Just Listed: Rehabbed Rowhouse in Cedar Park

Builder Túlio Deleon took care to make suret that he house he rebuilt at 5304 Cedar Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143 (third from left) plays nice with its neighbors, even getting the details right on its restored cornice. On the inside, however, it will knock your socks off with its respectful modern updating. | Bright MLS images via Simple Choice Realty

We have a rule here on the PhillyMag Real Estate & Home channel:  With very few exceptions, we don’t feature houses whose rooms are empty. It’s hard for many people to imagine what a plain empty box might look like with their furniture in it, so we do our part to stimulate their imaginations by running photos of rooms with furniture already in them, either actual or virtual.

I do make the occasional exception to this rule, though, when a house has rooms that are visually strong enough to carry the photos on their own. This rehabbed Cedar Park rowhouse for sale is one of those exceptions.

Santuario Philadelphia owner Túlio Deleon, who rebuilt and owns it, has done an outstanding job of bringing this house into the here and now while respecting its traditional character. In the process, he also recycled it, using wood reclaimed from the demolition to build many of the fixtures you will see in the photos below.

To pull this off, he also engaged the design services of Stone & Sage Interiors and hired Retone Interior Design to stage the main floor.

Front porch

The quality of the work should be clear the moment you lay eyes on the house, but it should also shine through in the enclosed sun porch. It retains the original living-room window and adds to it a vintage-style tile floor.

Living room

One of the chief ways in which the designers brought the house into the here and now is by leaving the brick party wall with the house to its west exposed in most places. Combined with the sparkling restored parquet floors, decorative fireplace mantel and white painted banister, that exposed brick wall makes the living room pop.

Dining room

In the dining room, built-in reclaimed-wood shelving and a dark stain on the banister of the stairs to the basement — which I suspect were originally closed off, given this house’s age, but are now open — give it some pizzazz.

Kitchen

Modern and rustic design meet in the kitchen. Here the reclaimed-wood shelves and island add warmth to the modern slate-gray cabinets, white quartz countertops and floor, farmhouse sink and stainless-steel appliances.

Second-floor hallway

Upstairs, the rebuild added a nice traditional touch to the second-floor hallway in the form of a stained-glass skylight salvaged from a church built in 1820.

Primary bedroom

The primary bedroom gets loads of light through its bay window, and it too has an exposed-brick accent wall. (The rear bedroom has one too.)

Bathroom

Bathroom

The hall bath also mixes the modern, the rustic and the vintage. The clawfoot tub with shower is the vintage part. The black Italian tile that surrounds it and the toilet and the hexagonal tile floor are the modern part. And the mirror and double vanity, both made from that reclaimed wood, provides the rustic touch. Modern vessel face basins complete the look, and a Bluetooth speaker provides sound.

Basement rec room

The basement rec room features exposed original beams, a contemporary metal divider on the stairs and some more reclaimed wood.

Basement bathroom

Basement bathroom

The full bathroom next to it is totally modern. It also has a soaking tub with a rain shower head.

Backyard

The designers also rehabbed the outside, with sidewalk lighting in front and a lit stone path in its partially landscaped backyard.

This stunner is also conveniently situated. The Baltimore Avenue business district and the Route 34 trolley lie two blocks to the south, offering many interesting and unique shopping and dining experiences. The Mariposa Food Co-Op is a few blocks to the east on Baltimore. Just across the street is the PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar, the former Mercy Philadelphia Hospital, which offers both outpatient and inpatient medical care in partnership with Penn Medicine.

With its combination of great looks, modern-yet-rustic flair, respect for its past and a convenient location, this rehabbed Cedar Park rowhouse for sale is a real winner. And it’s attractively priced to boot.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 3

BATHS: 2

SQUARE FEET: 2,054

SALE PRICE: $429,000

OTHER STUFF: This house has a 10-year property tax abatement pending.

5304 Cedar Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19143 [Christopher Carr | Simple Choice Realty via Zillow]