The region’s priciest home tour | Real Estate Newsletter
And complaints get tenants fined.
How much would you be willing to pay to tour the inside of a 124-year-old Gilded Age mansion?
The new nonprofit owners of Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park are hoping your answer is “a lot.”
The Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation bought the property, which has seen better days, for $9 million last month. Accounting for inflation, that’s by far the highest price it’s sold for in its history.
To restore the 100,000-square-foot mansion and eventually make it accessible to the public, asbestos needs to be removed, which isn’t cheap. So the owners are selling hard-hat tours to raise money.
Read on for that story and to find out why a property management company said it fined tenants who complained about apartment conditions, read why being a home buyer right now isn’t fun, and peek into an Ocean City duplex with a “spacious dream kitchen.”
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— Michaelle Bond
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Guess how much you’ll have to pay for the cheapest walk-through of Lynnewood Hall: a 90-minute, pre-restoration (but post-asbestos remediation) tour of the first floor and exterior. I’m guessing that you guessed too low.
It’ll cost you $1,500. Two people can save and pay $2,500.
How about the extended-access four-hour tour? That’ll be $5,000 per person.
Then there’s the $15,000 and $50,000 options for groups.
The property’s owners know that these prices are, well, pricey. But removing asbestos from the mansion will cost $1.25 million, the owners said, and the goal is to raise the money as quickly as possible.
Lynnewood Hall has always done things big. The mansion was built in the 1890s for $8 million, or about $295 million in today’s dollars.
Read on for details about this latest effort to preserve and open up Lynnewood Hall.
Speaking of paying thousands of dollars, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has sued a Philly landlord, saying SBG Management Services had tenants living in unsafe conditions and then fined them $5,000 for filing complaints with the state.
Among the conditions tenants complained about, according to the Attorney General’s lawsuit and my conversation with a tenant:
Raw sewage sitting in the basement “like a pond” and coming up through bathtubs
Roach and mice infestations (A tenant told me mice have popped out of her silverware drawer when she’s opened it.)
Leaks, water damage, and mold
Broken and unsecured doors and locks
The City of Philadelphia and the legal aid nonprofit Community Legal Services of Philadelphia also have sued this landlord over conditions at one North Philly property, where residents had to evacuate after part of a building façade collapsed last year.
Read more about the state’s lawsuit and tenants’ complaints.
The latest news to pay attention to
The landmark Melrose Diner will be demolished as part of a plan to build 94 apartments.
A Phoenixville native uses his drone to capture photos of the tops of vintage skyscrapers in high-definition detail.
A new 245-unit apartment building is being proposed in North Philly, and a lot of neighbors aren’t happy.
The former beach retreat for nuns in Cape May Point has opened to the public, granting access to a rarely seen building that’s part of local lore.
The Philadelphia Historical Commission approved the demolition of a historic building to make way for a new public health center in Northeast Philly.
Local and French officials celebrated the creation of a new state park at a South Jersey estate where Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother lived.
Investigators have found assets to pay back Par Funding investors, including a home in the Poconos and about $44 million worth of Philly real estate.
House of the week: For $470,000 in Point Breeze, a three-bedroom townhouse.
After Andrea and Carl Szczepkowski retired and decided they wanted to live in Ocean City year round, the couple found a 2,200-square-foot home — the bottom of a duplex — that felt right.
A garage and plenty of space for their adult children to visit? ✔️
A quick walk to the boardwalk and beach? ✔️
A “spacious dream kitchen?” ✔️
The home also gives the Szczepkowskis space to showcase the mid-century and antique furniture that their families have handed down to them. There’s Carl’s mother’s velvet French Provincial sofa, the chair Carl’s grandmother needlepointed, and Andy’s mother’s corner cabinets.
Peek into the family’s “retreat,” where Andy and Carl people-watch from their covered front deck, and learn about the role yoga and pickleball play in making Ocean City their home.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
The Philadelphia Art Commission is reviewing plans for the redesign of Thomas Paine Plaza outside Philly’s Municipal Services Building.
Question: Which two of these elements will be included if the plans are approved?
A) skate park
B) stages
C) trees
D) water feature
This story has the answer.
📊The market📊
A few weeks ago, a real estate agent summed up the housing market by telling me that “being a buyer now sucks.”
An analysis of the market in the Philadelphia metro area in June backs that up.
Last month, according to the multiple listing service Bright MLS:
🔺 The median home price was up 4.2% from a year ago. It reached a record high of $370,000 for June.
🔺 The median sales price in Burlington County was up by double digits — 12.5% — to $370,790.
🔻 The number of new home listings coming onto the market was down 32.7% from last year — a two-decade low.
🔻 In Camden and Montgomery Counties, the number of active listings on the market at the end of the month was down by more than 30% from the same time last year.
A lack of homes for sale is a big hurdle for buyers, along with high prices and rising mortgage interest rates. And those interest rates are one factor keeping current homeowners from selling.
📷 Photo quiz 📷
Do you know the location of this Philly Phlush public restroom?
📮 If you think you do, email me back.
Shout out to Elizabeth B., who knew that last week’s photo showed folks doing yoga at Eakins Oval.
🏡 Your real estate experience 🏡
Last week, I asked whether you could see yourself living on a farm, like the family we highlighted in our home tour. I thought I’d get a bunch of city lovers answering “absolutely not.” Instead, I got a bunch of people saying, “yes, please.”
Daniel C. told me he would love to live on a farm. “Just always wanted to live in the country and on a farm as I was exposed to that as a child in South Jersey.”
Amanda S. said she felt most comfortable during the 12 years she lived in a “ultra small town” in the Appalachian Mountains, and she’s always dreamed of living on a farm. “Things such as the appeal of privacy, wildlife and a means by which to cultivate a garden are all options I wish to have for myself and my children.”
Cindy D., who described herself as “a city gal of 58 years,” asked me to keep her in mind if I come across a reasonably priced farm. She’s after peace and the possibility of owning a horse. She used to ride as a kid every Saturday morning. “I miss the serenity of nature, those sensory delights not found in city living.”
Personally, I’m not enough of a morning person to do all the break-of-dawn chores that go along with that. But I’ll keep an eye out for you, Cindy.
Enjoy the rest of your week.