Holiday House Tour No. 6, Up from the Ashes

Photos by Evan Brandt

Pottstown Historic House Tour visitors arrive at 143 Walnut St.

The living room.

If you've been following along, you know we're taking a look at houses that were on this year's
Historic Holiday House Tour in Pottstown on Dec. 8.

I've presented them here in the order I visited them and I tried to get to homes I haven't been inside before. The tour has been going on for years and many of the homes are on every year.

Further, my wife Karen and I had tickets to take the afternoon trolley tour with local historian Mike Snyder narrating, so I only had a fixed amount of time to get inside the homes before getting back to make sure we didn't miss the trolley.

A window at the top of the stairs.

This home was built in 1922 and had fallen into complete dis-repair.

It was completely rehabilitated by Rob and Paula Bickelman and was for sale during the tour. (I do now know if it has been sold yet or not.)

It wasn't until I got there that I realized it was for sale and had no one living inside.

The Bickelmans left much of the original woodwork but because there was little furniture, there was not as much to photograph.

Inside, visitors met Matt Green, who is a local Realtor with Glocker Real Estate who specializes in selling Pottstown homes and grew up right around the corner.

Green takes particular pride in hiring Find Solutions Properties LLC to rehabilite older Pottstown homes and put them on the market and his LinkedIn page has videos of the properties being rehabilitated that he calls "In the Works."

Here is a link to his posts.

Green's focus on Pottstown is welcome, as this tour has demonstrated, the borough is full of homes with unique value for those who appreciate craftsmanship.

I have heard several stories about people who came to Pottstown for the house tour and decided to buy a home here as a result.

Tomorrow we'll visit the home of Ron and Sue Williams, also on Walnut Street and one of the oldest homes in the borough.

It was the last one I got to before jumping on the Trolley.