What is Philadelphia like, architecturally speaking? Architecturally, it's back to the days when people had big Victorian homes. Chestnut Hill is gorgeous. To me, it's one of the most beautiful places in the city. Go to Upper Merion or Lower Merion, and some of the historic homes are there, but in Chestnut Hill, all the buildings are made of stone. They're like miniature castles, and everything has two-foot-thick stone walls surrounding the property, flower planters on the tops of them. These are the things that brighten my eyes when I go through there. You rub your hands on the stones and imagine the people who may have touched them.

Beyond the historical nature of the city, what other aspects of life in Philadelphia appeal to you? It's a big city with a small-town appeal to it. I know my neighbors. I mean, I'm feuding with my neighbor right now because I built a wall. It's a pretty stone wall, but she didn't want the wall because I think she used to pretend that it was her property. She actually asked me to paint my garage the color that she was about to paint her house. There was something not right about that, but I still love her. I know all my neighbors, and all my neighbors know me. When I was in L.A., if someone had robbed my next-door neighbors, I wouldn't have known. Guess what? I didn't even know what they looked like. They never once came over and worked in my garden with me. They never helped me to fell a tree or to plant one.

I came home to Philadelphia after being gone for three months and forgetting to pay my landscaper, and I found that my lawn was perfectly manicured and I had a new group of hydrangeas, because my 84-year-old neighbor had been taking care of my property while I was away. I asked if I could help him for what he did and to thank him, and the only thing he said was, "Next year, will you grow some tulips, because my [late] wife used to love to see all the tulips that grew over on the east side of the property?" So I planted a whole field of tulips for him.