Callowhill artist’s tower with lofts, elevator, and rooftop deck for sale for $2.5 million
The property has recently been used as a residence and studio for artist Ray Bartkus, with some space on lower floors rented out to short-term guests.
An eye-catching Callowhill building with a vivid orange steel front that often inspires passersby to snap a photo is on the market for $2.5 million.
The property on North 13th Street between Buttonwood and Hamilton Streets is owned by visual artist Ray Bartkus and his wife, Ina. The couple have used the building’s top unit, a tri-level with partial loft-like floors that allow light to flow through the space, as their home and Ray’s studio since purchasing it for $729,000 in 2013.
The Bartkuses purchased the building’s remaining portion for $420,000 in 2015. They have used its five studio-like units, each with kitchen facilities and a bathroom, for hosting visiting friends and family as well as short-term-stay guests. The building can be reconfigured into a single-family home or maintained as separate units.
The house is a playground for Bartkus’ artistic sensibilities. Included in the sale is a custom chandelier which he made out of car exhaust pipes that stretches two-and-a-half floors, as well as cheeky Philadelphia-themed artwork in the building’s central stairwell including impressions of Rocky Balboa and Questlove.
Bartkus said he enjoyed bringing a Philly connection to each of the short-term-stay spaces through custom art.
Some of the building’s best attributes, however, are immaterial, said listing agent Brent Williams.
“The light really changes throughout the day, and that really influences how you live,” Williams said, noting that the building’s glass facades are east- and west-facing, meaning mornings get early, dewy sunlight and evenings get the rich setting sun. “The light and the architecture, the blend of glass and steel, it really is impactful in person.”
Bartkus sees the house as its own piece of art that he has tinkered with, helping coax out its unusual qualities over the years.
“Good artists have the ability to show the world details regular people didn’t see,” he said. “In a way this is this house.”
The building is heated via radiant heated concrete floors and, Bartkus said, has become much more energy efficient since buildings went up on either side of it with heating costs cut in half.
Other unusual touches include a two-car garage and parking for two additional cars, a loggia that provides sheltered outdoor space off of one of the lower units, and a rooftop deck.
The Bartkuses have decided to downsize in Philadelphia from the 4,500-square-foot building.
“It fit us perfectly,” Bartkus said. But at 65, he’s ready to leave behind the rigamarole of short-term renting and maintaining such a large building.
He added, “I just want to concentrate on my art.”
