Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer
The rush of city traffic whizzing below, nestled in row of maples, the rooftop patio on North Queen Street is where homeowners Marshall Snively and Paul Gibbs unwind and take in the city sights and sounds.
By turning a dormer into a door off the back of the city row home, the couple added access to the patio, which offers a picture perfect view of the fireworks from the Barnstormers games at Clipper Stadium just across parallel Prince Street.
“I love fireworks,” says Snively, “I could watch them every night.” And they do get to watch them from their front row seats 22 times a year thanks to the city’s new baseball tradition. In fact, the first time they used the deck (which was constructed in November 2012) was on New Year’s Eve, for the fireworks, of course.
The couple also love to entertain on their new patio, and are particularly proud of their plants, especially the ones they use to make fresh cocktails. “We love mojitos,” explains Snively, “So we’re growing mint and trying to grow our own tomatoes. We juice our own for fresh Bloody Marys.” Gibbs adds, there’s a health benefit: “You eliminate all that salt, and it’s so refreshing.”
Other rooftop potted plants include mandarilla, daisies, hibiscus and cosmos. But the couple says, it’s mostly trial and error when it comes to the plants. They admittedly don’t know what a lot of them are. “We knew we wanted pops of color,” says Gibbs. Snively adds, “We had the plants before we bought the cushions. We just hoped they would look good.”
Their unintentional color scheme works. Gibbs even designed a speaker system under the deck with lights that can turn any color. “Gravity Chairs” from Patio at Penn Stone, the couple says, are “like heaven” when you lean back in them, and they have been known to fall asleep out on the patio relaxing. The sofa sectional and table set are from Pier One. A colorful recycled plastic Mad Mats rug from Tellus360 anchors the design.
Despite a lighthearted approach to picking the plants, Gibbs definitely has a humble green thumb. He gets excited to explain his intricate automated watering system. Purchased online, the Raindrip Watering System holds up to 30 splices, each hose going out to separate pots around the patio and down to the streetside signature purple petunias and sweet potato vines seen cascading from window boxes outside the first floor business, Paul Gibbs Studio, where Gibbs does hair.
Relocating from Baltimore, Snively came to Lancaster to work for the James Street Improvement District (yes, the couple lives there too) where he is the president and a champion for the revitalization of downtown Lancaster.
After living in Baltimore where there is no green space, and everyone has a rooftop deck, Snively says, it just made sense to add a deck here.
“It raises property values,” he states. “I think more people will start doing [these type of] decks,” adds Gibbs, turning a lack of open space, to the sky’s limit.
