Jeannie Kontis, Lancaster PA Real Estate & Lancaster County Homes for Sale

I was curious to see what I had posted a year ago, and I found this ~ one of my favorite posts! I decided to re-blog it, because I had learned so much the first time about C. Emlen Urban, the noted Lancaster architect.

Originally posted January 1, 2007:

C. Emlen Urban was a well-known and well-respected Lancaster native architect from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Not only did Urban work in the Lancaster area, but he was also commissioned to work in the surrounding areas. No mention of Lancaster architecture would be complete without reviewing the importance of what C. Emlen Urban has achieved with regard to shaping the look of Lancaster City.

His designs were not only varied, but touched on every aspect of Lancaster city life, from commercial buildings and banks, to schools and churches, industrial and hospitals, as well as apartment houses and private residences. His work bridged the gap between the Victorian Era and Modern Design.

At the time, his work would have been considered "cosmopolitan". Today, his work is considered "timeless".

Born in Conestoga Township in 1863, Urban's earliest design was of the Queen-Anne style Lancaster City Southern Market at the age of 25. He died in 1939, leaving behind a rich history in his 50+ year career.

Urban was also commissioned in 1903 to redesign the interior of the Fulton Theatre into a neo-classical style. This was one of many transformation the Fulton has undergone during it's more than 150 year history.

Southern Market, courtesy City of Lancaster

One of the other local areas where C. Emlen Urban's works are found is Hershey, PA; where Urban was hired by Milton Hershey to build his personal home, High Point. He was also responsible for other Milton Hershey construction, including the new Hershey factory, offices and other community buildings. Milton Hershey hired Urban to build the Hershey Theater. Still very popular today, the Hershey Theater was built between 1929 and 1933 with opulent materials such as lava rock and several types of marble, in addition to detailed mosaic work -- very common for C. Emlen Urban.
photo courtesy of Hershey Entertainment

C. Emlen Urban was also commissioned by Franklin & Marshall College to build what is now known as Stager Hall, formerly the Science Building, Administration Building and Stahr Hall. Construction on this stately Colonial building began in 1900, and it was dedicated in 1902. Features include cornice and dentil detail, a vertical string course supported by limestone, and two large Palladian windows with keystone accents and recessed arches, a Doric post and lintel with pilasters.

photo courtesy of Franklin & Marshall College

As a bit of an ironic twist, I found out that the new building-salvage store, BUiLDiNG CHARACTER located at 342 N. Queen Street in Lancaster City, is operating out of a C. Emlen Urban building. How ironic that a haven for Lancaster City architectural gems such as beautiful glass doorknobs, entry doors and full entry facades, vintage windows and hardware, door knockers and intricate heating grates, can all be salvaged from the wrecking ball and re-used for generations to come. A true haven for history and architecture lovers, alike. I haven't personally been to this establishment yet, but am hoping to visit them soon!

According to the City of Lancaster , below is a list of the buildings C.Emlen Urban designed in Lancaster during his 50 year career:

Commercial and Office Buildings

• Southern Market, 106 South Queen Street (1888)
• Watt & Shand, 2 East King Street (1898)
• Bausman Building (Place Marie), 12-16 West Orange Street (1906)
• Fulton Market, 607 North Plum Street (1907)
• Fulton Hotel, 637 North Plum Street (1907)
• Beyer Store, 35-37 North Queen Street (1910)
• Reilly Brothers & Raub Building, 44-46 North Queen Street (1910-11)
• Hager Building, 25 West King Street (1910-11)
• Lancaster Trust Company Building, 37-41 North Market Street (1911)
• Kirk Johnson Building, 16-18 West King Street (1911-12)
• DeMuth's Tobacco Shop, 144-116 East King Street (1917 remodeling of 1771 storefront)
• Harold's, 4-6 West King Street (1921)
• Griest Building, 8 North Queen Street (1924-25)

Residential Buildings

• David Rose Mansion, 535 West Chestnut Street (1891)
• Rowhouses, 122-144 College Avenue (1892-93)
• 238 and 240 North Duke Street (1890-96)
• William Wohlsen Mansion, 537 West Chestnut Street (1893-84)
• John B. Oblinger Mansion, 342 North Duke Street (1894) and the
• Oblinger Carriage House, 339 North Christian Street (1894)
• Menno M. Fry House, 624 West Chestnut Street (1894-96)
• Apartment House, 212-212& ½ East King Street (remodeled 1896)
• 623-625 West Chestnut Street (1898)
• Elmer E. Stiegerwalt House, 632 West Chestnut Street (1894-96)
• Davidson Building, 11-17 West Chestnut Street (1898)
• Gunzenhauser Residence, 250 West Orange Street (1909)
• Apartment House, 129 East Lemon Street (1914-15)
• A.B. Rote House, 936 Buchanan Avenue (1926)

Churches

• St. James House (parish house), 119 North Duke Street (1903)
• Grace Lutheran Church, North Queen at East James Street (1906 remodeling)
• Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster, 538 West Chestnut Street (1908)
• St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 14 East Farnum Street (1914)

Industrial Buildings

• S.R. Moss Cigar Factory, 401 North Prince at West Lemon Streets (1896)
• Keppel's Wholesale Confectionery, 323-325 North Queen Street (1913)

Schools

• Strawberry Street School (Reigart School), East Strawberry Street (1895)
• Buehrle School, 426 East Clay Street (1895)
• Wharton School, North Mary at New Streets (1899)
• Stevens High School, North Charlotte at West Chestnut Streets (1904)
• Fulton School, 225 West Orange Street (1916-18)
• Reynolds Junior High School, West Walnut at Nevin Streets (1927-29)

Civic Buildings

• Lancaster Municipal Building (former Post Office), 120 North Duke Street (1891-92)
• Lancaster County Courthouse, East King at North Duke Streets (low front wings added 1923-26)

Lancaster history, Lancaster Historical Properties, and Lancaster's special architect, C. Emlen Urban, can also be researched at the Lancaster Historical Society .

Real Estate and Historic Properties in Lancaster can be found at
Homes in Lancaster - Real Estate in Lancaster County.

It's been a tough November for home sales, as evidenced by the recent statistics from the Lancaster County Association of Realtors (LCAR).

According to LCAR, 281 homes sold in November 2008, compared to 433 homes sold in November 2007.

Ouch! That is a 35.1% decrease!

The five-year average of 441 isn't even close for this year's sales.
For the first 11 months of the year, there has been a 23% decrease in sales, or 4,144 sales this year compared to 5,384 sales last year.

The average sales price for November has decreased by 12.2% to $169,423 from $192,900. That is clearly evidenced to me by the agreements of sale that I have currently in place. This is great news for buyers! Not so great for sellers, unless you can take solace in the fact that there are indeed buyers out there looking for homes -- but not OVERPRICED homes.

The good news is that historically we have seen an increase in values, as the average price in November of 1998 was $116,930 -- an increase of 44.9% compared to today's prices. What does this mean? If you have equity in your home and you need to sell, you are in a prime position to put your home on the market and still reach a fair amount of interest, as long as you are priced accordingly to today's market trends.

November 2008 Lancaster Real Estate Sales Data Courtesy of LCAR:

(Edited 1/5/09 *** Did anyone feel another one on Jan 5th at about 12:25 pm? I just felt my house shake. Not sure if it's the quarry down the street - but it was stronger than what they quarry usually feels like)

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Did anyone in Lancaste County feel an earthquake just after midnight?

My husband ran downstairs thinking there was an explosion. I jumped up thinking the same... but we can't see anything outside, or hear sirens of any kind.

Was it an earthquake? Was it thunder? There wasn't any lightening.

Strange.... Should I be worried??

Anyone else feel it/ hear it??

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Edited to add that it has been a confirmed earthquake, with the epicenter in the Landisville/Salunga area.

Here are some recent links for anyone interested:

USGS details and confirmation: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/us2008bcah.php#details

Millersville Univ seismological data: http://snowball.millersville.edu/~cws/seismic/current/Local_Vertical/current.gif

Lancaster Online News (finally!): http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/231847

WGAL report: http://www.wgal.com/news/18365091/detail.html

According to The Morning Call:
The earthquake was the seventh minor one to hit the state since early October, according to USGS data. The tremors were centered around a 23-mile radius of Saturday morning's quake. They occurred: Oct. 5, 19, 20 and 23.

Wow.... we've had six other mild earthquakes in October??!! Who knew!!??

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Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know where you are located, so we can see how far this reached!

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A recent post by Maureen McCabe - Central Ohio real estate entitled The Christmas Puppy reminded me of a post I did last year.

In light of Maureen's post, I thought i would mulligan my previous post for this year's readers who might have missed it.

It's long... but if you are considering purchasing a puppy for Christmas, please take a moment to read through it.

Originally posted December 2007:

How much is that doggy in the window? More than you can imagine!

I remember when I was a kid, every year at Christmas it was the same. All I wanted for Christmas was a puppy. Year after year, I didn't get it. Well, now that I'm wiser (okay, older too), I realize exactly why my parents (umm.. I mean Santa) were reluctant to buy bring me a puppy for Christmas.

It is an enormous responsibility to own a dog, or any pet for that matter. Of course, as parents we all want to teach our children about responsibility, I can certainly understand that. At twenty and eighteen years old, I am still trying to teach my sons about responsibility. But, to bring a puppy home for Christmas can be a huge mistake. To buy a puppy from a puppy mill or pet store is an even bigger mistake.

Those cute puppies in pet stores, even those with an AKC price tag, all come from puppy mills - trust me on this. No reputable breeder will place their puppies through a pet shop. I have done a huge amount of research when a sick puppy mill puppy came into my life two years ago. I didn't know the difference then, between what a puppy mill is or isn't. I thought there was nothing wrong with purchasing a puppy from a farmer who raised dogs or from a pet shop. What I didn't know at the time, and have educated myself about it all by default, was that this particular farmer had over 500 dogs on his property at the time. Yes, he was a puppy miller and he was selling Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, among many other breeds.

We only went "to look" at the Cavalier puppies to see what the farmer had. My husband didn't even want a dog! I thought a puppy would be good therapy for us, since my oldest son had just moved out and we were all (even my younger son) hearing the echos through our emptied hallways called "empty nest syndrome". I thought a puppy would help cheer up my younger son, and perhaps replace the void of not having his brother around. I sure would have appreciated the extra distraction, as well. What a trap we fell into! The smallest puppy just stole our hearts. We were told they were "on sale" because it was now one week after Christmas and their rush of sales were over. Hubby ran to the ATM to take out cash to pay the farmer $800 (on sale!) for the little 2.5 pound bundle of love.

That little (expensive) bundle became very ill in less than 24 hours. He had a seizure the next morning in our family room. We ran to the P.E.T.S emergency hospital -- this happened to be New Years Day -- and paid hundreds more to have him stabilized. He only stayed there for the day, but we were at our wits end. He had already stolen our hearts, and we were willing to pay whatever it took to save his life. When we told the vet's office where we had gotten our new puppy, a worried look came over their faces. We were told that he was the worst puppy miller in the county.

I won't go into the huge controversial topics here about puppy mills and who or who isn't a miller. What I want to point out, though, is that there are thousands of dogs who are in need, waiting for homes in shelters. Wonderful dogs, Dogs that need a home and will love you tenfold for bringing them to your home and showing them the love they crave. Training your dog is very important, and the rewards are tenfold as well. If you must have a puppy, there are rescue organizations who sometimes have puppies available as well. Many times they are up to a year old, and have been returned because people do not have the time or the patience to train them. They bring home a puppy for Christmas, and then realize that there is real work involved in raising a dog. So, rescue organizations step in, and wait for good people like you to step forward and adopt.

This puppy that we purchased on sale for $800 ended up costing us over $1500 in vet fees over the next two weeks!!! Because I learned about my rights regarding The Puppy Lemon Law, I complained to the PA State Attorney General's office, and the miller refunded my intial $800. Since then, I have spent thousands of dollars on additional vet fees, surgery to repair his faulty knees and holistic vet fees to prevent it from happening on his other knees.

He has issues - but he is our little neurotic, happy, lovable puppy who just turned 2 years old. We brought a brother (from a reputable breeder) to join our home as well, and the difference between the two dogs is -- one from a puppy mill and the other not -- is enormous. I have never had a vet bill higher than a cough and an upset tummy from something he ate, from our breeder-obtained dog, and they are only 2 months apart.

What I have learned in the tons of research I have done, along with my efforts to help with dog rescue organizations, is that these local farmers who sell puppies know that local people are on to them. So what do they do? They advertise in the newspapers of neighboring counties and states. If you see an ad in Maryland or New Jersey for puppies in Pennsylvania, please be aware. Do your research on the Kennel or Breeder.

Please realize that I am not saying that every puppy seller is a miller - just ask the right questions. Ask to see the parents of the dogs. Ask how many breeds of dogs they sell. Ask what sort of health guarantee they give and what sort of health testing they do on the parents. You have no idea how important this is, until you bring a puppy home that has genetic problems from poor breeding, genetically unhealthy parents, and inbreeding, etc.

And please realize that bringing a puppy home for Christmas can be a very stressful event in this young life. This will be the first time they are separated from their surroundings, the activities and excitement of Christmas can be overwhelming. Stress can sicken a puppy, can make him frightful, and it may not be a great experience for all involved, including the family.

It is heartbreaking to bring home a puppy, only to later find out that his is a very sick puppy, and feeling helpless while cradling him while he is near death. It is also a very expensive experience. I wouldn't trade my little furry bundle of joy for the world, but considering the amount of money we spent on medical bills because we tried to save a buck and not purchase from a reputable breeder, I realize that we could have purchased a "show" dog for the same amount.

Instead of bringing home a puppy during the hustle and bustle of Christmas, here are some other gift ideas for your children that you can try:

• wrap up a colorful collar and leash -- for the puppy you will be bringing home after the holiday hustle and bustle is over.
• wrap up a plush doggy bed -- for the puppy you will be bringing home after the holiday hustle and bustle is over.
• wrap up a children's book on "training your new puppy" in anticipation of the puppy you will be bringing home
• wrap up a pair of colorful water and food bowls -- in anticipation of the puppy you will be bringing home
• wrap up some toys and blankets for your child to donate to the local animal shelter
• wrap up a special stuffed puppy so they can start practicing on how to love it!

In the meantime, you will have plenty of time to research quality breeders and rescue organizations, meet them in person, and make sure that the puppy you bring home is the best one suited to your family's needs. After all, this is a lifelong decision. And it is a life you are agreeing to take care of - one that will depend on you for all of it's needs.

Happy holidays to everyone, including your furry household members -- and remember, Don't Shop. Adopt.

and Dugan and Domino... or .... Puppy Ying-Yang

Looking for a home in Lancaster County that can accomodate your special family pets and animals? Visit Homes in Lancaster PA - Real Estate in Lancaster County for assistance with your Lancaster Real Estate needs.

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Edited to add ---- I though I would post a photo of my mother's rescue puppy. She is a Luckystar rescue dog (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue) -- or at least her mother was. Her mother was rescued from a puppy mill - while pregnant. Lucky for everyone, the miller did not know at the time and this puppy was born in the foster family's home. She is the highlight of my mom and dad's life, and as senior citizens she brings them joy every day. She is also the best friend of my two little pups. If you are interested in a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, please contact rescue organizations first! You can get advice from the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club or the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club

The point is, with research and patience, a puppy can come into your life through a rescue organization, as opposed to a pet shop if you prefer a puppy to an older dog for your family (although older dogs need homes and can be wonderful, greatful pets!).