How to make a forever home | Real Estate Newsletter
And a luxe Chestnut Hill home for sale.
What does a forever home look like to you?
How many beds and baths are inside and where are they? How much outdoor and indoor space does it have? What design features make it yours?
Is your goal to buy a forever home some day? Or are you in it right now?
Whether you planned to stay in your home when you bought it or you’re staying by circumstance (you might have a low mortgage rate you just can’t give up), we’re sharing advice for renovating your home so it’s made to last.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Luxe listing: Take a look inside this Chestnut Hill home for sale for more than $4 million.
Priced out: In the Philly region and nationally, elevated mortgage rates are making homebuying less affordable and driving up demand for rental homes.
Development vs. open space: Chester County residents are organizing to fend off — or change — housing and data center development.
A funeral home’s homes: A 68-unit apartment building could replace a parking lot on South Broad Street.
— Michaelle Bond
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Beth and David Mark want to stay in their home in Narberth for as long as possible. They’ve already been there 37 years.
But they realized their home needed some upgrades if they wanted to keep living there as they got older.
So last year, they built an addition on the first floor that included a primary bedroom suite.
A sustainable architecture firm based in Manayunk designed the couple’s addition. The Marks wanted something low-maintenance, long-lasting, and environmentally friendly.
Keep reading for tips from these and other homeowners as well as building professionals about what to keep in mind if you’re renovating for forever.
📮 And tell me about your forever home.
Among the century-old houses of Chestnut Hill sits one that was built relatively recently in 2015. But it was designed to fit in with the architecture of the more mature homes of the neighborhood.
And it’s now on the market for $4,250,000.
Inside, the owners had modern living in mind. There’s an elevator and a whole-house audio system.
And the house has a bunch of custom elements, including cabinets, built-ins, wet bars, and wrought-iron railings on a winding staircase.
Some home features that stand out include:
🧺 two laundry rooms
🍷 a temperature-controlled wine cellar that can fit about 1,500 bottles
👡 a dressing room in the primary suite that looks like it belongs in a high-end clothing store’s showroom
The latest news to pay attention to
In the Philly region and nationally, elevated mortgage rates are driving up demand for rental homes.
Here’s how Chester County residents are organizing to fend off — or change — housing and data center development.
A 68-unit apartment building is planned for a South Broad Street parking lot.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority is partnering with Mission First Housing Group to develop a senior apartment building in North Philly.
Comcast and Jeff Yass each gave millions of dollars for Trump’s ballroom, according to an analysis of a list of donors.
A community theater spent $400,000 on renovations. Now, the town may sell the building.
House of the week: For $549,000 in Chestnut Hill, a three-bedroom brick rowhouse with an attached garage that’s near a Regional Rail station.
📷 Photo quiz
What and where is this Philadelphia building with the glass top?
📮 If you think you know, tell me.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the “We the Youth” mural by Keith Haring at 22nd and Ellsworth Streets in Point Breeze.
That one stumped most readers, but it didn’t stump Lars W., who knows these quiz answers week after week. Hat tip to him.
This mural was also in the news recently, because, in a rare move, Philadelphia just designated it as historic.
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With Halloween coming up next week, the national real estate brokerage Clever Real Estate looked into what homeowners and buyers think about haunted houses.😱
Turns out, a lot of people would be fine living in one — for the right price.
See what else Clever’s research shows about what Americans think of living with ghosts in this spooky housing market.
And enjoy the rest of your week.
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