House of the week: A three-bedroom house near Temple University for $225,000
Devon Allen is selling his mother's house, which she bought in 1987 and renovated extensively in the decades since.
When Beverly Allen bought the three-bedroom, one-bathroom house near Temple University at a sheriff’s sale in 1987, her son Devon recalls that he and his three siblings were not impressed by the neighborhood. They didn’t think the house was a promising investment.
But “she had the vision and we didn’t,” Devon Allen said as he prepared to sell the house where his late mother, head disciplinarian and assistant director of the ROTC program at Benjamin Franklin High School, lived until her death in 2020.
She did a considerable renovation of the house, and in her will, she left it to her four children with the provision that they divide the sale proceeds. It remained mostly vacant for three years — another son lived there during the COVID-19 pandemic — until Devon started further renovating it in 2023. Now, he said, he is convinced that the neighborhood is on the upswing and will prove that his mother’s instincts were correct.
“With the new construction going on around it, it’s very promising,” Devon said.
The 1,600-square-foot rowhouse in the Hartranft neighborhood is four blocks from the university and Temple University Hospital. It comprises two stories plus an unfinished storage basement with washer and dryer.
The interior has been totally repainted.
The house has high ceilings, a large eat-in kitchen, and hardwood floors. The lower level has an open-concept living and dining area, and all three bedrooms are on the next level. And there is a paved backyard.
The kitchen has granite countertops, white cabinetry, and ceramic flooring. The bedrooms all have ceiling fans.
The house is near the North Broad Regional Rail station, Fotterall Square park, athletic fields, and a dog park.
It is listed by Brian Wilson of BHHS Fox & Roach Center City for $225,000.