We loved this home for so many reasons. We hope you do too.
A little history: in the fifties to early seventies, the house was an office with a basement rental apartment and a rental apartment comprising the second and third floor. The master bedroom was a kitchen for the upper residents, and there is separate electric for the basement apartment. Many of the doors and rooms make sense with that understanding.
The space is very welcoming and we hope you feel the same vibe that we did. There are areas that can be made cozy, or, if you like entertaining, we have had over 100 partygoers inside the house at one time when it rained on the 4th of July. Victorian era houses often have many small rooms, but the floor plan is open with the possibility for sectioning into smaller spaces as desired. Our home is also among the widest of Bride’s Row (the name for the group of houses down Chestnut Street for which ours is technically the first) making it more roomy than most brownstones in Center Square.
We moved in pre-kids, and found enormous flexibility to adjust the various rooms over time. Each time our children went through a new stage, we re-organized to accommodate their needs and our needs. The traditional “TV room” was in the garden living room, garden kitchen, and in two different configurations in the second floor living room over time.
Our yard welcomed children from birth to teenage-hood (you might want to re-instate the sandbox and sunken trampoline). Sitting on the deck, having the children play endlessly below were great moments. When the sun was too hot, we hung four hammocks from the deck and relaxed in the shade below. But, there was nothing like early morning coffee on the deck or even in the fort as the sun comes up.
The neighborhood is active and inviting. The fence has gates to Lancaster and 168 Chestnut neighbors. The kitchen was regularly filled with Chestnut St. neighbors, friends from State St, Lancaster St., Dove St, Hudson Ave and Hamilton St. Our best memories are with people “stooping”, Halloween parades, Salon discussions, 4th of July parties, and indoor “stoops”.
We decided to leave downtown as our kids got as tall as the fort, and one of us had the desire for a real workshop that could handle 8 foot boards without bumping into walls. We ended up renting to friends of ours who understand and are accommodating our desire to sell because we are not landlord type people.
Your new next door neighbors are wonderful caring people who are always willing to lend a hand. Across the street are some of our most favorite and entertaining friends. This is a wonderful block and we hope you will be happy here, just as we were for 16 years.
Warmly,
Ted and Rachel