On The Market: Original features meet modern renovations in Fairmount
This three bedroom, three bathroom home offers a renovated kitchen, master bedroom, and outdoor patio space in Fairmount for $630,000.
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On the Market profiles homes for sale in the Philadelphia region.
Yon Visell was working as a professor at Drexel University's College of Engineering while his wife Katja Seltmann, a biologist at the American Museum of Natural History, was commuting to her job in New York City. Buying a home in the Fairmount neighborhood made sense for its proximity to Drexel as much as its accessibility to an Amtrak station.
"The location of the house made for a pleasant commute to 30th Street Station, often along the Schuylkill River trail, while still allowing us to live in a great neighborhood," Visell said.
They bought the three bedroom, three bathroom home in 2012, just after Visell accepted a faculty job at Drexel. They were sold on the historic features throughout as well as the natural light.
"Especially the carved wood detail and original red oak flooring," Visell said. "And the light in the spacious, open rooms, which made it feel larger and more welcoming than any other [homes] that we had visited."
In the course of undertaking a series of renovations, the couple worked to maintain as much historical detail as possible.
"Although we have tried to preserve the original details that make the house so special, elements of nearly every part of [the home] have been renovated and updated," Visell said.
The most extensive part of the renovation project involved gutting and restoring the kitchen, which is now brightly tiled and open to the dining room.
"The kitchen is now the most modern space in the home," Visell said.
They also fitted out the master bedroom with a walk-in closet and remodeled master bath, in addition to resurfacing the floors and installing a modern heater and multi-zoned central air conditioning system.
Out back, the couple updated the patio space, which is now among their favorite parts of the property.
"The patio is perfect for weekend morning breakfasts and for socializing in the evening," Visell said, "and it's big and light enough to have a fantastic herb and decorative garden."
After years of separate commuting on the East Coast, Visell and Seltmann have recently accepted appointments working in the same place: at the University of California Santa Barbara.
"We both love Philadelphia, but our work is drawing us west, to another great place," Visell said.
The home is currently listed for $630,000 with Coldwell Banker Preferred's Carol Diament.
"I believe that new buyers will be charmed by the same things that appealed to us," Visell said. "The wonderful Fairmount neighborhood and neighbors, the mix of timeless original features that are retained in the home, the quality of the workmanship … and the spacious, open feel of the home."