What Is A Yunky House, Anyway?

You're here. I'm here. For one reason or another, you clicked this oddly-named link and found yourself on a page full of chickens and plants and antiques, occasionally graced by a swirly cat and chocolate-chunk Labrador. Perhaps it was a mistake, or perhaps not. Nevertheless, we're glad to have you here! We know the average internet attention-span is approximately .047 seconds, so if we can have you for a few more, we promise you some fun and informative content- or at the very least, hopefully some pretty pictures to scroll through.

But before that can begin, let's get to know each other. My name is Zach, and I'm (generally-speaking) going to be the one writing these posts. My tendencies gear towards the creative: photography, writing, and home-styling are where my headspace most often lives. Hugh on the other hand, is the practical, put-it-into-action kinda guy. He's the man with the plan, and the tools to make it happen (we all need a Hugh, tbh).

So what is a Yunky House, you might ask? Well first and foremost, it was, perhaps, a poor Instagram handle choice. Kidding, sort of. We live in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia, which is situated in the Northwestern-most part of the city, separated from the banks of the Schuylkill river by the namesake Manayunk Canal. Manayunk is a centuries old mill-town that has been given a breath of new life in the past few decades by artists, businesses, and the surrounding universities that liven our bustling Main Street on weekend nights with the drunken glee of college students and recent grads. Historically, though, the neighborhood was home to the working-class population that moved here for the booming mill and factory jobs. In days past, these individuals were called "Yunkers". Hugh and I's history however, is more recent. He purchased this home in the spring of 2019, and I came along for the ride, emigrating from another Irish, working-class neighborhood on the opposite Delaware river. We couldn't respectfully call ourselves Yunkers, but being that this home is around 150 years old, it is certainly "Yunky".

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly- what's the point of all this? That's probably a more existential question than I'm adequately capable of answering at this moment in time, or any moment in time, for that matter. More or less, I intend for this to be a creative outlet for myself and Hugh, and an expansion of what we post in our Instagram feed. We get a lot of questions on our projects, our chickens, a few of the things we cook, where we find art, etc. and I'd like this to be an open forum for ideas. I don't claim to be an expert in anything, really- but if we're able to help someone along in their home journey, that would be pretty cool, right? I think so. We're all stuck at home these days, so we might as well help one another enjoy our flu-prisons a little more.

Aaaand that concludes the introductory entry to this blog. Yay! It's official now, or something. Hopefully that gives you some background on us and answers a few of your what-even-is-this-website questions. Stay tuned for the more interesting follow-ups. Thank you everyone for following along!

-Zach & Hugh