The philosopher’s reno

Caleb Zimmerman needed a new place to crash, fast.

It was August 2019, and the 27-year-old was finishing a remodel with his brother, Micah, on a Strawberry Mansion house. He had purchased the property with plans to rent it out post-renovations and was living there in the meantime.

With the remodel nearing completion, Zimmerman wasn’t seeing any interesting properties to take on as his next project — and next place to live.

In desperation, he turned to Craigslist. And there, listed for $85,000, was the three-bedroom Kensington rowhouse he’s called home ever since.

“I bought it the next day” for $82,500, he said, confirming, no, that’s not hyperbole. “I knew the location was incredible and was just going to keep getting more incredible.”

Even before walking through the two-story house, Zimmerman had an idea of what he wanted this next project to look like. Though the house needed a full gut remodel, he saw that the structure could accommodate his vision of an open floor plan with a floating staircase and basement steps concealed by a trap door on a pulley system. It was, to be sure, a huge project, but Zimmerman knew he could get it done.

“I feel like the Mennonites have it in their genes,” said Zimmerman, who’s of Mennonite heritage and who just wrapped a stint as an instructor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. “I’m primarily a philosopher, but I wanted to kind of prove my chops, I guess, prove that I can also do things with my hands.”

Zimmerman and his brother moved in that summer and began work the first day of Christmas break. He took a leave of absence for a semester from Temple University, where he was working on his Ph.D. in philosophy, to see the project through.

Everything in the house needed to be replaced, so that meant everything needed to come out.

“The kitchen was an atrocity,” Zimmerman recalled. “There were mice running around.”

For demolition, which included removing the floors and pulling down the lathe and plaster throughout the house to reveal its underlying brick, guys in the neighborhood would often stop by to see if they could lend a hand for an hourly wage, Zimmerman said. One guy, in particular, “has so much sweat equity in the house that anytime he knocks and needs some help” Zimmerman opens his door to him to this day.

Throughout the project, the Zimmerman brothers lived in two of the three bedrooms upstairs with Micah as Zimmerman’s right-hand helper and renter. The first night he moved in, Zimmerman said, he slept on the floor. It was just the beginning of the long discomfort he’d endure living among the renovation, but it encouraged him to push to get the project done.

For rebuilding, Zimmerman drew on his Mennonite heritage and connections. He and Micah brought in wood from an Amish mill for kitchen beams and the custom staircase. A family friend, Aden Stoltzfus, made the kitchen — his daughter Hadassah Stolzfus recently spoke to The Inquirer about her own home renovation, also featuring a kitchen created by her dad.

The home’s centerpiece of engineering is a trap door that conceals the basement and opens with a pulley system and remote-controlled actuator. It was built by Gabe Stoltzfus, Hadassah’s cousin. Gabe also handled the bathroom renovation, where Zimmerman planned to remove the tub and install a standing shower with a glass enclosure to make the small room feel larger.

Zimmerman had some experience laying hardwood floors, so he installed the new wood floors that run throughout the house. A friend, Kevin Bucher, helped install some trim, including, in a feat of patience, a piece that he cut to mirror the topography of the brick wall in what is now Zimmerman’s office.

Zimmerman did bring in some outside help to install drywall, seal the fireplace, and rewire the house. The renovation cost about $80,000 in total.

By the fall of 2020, “it was livable,” Zimmerman said, though he had lived there all along. His brother Micah stayed for a while, too, but moved out in 2022.

Now Zimmerman entertains often and said people always say his red refrigerator is their favorite aspect of the house. Knowing how much custom behind-the-scenes work went into every aspect of the property, he receives that comment about a store-bought appliance with some chagrin. It’s only because he knows how much was accomplished before that final, finishing flourish.

Reflecting on the renovation, “I doubt that I will do anything like this again,” he said, “but I wanted to know I could do it.”

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