09/08/2026
I always start with art when developing a design concept. In this case, we started with something remarkably simple yet incredibly artful: a penny.
And then we deconstructed it.
First minted for circulation in Philadelphia in 1793, the penny became one of the quietest pieces of American iconography. Notably, the first penny’s design featured Lady Liberty and very apropos for this client. More than 230 years later, the final circulating penny was struck in Philadelphia in 2025.
For a home with its own extraordinary history (this Queen Anne on the Main Line of Philadelphia was featured in Scientific American in 1893 for its architecture), it felt fitting to take something equally rooted in American history and reinterpret it for the space.
Look closely and you’ll find references to the penny throughout: the coining on the faucet and shower handles, the coined edge of the arched marble, and circles repeated at varying scales across the shower and bathroom floors.
Even the color palette tells the story. Terracotta recalls the warmth of aged copper, while the greens reference the beautiful patina it develops over time.
Nothing is literal. Just subtle layers of storytelling and history translated through shape, color, material, and detail.
A small piece of the past, reimagined in the modern age for the next chapter of this historic home.