A 1911 Jenkintown home owned by Joe and Tracy Abriola perfectly blends historic charm with all the amenities of modern living, writes Laura Hoover for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The pair knew they would have a lot of work on their hands when they decided to buy their current residence.

“We recognized a well-maintained house,” said Tracy Abriola, a marketing consultant. “It just wasn’t our taste.”

However, they also did not want to overdo it and risk losing some of the home’s historic appeal.

“We didn’t want to blow everything out and make everything mid-century modern,” she added.

The couple started with the kitchen. To redo this they began by removing the door leading to the formal dining room and added a keystone arch that mimics the house’s exterior.

Meanwhile they left original the brick fireplaces in the kitchen and new breakfast room intact and added antique lighting.

They ensured to maintain the balance of old and new throughout the entire home.

“From the street, the house looks like a typical 100-plus-year-old home in Jenkintown, but inside there are many touches of modernity that we feel mix well into an old-world/new-world feel,” said Abriola.

Read more about the historic home at The Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.

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