Philadelphia is made of stone! After years in New England and the Midwest I missed clapboards at first, but months of walking around our neighborhood grew my appreciation for the gamut of impressive masonry around here.

Mostly the streets are lined with small to medium-sized duplexes and row houses, like these 6.

But nearby are a few blocks where everything is on a grand scale.

A tall one.

Carefree spot to hang out.

Even the sidewalks are stone. And the trees like to lift up the blocks.

Here's my favorite house, one of a group which our friend Ethan dubbed "The Castles":

Closeup of the tower and amazingly tall, steep roof, with their colorful rough-hewn slates.

Beyond this archway lie our much-visited woods and hiking trails...

...down the secret stone steps...

...to an abandoned world of old stoneworks along the creek, like this slowly-disintegrating bridge with one of the nicest arches around.

The railing on top of the bridge.

An old retaining wall.

...and the gateway back to civilization.