On the market: Rittenhouse townhome for $1,455,000

On the Market profiles homes for sale in the Philadelphia region.

After living in the suburbs for less than a year, newlyweds Dean and Katie Costalas were ready to get back to Philly.

Dean Costalas wanted to be in the city close to his trading firm, and the couple missed living in the Rittenhouse area. They had spent several years on 15th and Locust Street before moving to Conshohocken in 2007 when they got married.

When they started looking for homes back in Rittenhouse, they made sure to check out one particular street they had grown to love; Delancey Street.

"I always loved Delancey Street," Dean Costalas said. "It's more traditional and colonial. It kind of stood out; it's kind of a unique place."

So when the couple heard of a townhouse for sale on the 2100 block of Delancey, they immediately looked at it and fell in love.

"What made it unique was that a lot of the homes we looked at were all the same; colonial style, [with] really big rooms and very old school designs," Costalas said. "In this home, everything was very sharp and modern."

The split-level design, the large bay window on the second floor, and the rooftop deck stood out to them the most.

"We really loved the flow to it," Costalas said. "The thing that really sold us was the big roof deck where you can see the whole Center City skyline."

The Costalas spent several years in the 4,100-plus square foot home located at 2123 Delancey Street after they moved there in January 2008. Costalas, a derivatives trader, later merged his firm with another group from Chicago, which is where he and his wife recently relocated to. They have now put their Rittenhouse townhome on the market for $1,455,000.

The home, which was built in the 1890s, was remodeled in 1945 by famous architect George Daub, who helped construct the PSFS building. Costalas says that Daub, who owned the townhouse at the time, "changed the home from a typical 1800s Victorian appearance to a much more modern post-World War II look."

Daub changed the first floor brick exterior to granite and marble, took out most of the second floor front wall and windows facing Delancey Street, and installed a floor-to-ceiling bay window.

Two other homeowners, including one psychiatrist who used the first floor as an office in the 1960s, lived in the home before the Costalas moved in.

Once the Costalas purchased the property, they made many upgrades and renovations as well. When they first got there, the basement was completely unfinished. They finished off the entire front half – adding in wires, lighting, and flooring – and made it into an office and gym.

They also upgraded the kitchen, where they regrouted the floors, put in a new backsplash, resealed the windows, replaced the baseboards, and repainted the walls.

The backyard area and roof deck are among the other renovations they completed.

"We ripped the deck completely up and resealed the roof below it," Costalas said. "We also added outdoor electricity and roof deck lighting."

The townhouse, with four bedrooms, three full baths and three half baths, is located in the Rittenhouse Square Historic District with other similar townhomes on the block. Costalas describes the area as family-oriented and far enough away from "the hustle and bustle from the Square" at just three and half blocks away.

"It's a picturesque, quiet, tree-lined, non-thru street," he said.

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Contact The Salas Team at Keller Williams Realty at (267)238-5707) about this property.