House of the week: A three-bedroom townhouse in Washington Square West for $775,000

For Sarah and Joe Maiellano, it was the real estate equivalent of having your cake and eating it, too.

They liked old neighborhoods with traditional houses, but they didn’t like the idea of heavy-duty rehabbing. And they particularly didn’t like the spiral staircases in many of the houses they saw. The thought of children and grandparents clambering up and down them was not enticing, and in the midst of their search in 2015, Joe was recovering from an ankle injury.

“We saw so many old houses that had real challenges,” Sarah said.

But they found the perfect compromise in the three-bedroom, 2½-bath townhouse on a quiet, tree-lined street in Washington Square West.

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Sarah, a freelance writer, and Joe, a hospital fund-raiser, are Philadelphia natives who had been living in Washington, and Sarah said, “It was time to come home.”

“Home” had been built in 2014, and the couple were the original owners. Now, though, they have moved to Elkins Park with their young daughter to be closer to family.

The first level of the house has an open floor plan with a living room, dining area, and a kitchen featuring stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops.

The second level has two bedrooms with large closets and a hall bathroom with an oversized vanity and a combination tub and shower.

On the third level, the primary suite comes with amenities including dual custom closets and a bathroom with a seamless glass shower and double sink vanity.

The private roof deck offers excellent views of the city and has a pilot house. The basement is finished, with a powder room and full-sized washer and dryer.

And while the couple had no plans for much rehabbing, they used the pandemic as a time to turn an algae-covered back patio into a private oasis with a custom floral mural.

The house has dual-zoned HVAC, hardwood flooring, hardwired smoke detectors, a sprinkler system, custom blackout blinds, and a video doorbell.

It is close to the Avenue of the Arts.

The house is in the McCall catchment area and has two years left on the tax abatement.

It is listed by Margaux Genovese Pelegrin and Mary Genovese Colvin of Compass Pennsylvania for $775,000.