Manayunk Design Group

Now is the time to pick up the last of our inventory
50% – 75% off!

• Mantlepieces
• Wrought Iron
• Stained Glass
• Joe Barker Watercolors

You can still contact us via email: mnykdesigngroup@gmail.com

2010 brings on a fresh year and a fresh start!

Here at The Group we are stocked to the brim at 4327 Main Street and as a result we will be packing it up and heading over to Cresson Street for a little more breathing room!  No worries we are still in the neighborhood; and we will still be providing you with a great collection of salvaged antiques and local fine art flare!

50% off our Entire Inventory! Moving Sale!

To help make the move as easy as possible we need to start lightening the load here, at our current location.  We invite you to take fifty percent off our entire stock of architectural salvage including mantel pieces, wrought iron, stained glass and much more! Plus fifty percent off any of our artwork featuring local water colorist Joe Barker, oil painter Michele Burns, pop artist John Stango, as well as photographer Jack Paolini. We hope to see you in our gallery soon, and keep your eyes open for our new store on Cresson Street opening up this February!

To learn more about the artifacts and artwork we have to offer, please take a look around this website. We’ll be making updates and adding new features to the site soon, so stay tuned!

This week, we’d like to feature Julian Washington, one of Manayunk Design Group’s most beloved employees! For those of you who don’t know Julian, he came to us through Northlight Community Center’s Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP) last May. Since then, he has maintained exemplary dedication and an unparalleled work ethic, bringing exuberance and creativity to the table with every task and trial.  Julian, pictured (left) working with his partner Malachai White (also joining MDG from SCEP), has been working on his first major construction job: installing a set of salvage steps at a very special home in Manayunk.

The steps themselves are from a vintage brownstone at 520 Connaroe st in Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia. [map] MDG salvaged these steps 5 years ago, in an effort to preserve a piece of History!

The stairs traverse a treacherous turn up one of Manayunks most unique vantage points. Sunny Cliff sits perched atop all of the excitement of Main Street in Manayunk , overlooking Tower st, St. John the Baptist RC church, Prezel Park with a view of Belmont Hills and the Center City Skyline! Its a destination!

Sunny Cliff is located at 4334 (1/2) Boone Street [map], and has been “home” for a number artists, students, young professionals and great minds in its 200+ year history (wow!) In addition to the stair installation, Julian has also participated in a number of other projects at Sunny Cliff, including landscaping and planting the veggie garden! We were inspired by the Buy Fresh, Buy Local movement (Buy Local PA) and the (recently publicized) outcropping of CSA’s and farm markets in Philadelphia (MDG is a member of the renowned CSA, Greensgrow in Kensington!). Julian helped plant and prep beds for Tomatoes (big and small), green bell peppers, Hungarian hots, romaine and red-leaf lettuces, sorrell and fennel, swiss chard, leeks, onions, cucumbers and zucchini!

For more information about Manayunk Design Group and our relationship with SCEP, check out these two fantastic articles:

• Summer of Expanding Horizons – Roxborough Review 8/11/2009
• Career Exploration with the Manayunk Design Group – Success Stories – Northlight Community Center Summer 2008

Now offered for the first time..

Joe Barker’s Perspective — in Oil on Canvas!

Click on a thumbnail below to see the full-sized image.

1. Rouge on Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia
a Neil Stein Classic, any time of year.
15″ W x 12″ H — $30

2 & 3. Boathouse Row
View from West River Drive, Philadelphia -
Experience a day on the the water while rowing along the shoreline of historically restored boathouses…
30″ W x 12″ H — $500
36″ W x 24″ H — $700

4. Broad Street South
View from City Hall, Philadelphia.
Experience the vibrant theater and restaurant scene alive on Broad Street South. Home to five-star hotels, private clubs, fine dining and shopping.
36″ W x 24″ H — $700

5. The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Waterworks
View from West River Drive, Philadelphia.
World-class architecture in the heart of Fairmount Park. Sit along the banks of the Schuylkill River, both are national historic landmarks.
30″ W x 12″ H — $500

Come see the paintings at the store, or read more about Joe in the Gallery >>

We’ve salvaged some beautiful artifacts from a large, brick row home in North Philly this week. These grand, terra-cotta Coat of Arms Medallion and Triple Arches are typical regalia to adorn buildings in the Amsterdam School style of architecture. According to an entry from Wikipedia about this style:

Buildings of the Amsterdam School are characterized by brick construction with complicated masonry with a rounded or organic appearance, relatively traditional massing, and the integration of an elaborate scheme of building elements inside and out: decorative masonry, art glass, wrought ironwork, spires or “ladder” windows (with horizontal bars), and integrated architectural sculpture. The aim was to create a total architectural experience, interior and exterior.

If you were fortunate to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show last week, you may have noticed a trend in the garden displays where artifacts are used to accentuate the foliage. We hope the terra-cotta pieces we’ve just acquired could find a home in YOUR garden! Come by the store to see them in person.