On the Market: A three-bedroom townhouse in East Passyunk Crossing for $429K
Working with a carpenter, Merilyn Jackson “replaced everything:” Flooring, doors and, in 2017, an entire new kitchen, easily navigated because she has some mobility issues.
It’s a bit unusual for a senior couple to be upsizing for their careers, but that’s what is happening with Merilyn Jackson and Arthur Sabatini.
Since 2004, when they bought the house in East Passyunk Crossing, Jackson has lived there while freelancing as a dance critic for The Inquirer and other publications and doing home renovations, and husband Sabatini spent most of his time as an associate professor of performance studies at Arizona State University.
But now, with Sabatini retiring from the university and living full time in Philadelphia while continuing to write, the couple need more space and are moving to a larger house nearby.
But not before pouring endless energy into improving the three-bedroom house.
“My second career was revising it,” Jackson says, adding jokingly that “Arthur isn’t into revising. The place didn’t even have baseboards.”
Working with a carpenter, she “replaced everything”: Flooring, doors and, in 2017, an entire new kitchen, easily navigated because she has some mobility issues.
“Everything you’d need is within five, six steps.”
The house has a 15½-foot-wide hardwood-floored living/dining area that leaves room for a coat closet and powder room while remaining comfortably open.
The kitchen has a coffee station, a baking station, and ample counter work space next to a double sink with deep drawer cabinets.
“If the house burns down,” Jackson said, “the kitchen will remain.”
The bedrooms are on the second floor, with the front bedroom holding a king-sized bed and the back bedroom a queen bed. The middle bedroom has been used as an office/guest room.
The basement was recently cleaned and waterproofed, the marble steps regrouted, and new sidewalks poured. The patio has served as a summer kitchen.
Sabatini notes that the house is on a bus line, giving convenient access to Center City, and he enjoys its easy bike access to the Schuylkill River.
The house is listed by Deborah Solo of Solo Real Estate for $429,000.