This was my dream home in my late 20s. Plaster walls, painted trim, deep windows, wide plank flooring, stone. I have always loved stone. The back porch firpelace area is killer.

The words 1884 and 'federal' certainly don't go together....

I saw this, as you know. This is totally totally my thing. Not to mention, my siblings and BFF from 7th grade are within 20 minutes. I grew up in the area. My DS did an in depth family history for an immigration class and my paternal ancestors lived in this very town in the 1800s.It's a good size and not over our budget.

Alas, it is 3 hours *further* from Maine and we are trying to get closer.

But I just love it. Wonder if my ancestors ever stopped by for a visit there? It is a tiny town.

PS that particular honey color of the house is what is called "Pennsylvania fieldstone." I guess it must be in other areas too but not many; you don't see it in CT or NY, it is in some part of NJ and my guess is DE or MD? I so love it.

The dog.

Listings, and ”For the Love of Old Houses”, when a picture makes me stop and look, it’s nearly always a Pennsylvania house. When the original owner of our midwestern house stopped by one day, she told us our model in the neighborhood was called ”Pennsylvania farmhouse”. I think some 1960 liberties were taken, but I did fall for it when we saw the listing.

That's really lovely. The skylights transform the kitchen.

I could due without the bare plaster walls, though. I understand the urge to say, "Look at how old my house is!" but all I can think is that the original owners would have been embarrassed to have their walls look like that. I could see doing a peekaboo for the scribbled, "I papered this room May 22, 1922," etc., though.

Beautiful. One of our favorite places is very close. Overflow guests can stay at the Black Bass.

https://www.blackbasshotel.com/

Yes, I was amused to see the local Toyota dealer bought both the BB and the Golden Pheasant, places we went to when i was a kid.

OMG this is so weird. I just looked it up to be sure and yes, several generations back my family lived in this tiny hamlet (cross roads really) along the river. I don't know their address, but one of them was buried in the mid 1800s in a cemetery six doors down.

To give you some idea how small it is i just looked it up. Carversville has 100 residents!

@cawaps, it's funny the owners, if they were affluent enough for wallpaper would probably be embarrassed by the bare wood floors, too. These would have been covered.

When the house is reassessed basednon the sale price those property taxes will skyrocket. They actually seem abnormally low for the house before the addition.

I could move in as is today and tomorrow I’d paint the walls a pretty chalk white.

That is such a beautiful area and one of our favorite afternoon drives topped off with dinner at one of the many wonderful restaurants in Bucks County. One of our oldest friends recently purchased a home on Main Street in New Hope and we took Aquetong Road to avoid the traffic jam in town. But we turned off before Carversville. George Nakashima's wood studio is further down Aquetong.

https://nakashimawoodworkers.com/

When the house is reassessed based on the sale price those property taxes will skyrocket.

Reassessments in this area are done very sporadically, not every time a property is sold. High property taxes come with new construction, not on older properties. This is from a 2019 article:

Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties have not reassessed their properties in about 20 years; Bucks County last reassessed decades before that...State law requires counties to reassess all properties at once. The process is expensive and politically unpopular, so counties are reluctant to undertake it.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/assessment-appeal-montco-chester-bucks-delco-delaware-county-reassessment-20190729.html

Wow. I will take it and every piece of furniture in it, unchanged along with the setting (but could it please be moved north across the border?). Love it all.

Wasn't that kitchen featured somewhere? I swear I have a pic of it saved from a few years ago.

Daisy. I thought the same thing when the kitchen popped up….

Such a beautiful home. Love almost everything!! That green/blue color in the keeping room is lovely!

Does the lambskin ghost make anyone else nervous? I felt the same with the floral arrangements on that recent blog about Fall decorating….

In any event, no one should rely on those tax rates lasting any period of time. IIRC the owner bought it for $350k in 2018. Probably a shell, as are more than few homes in that general area. Not sure why, but New Hope, a charming old riverfront town, started to skew toward biker bars and tattoo parlors a few years ago. Hope it is turning back.

Absolutely perfect, down to the dog and the barn. This is a lovely drive in the fall. Such a pretty area.

Mtn, i was so sad the last time I visited New Hope. it was so charming and artsy at one time but it was full of stores that sell tourist tchotchkes now. It is definitely saveable and I hope that happens. Considering the price of surrounding real estate, it might bounce back..

Thanks for sharing this one, Pal.

Ded, I have not been in a while, but tourist tchotchkes would be better than what i recall, which was more like vape shops instead of fudge shops. I always wonder what causes such things. Not obvious since it isn't like there was any local downturn, in fact Bucks County is booming. Nearby Doylestown is much nicer than when i was a kid, but New Hope is less nice. I usually blame local politics. The area has natural charm and a good location.

Reminds me, where is HHIreno? dont think ive seen her in a while. I think she is in that area.

I sure do like the interior but there is something very off-putting about the back of the house. It's uncomfortable to look at. The front of the house is of course, very nicely balanced but the back of the house is not.

That’s interesting, Bookwoman. The county does not base fair market value on the actual purchase price? Assessed value is usually a set percentage of what the county deems fair market value, which in every county I have ever lived in is deemed to have been demonstrated each time a house sells —- if the transaction is a qualified, arms length one.

A wholesale reassessment of all properties in a county is rarely done here for the very same reasons you stated.

It varies quite a bit. The assessed value of the parcel my dad grew up on and an adjacent one we paid the taxes on as a physical buffer had not changed from 1956 until about 2016. The parcel taxes went up about 5 fold or 6 fold and the little parcel we paid on because it was so minimal went up ten-fold and we stopped paying it. This is a county in the middle of PA and they reassessed because they basically lost all industry and became a bedroom county.

We just (along with the rest of the county) got reassessed last year. Our new assessment nearly doubled, is just slightly below the market value of our house, and our property taxes actually went down by about 15%. The law here is that the total amount of taxes collected after a reassessment can't change, so instead they change the millage rate.

I like the back much better than the front; but, the lot is tiny. Much to close to the neighboring house.

Bookwoman, are you in Bucks County? I have to ask my sibs what their experience is. I knew assessments were way off for a long time, but that is often true. The whole concept is a little odd.

In our first home, we successfully challenged our assessment. When we sold 2 years later, thought, people used the assessment as one indicator of market value. For that reason I haven't bothered to challenge our assessment here, which I also think is too high.

Tina, historic homes (unless they are farms) are almost always packed in tight. It's a trade off.

I'm in Delaware County.

I bought a single hamily home in Rehoboth Beach, a few counties south of this in the state of Delaware . I can confirm that they don't raise or change assessments on houses there when they change hands. They assess houses based on what they were worth in 1974. True story. It blew my mind. 😁

My house there is currently assessed at $28,000. My annual taxes there are less than what I pay in one month in N.Y..

Just wanted to confirm what Bookwoman is saying is true in more places than one.

They assess houses based on what they were worth in 1974.

Outdated assessments do not, of course, mean one's property taxes are low, it simply means the tax burden may not be equitably distributed.

The town has to cover its costs, which usually go up every year, and the assessment is just to determine everyone's share of the total.

So if the last assessment, was, say in 1980, and you had 2 identical new construction houses, they would have identical property tax bills. But if one was now a dilapidated mess and the other was pristine and improved, they would have a different market value. By performing assessments regularly, you come closer to distributing the tax burden based on market value. In my extreme example, one HO's taxes would go down and one's would go up.

IOW, if the town reassessed tomorrow and said your home was worth $280,000, there is no particular reason to anticipate your tax bill going up, and like, Bookwoman, it could go down.

That aside, it is indeed shocking how different mill rates are around the country, but the good news is if you have been a homeowner in very high tax areas like we have, you're easily pleased. I laugh at one some realtors think is high taxes! ANd don't get me started on SALT.

Beautiful house, thanks for sharing. The kitchen looked to me to be very influenced or perhaps designed by deVol; I’m a huge fan! (Anyone else here watching “For the Love of Kitchens”?)
I live in the Bay Area, and around here you couldn’t touch a modest bungalow on a tiny lot for that price.

Again, the Pennsylvania property tax structure is very interesting! I guess it proves there is more than one way to skin a cat. Our millage rate increases are modest but assessments are based on FMV. My county’s property taxes in particular are very high but the county needs rhe money, especially for our schools, so we don’t take the senior citizen abatements we’re entitled to.

I'm saving pictures of the kitchen as it is one that would compliment my home (and ours is on the to-do list.) . I get that the plaster walls have history, but the vintage condition of them is a bridge too far for me. I also do not like the back of the house. Too split personality for me. But the front? Swoon!

I so love it. I would not leave the walls that way though. I know the area well. Nice but fading in niceness due to constant over-development in the area. The closeness of the newer neighboring houses are just the tip of the iceberg. Full perimeter drain and new waterproofing system in the basement . . . that says a LOT.