Downtown Lancaster Pennsylvania has many homes with some great curb appeal. Lancaster is the oldest inland city in the United States. It has a lot of old historic buildings. So many of the homes and businesses in downtown Lancaster has some great details to give anyone some curb appeal ideas. They have fun signs, window boxes, door knockers, great landscaping, etc.  And I adore homes with shutters, window boxes, door knockers, wreaths, flower pots, trim and other details that have major curb appeal.

I love to wander and photograph interesting things I see and I spent about an hour photographing some downtown architecture with my cell phone on a recent short stay in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. I could have done that all day. So many of the old row houses had been restored to pristine condition and with a lot of attention to detail.  There were so many fun and interesting details.

There was a couple of beautiful churches build in 1853 and an old school building, built in 1904.

Well here, take a look for yourself…

Lancaster Homes

Here are a few curb appeal ideas.  There is so much to love about this. The two-toned trim. The flower pot itself. The stained glass window.The plants themselves. They all lead up to total charm and some major curb appeal.

This row house had so much charm. Look at the gold house numbers. The welcome pineapple, a throwback to the colonial era.  The black lantern sconce. The door knocker. Window baskets, and more. All of those lead to some curb appeal.  And most of them are budget friendly. Especially if one did it a little at a time.  Add new numbers to your house one month, add a door knocker the second.  You get the idea.

This window is not your standard window. I love the trim. I noticed I have a thing for black trim on windows. I photograph most of them I see. 

This house was my absolute favorite. It oozed character and had so many curb appeal ideas.  

This is actually the garage with a room above. It had a covered walkway to get from the main house to the room above the garage.  If I owned this house, that room would be my art studio.

I couldn’t see much of the front of the house because it had a thick hedge and a wonderful corn rod iron fence that was so fitting for the area.

I adore the cobblestone driveway. And this is a beautiful planter adorning the garage entrance. 

So much attention to detail. Notice the stone trough 

This shaker house’s side yard has a lot of curb appeal in the side yard.

Look at that dental trim and the transom above the door. I love this federalist style of architecture.

Don’t you just love the shutters and the scrolled brackets?

Then there were the churches.  Both named after St. Paul.  I can just imagine someone asking their new neighbor what church they go to and them saying, “St. John’s”. Confusing.

St. John’s Episcopal Church

St. John’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1853.  It was the first Episcopal congregation in Pennsylvania to be established without a pew rental system.  Churches used to rent out pews to the wealthy.  I had no idea.

Anyway, St. John’s was therefore called St. John’s Free Church. They founded it on the concept that wealthy and poor parishioners could come come together as equals in their worship of God. That was an unusual practice at that time for Episcopal congregations. Interesting.

St. John’s Lutheran Church

A very short distance away is the St. John’s Lutheran Church, also founded in 1853. The gray stone work reminded me of a castle. The stain glass really stood out against the gray brick.  But that red door was the focal point.  I mean, it really draws attention.

Location

223 W Orange Street
Lancaster, PA 17603

Businesses & Shops

The businesses had so much character housed in the old buildings.

I love the tailor sign and the old fashioned window lettering. It is a throwback to colonial times.

I told you I love black trimmed windows.  Especially large ones like this. 

This alley just begs to be walked down.  I adore the brick floor. Someday I hope to have a brick driveway.  There is something so stable about them with many of them still looking charming centuries later. 

What an inviting courtyard. Strung lights. Red umbrellas. Brick floors.

Check out the dental trim, scrolled corbel, the capital which turned a brick column into something much more, and of course, the planter boxes.  So much charm!

The Stevens School

The Stevens school was built 1904–1905. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is now an apartment building and I believe there is a ballroom in there where one can take ballroom lessons.

Well done Lancaster residents.  I can’t wait to return and explore some more. 

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