$17,000 in fines for renting estate as Airbnb | Real Estate Newsletter

The saga started as most community disputes do — with a complaint from a neighbor.

The owners of a century-old Chadds Ford home on 43 acres listed their property on Airbnb for short-term rental. A year ago, a neighbor complained about “multifamily gatherings” and “loud parties, drinking, shouting, music, and the like.”

Chadds Ford officials eventually decided the property owners were violating local law. Just this year, they’ve fined the homeowners more than $17,000.

Keep scrolling for that story and to see which places in Pennsylvania became “million-dollar” communities for the first time, find out where in Philadelphia a Council member is pushing for more development, and peek inside a Willow Grove home that doubles as a puppy training site.

📮 Have you designed or renovated your home with pets in mind? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.

— Michaelle Bond

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I’m staying at an Airbnb on vacation with friends this week. You may have stayed in one, too.

Policymakers across the country have blamed short-term rentals for contributing to a lack of housing for long-term renters and home buyers, and neighbors in many places have complained about disruption of their peace and quiet. Philadelphia and other municipalities have passed regulations.

Chadds Ford officials determined the Airbnb listing on Smithbridge Road violated local zoning rules and filed a civil complaint in court. The owners argued that what they were doing wasn’t banned and kept renting the wooded property.

As the case waits to go to trial, the owners recently took down their Airbnb listing. But not before officials wrote 36 citations and fined them $17,000.

Keep reading for the twists and turns of this case and why the property owners aren’t giving up the idea of renting out their home.

What comes to mind when you think of the Main Line? I’m betting high on the list are the pricey homes.

I would have thought that a bunch of Main Line spots would make Zillow’s recurring list of “million-dollar” communities — places where the typical home is valued at $1 million or more. Especially with the way home prices have been climbing, thanks to limited supply and continuing buyer demand.

But no community in Pennsylvania had made Zillow’s list — until now.

In February, typical home values in two places on the Main Line hit $1 million and kept going: Gladwyne and Villanova.

The median household incomes in both of their zip codes are so high that the Census Bureau just lists them as “250,000+” — its highest income tier.

Keep reading to see the value of the typical home in Gladwyne and Villanova and in the South Jersey Shore towns that made the “million-dollar” communities list again.

When I was in high school, I wrote a couple stories for my hometown newspaper, the Burlington County Times. One of those stories was about my classmate, Jamie, who was training a Seeing Eye dog.

Nicole Mumma trains guide dogs for the New Jersey-based nonprofit at her home in Willow Grove. She said she’s grateful to live in the kind of home where she can work with the animals she loves. And that wasn’t always a guarantee.

She used to live with her family in a four-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot Colonial in Abington. After she and her husband separated, she and her children moved to their three-bedroom, 1,300-square-foot house in Willow Grove. In the uncertain time between moves, the family stayed with a friend but couldn’t have their dog with them.

Now, the puppies Mumma trains hang out near her feet while she sits in her office chair, which she calls “the command center.” Despite that title, Mumma isn’t sweating the details when it comes to home renovations.

Her former home was supposed to be the forever home, and everything mattered, she said. Now, she said, she knows, “your house is always going to be a work in progress.”

Peek inside the family’s home and awww at the cute puppies.

A developer for Dill Dinkers Pickleball is bringing indoor courts to Montgomery County. More than 25 courts are expected to open this summer at two sites that total 84,000 square feet.

Question: Which two municipalities are getting the courts?

A) Upper Merion and Ambler

B) Lansdale and Hatboro

C) Conshohocken and Narberth

D) Pottstown and Jenkintown

This story has the answer.

Do you know the location this vintage Philly photo shows?

Hint: It’s a beloved watering hole that was recently in the news.

📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.

Last week’s photo showed the Spirit of Transportation sculpture in the north waiting room at William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. Lots of readers got that one.

I’ll shout out Joe C., who told me he worked there “for 11 great years with wonderful people”; Lars W. and Jeffrey B., who knew the name of the artwork and the artist; and Rick M.

Rick said, “The first time you make the long walk to the men’s room from the main concourse, you have to slow down a bit in awe: What is this incredible thing back here?”

Here’s to moments of awe in the places where we find ourselves. Enjoy the rest of your week.

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