A place to play

Sophia Khan wasn’t looking for a house when she stumbled on the listing for a two-bedroom rowhouse in Kensington. It delighted her.

The house was quirky in a way she hadn’t seen before: The floors were linked by spiral staircases that rose through a front atrium, topped by a skylight that filled the space with light and made it feel cheery and a bit whimsical. Add to that the special flourishes like wall molding in the living room and primary bedroom, tray ceilings, and a kitchen light ripped from the 1970s. Khan knew that if she was ever to leave renting behind, this was the home for her.

In December 2020, she paid $210,000 for the property and hasn’t looked back. The 1,500-square-foot house has become the 36-year-old hairdresser’s creative canvas, where she flexes her original style through its design and charming touches. It was a relief for her to be able to lean all the way into making a home of her own after years in rentals throughout the city.

“​​I definitely was always decorating, but obviously you’re never allowed to change anything too much,” she said. “So when I finally got this place, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m ready.’”

One of the projects Khan tackled after moving in was updating the large-for-a-rowhouse kitchen with new flooring to echo that 1970s-style light as well as adding new counters and a bright coral-tile backsplash. An avid home cook, Khan finished the room off with a lick of bubblegum pink paint and a countertop frozen drink machine she loves to fire up when having friends over.

In a powder room off the kitchen, Khan hand-painted oversized Manzanilla olives on the walls — a nod to her love of martinis — and she devoted the home’s back exterior wall to a mural dedicated to her late sister.

Every room in the house has its own style, from the moody deep mustard-painted guest room to the mint-walled retro-style salon with black and white tile floors, which she added in her basement.

“I feel like I would just get bored if everything looked the same,” she said.

Khan recently updated the primary bathroom with a spacious walk-in shower surrounded by glass block, with a coat of micro cement on the shower walls and bathtub surround. She also added peel-and-stick tile on top of the vanity’s granite countertop that hews more closely to her personal style.

The swan faucets on the sink and bathtub were there when she bought the place and were “a selling point” for her, she said. Khan estimates she’s spent about $30,000 on renovations, which included adding a shower to the guest bathroom.

“I’m gonna take probably a little break from doing renovations now because I feel like I’ve put a lot of work into it over the years,” Khan said. “It’s nice to kind of feel like I’m done for a little bit.”

As in the rest of the house, art plays a central role in the deep brown primary bedroom. Over a tall dresser, a stylized painting of a horse and a rider with an extra wide hat hearkens to Khan’s upbringing in West Virginia, where her dad works as a farrier shoeing horses. She painted and framed it herself.

“I just like to play with it,” she said modestly of her artistic ability.

The house is also dotted in finds from her travels around the world, including two small gilded mirrors from Pakistan in her bedroom and three lanterns from Vietnam in the guest room. Pieces from local thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace are also found among her furnishings.

Khan’s favorite piece in the house is a terracotta chiminea in the guest room that she spotted on Marketplace when driving through West Virginia. A mask that hangs on the wall across from it she picked up at Thunderbird Salvage on Frankford Avenue.

“That one I just keep repainting every time I redecorate,” she said.

Above Khan’s front door hangs a horseshoe given to her by a Center City psychic who, not knowing about her dad’s job, felt compelled to send her home with it. It’s now placed there for good luck, she said.

Although Khan loves the inside of her home, she said one of its best features is the collection of neighbors that surround her. After years bouncing around to different neighborhoods, her neighbors now — many of whom have lived on the block their whole lives — are the kindest she’s experienced.

The block also comes with its quirks. One neighbor keeps chickens and goats in the backyard, which often come up to greet Khan and her 12-year-old Chihuahua mix, Paolo, when they walk by. While she’s unsure if she’ll also become a lifer on the block, Khan knows she’s home for now.

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