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On the market: An 1818 Society Hill rowhouse for $699,000

The three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath house has easy access to Head House Square, theaters, restaurants and coffee shops, a Whole Foods market, and interstate highways and Delaware River bridges.

The kitchen and basement have been remodeled in this 1818 rowhouse in Society Hill.
The kitchen and basement have been remodeled in this 1818 rowhouse in Society Hill.Read moreAdam Hennessey

Few couples rent as long as Ashley and Adam Hennessey did before buying their first home.

But after four years in Manayunk, three near Rittenhouse Square, and two in Society Hill, they knew they had found the right place.

“If we were going to be in the city,” Adam says, “we knew it would be Society Hill,” with its easy walkability to Center City.

The three-bedroom, 1½-bath house on a cobblestone street, built in 1818, needed some work. But Adam, an emergency room physician, and Ashley, who also works in health care, saw the promise in it and, in Adam’s words, “We jumped on it.”

They installed central air, redid the kitchen, and completely renovated the basement, which had been a slab.

But now, after five years there, they are looking for more space for themselves and their two young sons and are moving to Bala Cynwyd.

The house, listed on the city’s Register of Historic Places, has a first-floor living room, dining room, and kitchen with access to a large private rear yard.

The second floor has two bedrooms and a hall bath, and the third-floor master bedroom has high ceilings, exposed beams and brick, a fireplace, and ample storage area.

The brand new lower level has a finished basement and half-bath.

The house has easy access to Head House Square, theaters, restaurants and coffee shops, a Whole Foods market, and interstate highways and Delaware River bridges.

Parking is available to rent in a garage a half-block away.

“It will be very difficult leaving the neighborhood,” Adam says, and his older son will particularly miss the highly rated McCall elementary school.

The property is listed by Frank DeFazio of BHHS Fox & Roach Center City-Walnut for $699,000.