Local finds help Brewerytown homeowner perfect his mid-century modern look

Joshua Morrow found one of his favorite pieces of furniture while walking his dog near his home in Brewerytown.

Last April, Morrow and Charlotte, a wirehaired pointing griffon came across two men unloading the copper-colored couch and carrying it into a warehouse. “I told them I wanted to buy it and asked them to put it back in the truck,” Morrow said.

The men went and found their boss, Steve Brown, who with Kenya Abdul-Hadi owns the Modern Republic, a store that specializes in midcentury furnishings, art and tableware acquired from house sales, auctions and flea markets. Before they moved last year to a showroom in Francisville, the owners stored items in the Brewerytown warehouse.

The next day, the couch was delivered to Morrow’s third-floor seating area. Though made in the 1960s, the sleek sofa was in pristine condition. It would be the first of several items Morrow purchased from the Modern Republic, including a gray sofa and two blue chairs for his first-floor living room, a tallboy chest of drawers made in Denmark for his bedroom, and assorted stylish lamps and tables.

Morrow has asked Brown and Abdul-Hadi to be on the lookout for counter-height chairs to fit under the island in his kitchen.

Before discovering the Modern Republic, Morrow had already acquired some stylish furnishings. His dining table with a poured concrete top inlaid with walnut was custom-made by Philadelphia craftsman Jeff Miller. Morrow hopes to have Miller make walnut benches with concrete inlays for the table.

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The “waterfall” style wood coffee table in the living room came from Provenance, an architectural salvage store in North Philadelphia. Recycled barn wood panels surrounding the living room fireplace and covering a wall in the second-floor stairwell also came from Provenance.

Morrow purchased his brick rowhouse, built about 1905, in 2006. Since then, he has made major renovations.

With assistance from his father, Will, a retired carpenter, Morrow transformed the two bedrooms on the third floor into a bedroom/sitting room. He raised the ceiling and removed the plaster from two exterior walls to expose the brick. He also exposed a brick wall by the blue front door on the first floor. Other walls in the house were painted a pale blue-gray. The original oak floors were refinished.

Previous owners refurbished the bathroom on the second floor where the guest bedroom and Morrow’s office are located. Gray wallpaper behind his glass desk and orange chair is patterned with ethereal white tree branches.

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Two large photos hanging nearby are of Charlotte sniffing a mushroom and of Sadie, a Labrador retriever who died in 2017.

Morrow had Penrose Construction in Pipersville replace the tiny kitchen in the rear of the house with a new kitchen in the former dining room. The renovated space features cherry cabinets, white-streaked black soapstone counters, and a tan-and-cream travertine backsplash. The new window over the sink provides light. Over the dining table are framed botanical prints and a photo of iconic Philadelphia chef Georges Perrier.

The old kitchen is now a mudroom where Morrow stores his bike. (He does not own a car.) A handsome barn door hides the pantry. Other doors lead to the basement, where there is a full bath and laundry, and to the patio with a grill, outdoor furniture and planters, which will be filled with greenery and flowers come summer.

Inside, Morrow tends a lush fern and other house plants from Cultivaire, a shop in the neighborhood.

Morrow, 48, grew up in Lancaster and graduated from Millersville University. He is executive director of 3.14 Action, a firm with offices in Philadelphia and Washington that recruits scientists and STEM professionals to run for public office.

Several months ago while browsing in Joseph Fox Book Store on Sansom Street, Morrow found a book by illustrator Cristina Amodeo, Dogs and Chairs: Designer Pairs. It matches drawings of dogs with drawings of designer chairs whose shapes they resemble.

Morrow had Fairmount Framing assemble and frame four dog drawings and four chair drawings from the book. The witty art, now displayed in Morrow’s bedroom, celebrates two of his favorite things: dogs and modern furniture.

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