Watching movies outside is one of my favorite summer activities. It’s happening everywhere, from community viewings hosted by neighborhood groups to private backyard setups.
Homeowners in the Philly area are part of a larger trend of folks adapting their properties for outdoor TV watching. For some people, that’s as simple as setting up a projector and a tarp. Others are spending a lot of money to turn their backyard into the ultimate watch party venue.
This week, we have your guide to watching movies and TV in your backyard, just in time for Eagles season.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s newsletter:
- A Philly tradition: Watch the recent birth of a mural on the side of a Philadelphia woman’s home.
- Embattled land: Upper Darby will consider buying a 15-acre wooded property where a developer wants to build houses and apartments.
- Expiring affordability: The city has committed to being “part of the solution” to preserve affordable rental homes in West and Southwest Philly.
- Downsized retreat: Peek inside this Cherry Hill apartment at a 55+ complex that a renter says feels “sort of like summer camp.”
— Michaelle Bond
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How to watch TV in your yard
During the pandemic, I thought it would be fun to get a projector, hang a sheet on the side of the Center City rowhouse I was renting, and watch movies outside.
I never did it, but if you’re more committed to the idea of hosting outdoor viewing parties, we’ve got tips from folks with experience.
Kate Evans and her wife built a pergola behind their Roxborough rowhouse where they watch games and movies.
Anthony Farina hauled a TV from his living room to his front porch almost every day for four years before his family gifted him a new TV and mounting system.
Zach Kades in Bryn Mawr uses a projector and the back wall of his garage to create a “camplike feel.”
Read on for their advice for watching TV and movies in your yard.
Creating a home’s mural
A couple months ago, I wrote about homeowners who put murals on the sides of their properties.
I learned that these days, most murals are pieced together on special cloth and assembled later on a wall.
I wanted to see the process in action and figured you all would too. So I asked the talented folks on our video team to show us.
Gabe Coffey created a beautiful video that shows what goes into installing the art we see all over Philadelphia — including on more than 1,000 private homes.
The mural he featured is called A Legacy of Dance Excellence and celebrates Black dancers and dance educators. Watch how the piece came together.
And learn more about the mural’s inception here.
The latest news to pay attention to
- After community pushback, Upper Darby will consider buying a 15-acre wooded property where a developer wants to build houses and apartments.
- The city has committed to being “part of the solution” to preserve affordable rental homes in West and Southwest Philly.
- A VA loan helped two 23-year-olds buy a home in Germantown.
- Affordable apartments specifically for artists will be coming to South Broad Street in what used to be University of the Arts dorms.
- Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order restricting data center development in Pennsylvania.
- Upper Merion officials rejected a proposed 5-million-square-foot AI data-center campus that had sparked pushback from residents and a lawsuit from the developer.
- Philly-area construction of apartments and medical buildings has slowed, so builders are shifting to data centers and military projects.
- An old Fishtown factory is becoming a club for city-dwelling car enthusiasts.
- House of the week: For $675,000 in Bucks County, a 19th-century farmhouse with historical details.
Home tour: A Cherry Hill retreat
We’ve written a lot about Plaza Grande, the 55+ housing complex in Cherry Hill that took almost two decades to complete.
This week, we’re going inside one of the apartments there.
Barbara Zucker was shopping at Nordstrom Rack when she saw a sign for an open house at the property. She and her husband, Fred, were looking to downsize from the Delran house where they raised their kids.
They found that the Plaza Grande was the perfect new home.
Their apartment is on the top floor, which means no noisy upstairs neighbors, and there’s enough closet space for Barbara’s shoe collection. One of the Zuckers’ favorite features is their balcony, where they drink coffee and people watch.
They’ve become close friends with their neighbors and take advantage of the property’s amenities, which include:
📽️ a moving theater
🏋🏾♀️ a gym
🎾 tennis and pickleball courts
🏊🏾 indoor and outdoor pools
Barbara said their home has become a retreat that feels “sort of like summer camp.”
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know where this photo was captured?
📮 If you think you do, email me back.
Last week’s quiz featured a mural by artist Paul Carpenter at 20th Street and Oregon Avenue.
Shout-out to Bruce R. for knowing that.
And enjoy the rest of your week.
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