House of the week: A six-bedroom Victorian twin in University City for $689,000
The home is near Clark Park and Baltimore Avenue.
The six-bedroom, three-bathroom twin in University City is just two blocks from where Emma Steiner was born. Still, it has given her and her husband, Joe Leonard, a totally new housing experience.
Steiner, a psychotherapist, and Leonard, an attorney, had been renting in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood when they decided in 2013 to make the Victorian twin their first house.
The open floor plan was unusual for the neighborhood, Steiner said, and Leonard “was blown away by the big old trees.” And she said both were impressed by the large windows at the front of the house.
The couple and their two children, aged 10 and 7, will be moving three blocks away to a larger house with a bigger yard.
“We’re staying in the neighborhood we love,” Steiner said.
Their home had undergone a complete renovation in 2008, opening up the first floor with high ceilings.
Steiner and Leonard replaced the flat roof and mansard roof last year and this year, adding a new skylight. And they replaced the porch steps and basement electrical panel.
Built in 1913, or perhaps a little earlier, the house has hardwood floors, central air, and is 2,760 square feet.
There are three bedrooms on the second floor, including the primary suite and its en suite bathroom. One of the bedrooms is used as a family room.
There are three bedrooms on the third floor. The second and third floors each have a hall bathroom.
The house is a short walk to Clark Park, the renovated Kingsessing Recreation Center, Baltimore Avenue stores, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Drexel University.
It is listed by Asher Brooks Chancey of OCF Realty for $689,000.