Guy Marshall recently bought about 7,000 books, but he acknowledges he’s not much of a reader.
The books are part of his unconventional home development, a new Merion Village duplex designed to look like an old German Village cottage and furnished with reclaimed and vintage materials.
Iron works salvaged from Indiana. Bookshelves fashioned out of scrap lumber from Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. Barn beams from Facebook Marketplace. Vintage refrigerator hardware from an Indonesian company off Etsy. Library ladders from Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and ReStore. Eight-foot interior doors from an 1800s hotel.
“I got a lot off Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy and Habitat’s ReStore,” said Marshall.
Including about 7,000 hardcover books, Marshall said. They stack, floor to 12-foot ceiling, throughout the house.
“I bought them off a Dayton kid who buys them in bulk for a penny apiece,” Marshall said. “I paid him 10 cents a book.”
Marshall and his three daughters spent weekends sorting the books by color to decorate the house. The volumes also supply the property’s name – The Book House.