Just Listed: Renewed Rowhouse with Tiki Bar in Brewerytown
This house got a striking renovation a few years back that features exposed brick walls on both floors. Then its current owners moved in and did something truly original with it.
What makes this renovated rowhouse in Brewerytown different from all the others? Read on. Then make an appointment to see 1447 N. Corlies St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19121, up close and personal. Don’t forget to put on your floral-print shirt. | Bright MLS images via Compass
Wanna get away?
Maybe you’d like to head for a place full of sun and sand, like Hawaii, where you could hang out at a beachside bar, sip margaritas, and watch the surfers hang ten as they take the drop in the tube.
How’s this for the perfect location?
Basement tiki bar
The good news is, you don’t have to book a flight to get to it. All you have to do is buy this Brewerytown renovated rowhouse for sale and head down to its basement.
What’s a tiki bar doing in the basement of a Brewerytown rowhouse? Let musician and craft beer salesman Sean Huber, who owns this house with his wife Katharine, explain.
“The Polynesian Pop/Tiki movement got our attention when I was a full-time musician touring the country, moving from city to city every night,” he writes in an email. “Always eager to venture away from the venue and discover something new, I found out about these bars, some new, some artifacts of the heyday of tiki, from some other enthusiasts in the music scene.
Basement tiki bar
“Once I had my first sip of a mysterious rum rhapsody out of a handcrafted mug in an escapist environment, I was hooked. In the age of social media, blogs and Yelp, the search for these mysterious bars, mugs, artifacts and drinks on menus brought me back to a time when you had to pick up a travel book, flip through album booklets and scour the Internet to discover more about what you were interested in.
Basement tiki bar
“About a month after we moved into our home in 2018, I sent a text to my wife from a bar out on the West Coast and said, ‘So we haven’t really done anything with the basement yet — why don’t we turn it into a Tiki bar?’ And she responded with a resounding yes.
“At that time, I don’t think she expected how full-on I planned to go with it, but proved to be a saint dealing with an obsession that grew and grew from there. The house is over 100 years old, but was completely redone before we moved in. So this allowed us to really put our stamp on it.”
Did it ever. Huber clearly sweated the details in creating this truly awesome retro retreat. Yet while it stands out from the rest of the house, it also fits in with it.
That’s because the rest of the house is full of creative touches even as it uses a familiar design language.
Living room
The design element that the rest of the house hangs on is the exposed brick wall, which extends the length of both the upstairs floors. It provides the color that makes the rest of the house pop.
Powder room
But it pops in other ways too, thanks to the lighting and fixture choices the renovators made.
Kitchen
It has an open main floor that combines a living room and an eat-in kitchen.
Primary bedroom
Primary bathroom
Primary bathroom toilet
And upstairs, it has two bedrooms and a hall bath. The primary bedroom in front has a bay window that looks out onto the street. And, like every other room in this house save the basement, it has an exposed brick wall.
Rear patio
And it has a nice patio in the back. As always with patios of this type, I highly recommend making it greener, and you should be able once again soon to get help with this from the city via the Rain Check program.
You may note the mix of classical, rustic and industrial elements in its various rooms. These elements make this house stand out from the run-of-the-mill rehabs of older rowhouses that are common around the city.
But that tiki bar really makes it stand out. And when you come to tour the house, you will be served by these friendly bartenders:
Bruce and Paul at the tiki bar
“Sadly, our dogs Bruce and Paul do not come with the home, but they are decent bartenders and may be willing to continue to work a few shifts,” says Huber.
And even if your inner lounge lizard isn’t screaming “Buy this house!” right now, you might still want to consider it if you enjoy entertaining friends and family. Take it from Huber:
“Through many gatherings and themed parties, the bar has provided us and our friends a place to go where we can feel completely separate from the world, away from TVs and staring at our phones. Many cocktails have been shaken, stirred, swizzled and blended down there and many memories were made, so we are quite sad to let it go. But with our new home will come the opportunity to rebuild bigger and better — and 1934 Zombies will be served once again.”
In the meantime, you will have this dynamite party room all ready for your next shindig without having to lift a finger, except to pour the drinks.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 2
BATHS: 1 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 1,453
SALE PRICE: $299,000
1447 N. Corlies St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19121 [Jessica Lim | Compass]
