Property’s Morning Obsession: Mansion-y House for Sale on Elfreth’s Alley

Each morning we start the day with Property’s Morning Obsession—anything from staging to woodwork to the fragment of a building. Want to submit your morning obsession? Send us an email: lspikol@phillymag.com.

Generally speaking, when a home becomes available on the nation’s oldest continuously occupied residential street, it tends to be rather small–after all, think of how much more miniature people were back then. There’s no open space either, as the Alley’s homes are the ultimate primordial Philly rows. But today we’re obsessed and delighted by a listing for a house for sale on Elfreth’s Alley that has 6 bedrooms and 2.5 baths in 2,736 square feet. Not only that, but it has a yard, two staircases, 11 fireplaces (electricity was scarce in 1785), an attic and a basement. In other words, it’s a veritable mansion.

So what’s the catch? Well, the language of the listing gives it away: “Rare opportunity to restore a significant property on one of the most historic streets in the country!…Being sold in as is/where is condition.” That means it’s going to take a lot of work to get it into top condition, but if you’re handy with a hacksaw and have a hankering for history, it may be worth a half a million to own a piece of history.

116 Elfreths Aly, Philadelphia, PA 19106 [Zillow.com]