A reader writes: We have a 150-year-old brick house with a stone foundation. There also is an addition with a concrete block foundation on the back. Both of the basements are damp and musty. We want to tighten up the house and insulate the basements, but we get conflicting advice. Is this a good idea? The sill area would be particularly hard to insulate. Old houses often have lots of air ...

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One reader writes: I'm thinking of buying a pellet stove to heat my small, three-bedroom ranch. If I put the stove in the basement, would I have to cut vents in the first floor to circulate heat through the house? I love the smell of wood stoves and don't mind the work. But they're dirty and dusty. Are pellet stoves that much cleaner, and are they any less expensive? Who wouldn't ...

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Driving north, on the Old Bethlehem Pike from Philadelphia, one passes through a portion of the 19th century town of Ambler, PA. On the right, set well back from the road, just visible in a clearing between trees, is an amazing 3-story, 24-room castle, with crenelated towers rising even higher. This was built in the last quarter of the 19th century on a 400 acre property by Dr. Richard Mattison, ...

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