash to paint the entire interior or put new countertops in the bathrooms?

Make it as tidy and CLEAN as possible. Have the carpets cleaned. You can save some money by renting a carpet cleaning machine from a home center and doing it yourself. Lots of people don’t like carpets (and it may not be financially possible for you to tear yours out and start refinishing the hardwood floors underneath). Clean carpets will certainly go over better than dirty, stained ones, though. Power wash the exterior. Dirt, leaves, moss and general grime do not create your house’s best look. Clean (or hire someone to clean) the windows–dirty windows make the house look dingy and depressing. Make sure your gutters are clear–clogged gutters are the number one cause of roof leaks, aside from the fact that they make the property look ill-cared for. Finally, obviously, clean your house (or have it done professionally). No buyer ever preferred a dusty, cobweb-filled interior over a clean one.

U.S. Postal Service’s Pre-Radar Navigation–Concrete Arrows?

September 29, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

U.S. Postal Service: Pre-Radar — How did U.S. Postal Service pilots navigate pre-radar? Strange, but true!

As strange as it sounds, sometimes the simplest solution, while not elegant, may suffice. When the U.S. Postal Service began to use airplanes to deliver mail, radar had yet to be invented. They flew mostly de-commissioned WW1 planes and many of the pilots were ex-Army or -Navy. Beginning in 1924, in order to help the pilots navigate at night, towers with lights (powered by generators) were installed every 3-5 miles along the transcontinental route between New York and San Francisco. At the base of these beacons, the government installed 50-70 foot long concrete arrows (painted bright yellow for greater visibility) to guide pilots and keep them on the route. So, both during daylight and dark, flights carrying mail to a demanding American public could make their way across the country without getting lost en route. While this system was only in use for about ten years, by which time the earliest form of non sight-based navigation had been developed, it grew to include about 1500 towers and was considered a success. While most of the towers are gone, some of the concrete arrows are still visible today. For more information about their locations and history, read this well-researched article.

Multi-Generational Living

September 29, 2016 by Jennifer LeBow Leave a Comment

Multi-generational living is exactly what it sounds like–several generations of families living together. This trend grew during the recession: many young adults had trouble finding jobs and moved back in with their parents after college. Additionally, seniors who might have been relying on some help from their children for living expenses might have given up their residences and moved in with their kids to save money (as many of those home owners suffered job losses of their own). Additionally, seniors who are not working outside the home can help care for grandchildren and, if they drive, can run errands and help with meal preparation. Young adults can participate in those tasks as well as cleaning/house work and minor repairs, if they are handy.

Apart, though, from the financial benefits of sharing a home, Americans (a little late to the game, in my opinion) are discovering that there are some major advantages to multi-generational living. The opportunity for grandparents and grandchildren to see each other on a daily basis forms very strong familial bonds. It also means that there is less traveling for visits on weekends or holidays when many people would prefer to use the time to relax. Having young adults around with younger children may provide them with a confidante/role model (obviously, it depends on the young adult!). I also think that multi-generational living has the effect of strengthening the bonds and demonstrating the value of family. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues…

After writing the original post, above, during the pandemic, I wanted to, in late 2023, revisit the topic. I had wondered whether the trend would continue. This article indicates that it has. According to CNBC, 18% of American households are multi-genreational, a pattern that has grown steadily during the last 50 years. At this point, the main driver of creating multi-generational households is the incredible divergence between housing costs and wages. In the last 10 years, wages have increased by 54%, but housing has increased by 74%. If you look back even further (adjusted for general inflation), housing prices have, since 1965, inreased 118%, while income has only increased 15%.

With less and less available land to build on, new construction continues to lag behind demand for housing. It’s hard to see a scenario in which availability of housing increases substantially and there is no reason to expect demand to decrease–everyone needs somewhere to live. I hope that more options to the housing shortgage present themselves–there is some promise in the idea of inexpensive, quick-to-be-built modular or 3-D housing, for example. For now, though, multi-generational living remains a very good choice for many people, and not only for the cost savings.

This post was updated October of 2023.

Jennifer LeBow

Let’s Connect

Looking for our Main Line Neighborhood Guide?