Mother and daughter find a cozy apartment in Doylestown’s former general store

Moving during the pandemic wasn’t ideal, but Doylestown resident Larissa Hopwood managed to recruit a few friends to relocate her and her 11-year-old daughter a few miles down the road.

Little did Hopwood know that their latest apartment would be the home she had been looking for.

“We just loved it to bits,” said Hopwood, standing in her kitchen, flooded with light and decorated in vintage decor. “It very much feels like old Doylestown. I’ve lived in plenty of places with dropped ceilings and fluorescent lights. I love the window seat in my room.”

The 1,000-square-foot apartment is one of four in the 1871 building near Doylestown’s train station, which was once a general store with horses tied up out front. The building had long been converted when the current landlord bought it in 1978. Luckily, Hopwood said, the kitchens and bathrooms had been updated, but the historic charm remained through many of the original windows, cherry wood trim, and storage space from the general store that were saved.

Hopwood, a career musician who grew up in a musical family in Massachusetts, has moved a few times since her marriage ended five years ago.

“When I left, I really didn’t have a plan,” she said. “I lived with my sister for six months. I lived in a friend’s band house for a year. That was wonderful, to go from a guest in someone’s house to having our own place.”

Before moving to the former general store, she and her daughter, Rowan, lived in a small, one-bedroom on nearby Wood Street for three years.

“I had to step over my daughter’s bed to go to the bathroom,” Hopwood said. “I was more concerned about stability for her than space. I had been looking for a space for a long time because I knew we wanted to grow. I wanted it to be in town so she could get herself to school. It had to have her own room.”

Now Rowan, whose passions include social justice and the ukulele, has the apartment’s official one bedroom near the kitchen while Hopwood uses the living room as both the main living space and her bedroom. The room is filled with modern and antique furniture, musical instruments, books and records. Celebrating her 10th anniversary with Lolly & YoYo, a children’s band, Hopwood has carved out a corner to hold musical story times online.

The room also holds a cozy spot for the family’s latest addition, a rat terrier named Dazey.

“I grew up with mostly dogs,” she said. “A home is so much more of a home when you have a pet around.”

Throughout the apartment, their style mixes vintage, bohemian and modern. The kitchen has a retro microwave, a chalkboard that lists things to do (including getting a good night’s sleep), and the general store’s original red cement floor. The eclectic collection also includes an antique mirror from her aunt, a vintage typewriter, and a few other things that have “followed me for 20 years,” she said.

There are hints of the duo’s activism, including protest signs from recent events.

“I have huge confidence in the generation coming up,” Hopwood said. “They have the ability to make their voice heard. They have the tools and the intelligence. There is so much work to do.”

The family also enjoys the front porch.

“At night, it’s nice and shady. In the morning, we’ll go out there and have coffee and breakfast and start our day,” Hopwood said. “I’ve always killed plants. I do well with kids and animals. I now have plants outside.”

The exterior of the house was painted to match its original gray German siding, according to Clark Billie, who has owned the complex since 1978.

Hopwood hopes to stay as long as she can.

“After going through this whole journey, you realize how supported you are,” Hopwood said. “Sometimes you have to create your own family.”

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