I’ve heard the story (urban legend?) of new homeowners finding stacks of vintage porn hidden within drop ceilings. That’s cheeky and amusing, but imagine finding a loaded gun while pursuing a renovation. Would you walk away slowly, then start to sprint as fast and as far away as possible? For Neal Santos and Andrew Olson, the discovery of a loaded gun was no urban legend, but it is a strong metaphor for their ability to turn abandoned, rejected corners of Philadelphia, PA into beautiful spaces with lots of heart.

With a background in horticulture, Andrew was in search of a place to live where he could garden and keep chickens and bees. He found an amenable landlord, which landed him on 51st Street, but his green thumb quickly surpassed the yard and spilled into the adjoining abandoned city lot. Andrew and Neal began working with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s City Harvest Program, which equipped them with compost, lumber and seedlings, enabling them to expand their garden endeavor. Farm 51 was born and became a community hub (as evidenced by the many pictures of cute kids tending to vegetables via Instagram). They ran a weekly farm stand, selling veggies, eggs, honey and flowers.

But before there was a picturesque farm stand, there were thousands and thousands of pounds of trash to be hauled, weed trees to be cut back and general debris to clean up. It was during one of the initial volunteer clean-up days that they discovered the loaded gun, and they admit, “We’re still never sure what we might find when digging deep for a new tree or shrub.”

A few years into their urban garden project, the house adjacent to the garden lots, a three-story Victorian, went on the market. Andrew and Neal, a freelance photographer, bought the house and fully committed to 51st street. Having suffered decades of neglect, the house was in poor enough condition to send several contractors running for the hills. Plaster walls and ceilings were collapsing. Plumbing leaks had rotted and buckled the floors, but they finally found a brave contractor who, like them, could see the potential in the old bones. He lovingly restored any original elements that could be saved, then Neal and Andrew did what they do best: they filled the space with life and beauty.

Owning the home enabled them to buy one of the adjacent lots through Philly’s Side Lot Program and added more security to their farm endeavor. They hope to someday open up more of the house to create more flow from home to garden. In the meantime, their house brims with Andrew’s painterly floral arrangements, which Neal seems to freeze in time with his lens. Between garden, home and camera, these two have so much inspiration to offer, and if that’s not enough, they have plenty of cute dogs, too! —Quelcy

Photography by Neal Santos

Source List

Martha Stewart Paints:

-Nimbus Cloud — living room

-Avocado Peel — front door vestibule and fireplace

Benjamin Moore Paint:

–Onyx Black — Master Bedroom, chicken coop, fences

Behr Paint:

–Dark Jade — Neal’s office/nook/muay thai exercise room

1/20 When this house went on the market, Andrew Olson and Neal Santos seized the opportunity. It enabled them to fully commit to their urban garden, Farm 51 on the adjacent lot. The house had suffered years of neglect, but you'd never know it today.

2/20 The welcoming street entrance to the garden, adjacent to their Victorian home. Neal explains, the "planter-topped fence with cacti and succulents form a friendlier version of barbed wire." Grapes grow along the arbor made of salvaged porch columns, and the whole space brims with life and beauty. Neal and Andrew turned an abandoned lot into a beloved community space and a model of urban sustainability.

3/20 Neal says, "The porch is one of our favorite places to spend time in the morning, listening to music, having coffee with the dogs and saying hi to our neighbors." The front porch features a vintage bike a friend was going to scrap, but they turned it into a unique focal point.

4/20 Andrew and Neal find gems everywhere. The coffee table trunk was found in the home in its original neglected state. They found the ficus on a curb seven years ago. It loves that Victorian window light.

5/20 Neal says, "We like to decorate with natural objects that can be composted or returned to the garden as we change things up. Plants hide all of our decorating shortcomings." ("What shortcomings?" you might ask, to which I would reply, "I have no idea!")

6/20 Neal photographed the pet portraits and the summer harvest scene above the mantel. Andrew made the frame with lathe from the house. It was the first present Andrew gave Neal as soon as they closed on the house. Neal recalls, "We had a romantic dinner of Indian takeout the first night we got keys and ate on the floor before any of the renovations started." The terrarium has nothing but ferns and begonias and "disappoints every kid that expects a snake or a lizard."

7/20 In addition to the farm, Andrew is one half of Chicory Florals , a farm-to-vase florist. This vignette features dried flowers from Chicory in front of a vintage mirror. The salvaged wood was leftover from their kitchen shelves.

8/20 Then along comes this pièce de résistance, which really makes me want to be friends with these creative homeowners and their friends. Is that an eye-catching wallpaper? Even better! It's a HAND-PAINTED WALLPAPER MURAL by Neal and Andrew's friend Maria Tina Beddia ( @shelikestodrawl ), complete with artwork "hanging" on the walls.

9/20 A detail of the hand-painted "wallpaper" by artist friend Maria Tina Beddia ( @shelikestodrawl ). You can see one of her behind-the-scenes shots here

10/20 Neal and the dogs in the kitchen. They line up in this fashion whenever food is involved. (Left to right) Roscoe came from a shelter in Seattle, "he's the OG of the group." Violet was abandoned three blocks from their house, Giblet came from the Philadelphia SPCA, and Cheech was a Craigslist find. Neal and Andrew enlarged the original kitchen window to get a good view of the garden. The shelves were made from 14-foot x 12-inch wide beams from an old factory being torn down along I-95 in Philly. They salvaged the wood themselves in an old pickup truck in what Neal called the "slowest ride possible on a major highway, but it was all worth it to have these open shelves." The counter features fresh garden vegetables and a compost bin, which I'm hoping to see in more and more home tours.

11/20 What happens when you combine eight years of houseplant collecting with a south-facing bay window? This uplifting wing of Andrew and Neal's home. The suspended ladder was salvaged from the trash, and the plants visible in this photo range from agaves and begonias to opuntia/prickly pears.

12/20 Andrew co-owns Chicory Florals with Erica Maust, which operates from the second floor of Andrew and Neal's home. The constant stream of flowers, branches and sloshing water added a need for durability to their home design. In this picture, Andrew was arranging centerpieces for a fall wedding. Luckily, Neal and his camera are never very far from the florals. He captures Andrew's work so vividly for Chicory's website and social media images, I feel like I can smell the florals from my screen.

13/20 The house reveals still-life after captivating still-life, such as this master bedroom detail with more photos by Neal and dried thistle from Chicory

14/20 Having followed this site for years, I dare say this bathroom is a Design*Sponge first. Not the classic subway tile or the dark color, beautiful as they are. But look at that luxurious clawfoot tub. It's a third-floor oasis for Kale and Collard, two turtles with a pretty good thing going. Also, are those not the best names for turtles?

15/20 Tucked in the back of the house, this cozy room acts as Neal's editing office / Muay thai practice room. The barber chair was a yard-sale score a few blocks from their home. The brown leather heavy bag was made custom from Outslayer, Professional Fight Gear . The striking paint color is Dark Jade from Behr. A friend was going to throw away the rug, but Neal gave it new life in his office.

16/20 The office is a room where they like to decompress. Here, Andrew can be seen resting with Giblet and Cheech. A repurposed vestibule mirror is now a shrine housing crystals, skulls, and dried sage from the garden -- all things Andrew is fond of collecting on their many dog-walking adventures.

17/20 A cheery garden table, which they use to host parties with friends, as well as Filipino pop-up dinners . Neal is one of the founders of Pelago Philly . As they describe it, "Think, a Filipino family party on an urban farm in West Philly with all your Titas doing line dances and your cousins bumpin’ to stoop jams. But also kinda fancy."

18/20 Andrew uses his shirt as a basket to gather this late fall harvest of swiss chard, tromboncino squash, and a dozen eggs all grown on the abandoned lots adjacent to their home.