Real Estate Showdown: A Traditional Colonial vs. A Future-Ready Rowhouse
Neither buyer balked at the $1.25 million selling price.
Philly Real Estate Showdown: Ardmore colonial or Grad Hospital rowhome? Here’s what $1.25 million gets you on the market.
How much is it worth to you to find the home that’s right for you? In each of these cases, more than the seller was asking. And both houses sold fairly quickly.
107 Woodside Road, Ardmore
107 Woodside Road, Ardmore / Photograph by Devin Campbell
The center-hall colonial in Ardmore got only the lightest of makeovers before hitting the market, updating its kitchen, laundry closet and bathrooms with new appliances, fixtures, tubs and showers.
Kitchen / Photograph by Devin Campbell
More modern chandeliers grace the living and dining rooms. Except for the foyer and dining room, which have wallpaper, every room also got a fresh coat of white paint, and a mudroom was added at the back door.
Dining room / Photograph by Devin Campbell
A barn over the detached garage can be used for storage, a home office or some other purpose. Another feature that helped this house sell: its location, only a few blocks from Suburban Square.
764 South 18th Street, Grad Hospital
764 South 18th Street, Grad Hospital / Photograph by Plate 3 Photography/The Garden Group
The Grad Hospital rowhouse also has a convenient location, not too far south of Rittenhouse Square. But it got a bigger makeover. The rebuild turned this 1915 rowhouse into a bright home with an ultra-modern aesthetic.
Kitchen / Photograph by Plate 3 Photography/The Garden Group
A Bauhaus-style rear extension contains the kitchen, a bedroom and a roof deck, and a patio lies between the kitchen and a driveway with a custom gate that had yet to be installed when this house sold.
Dining room / Photograph by Plate 3 Photography/The Garden Group
The buyer won’t notice the home’s best feature until the utility bills come in, though: super-insulation and airtight windows and doors that bring it up to Passive House standards, eliminating the need for conventional heating and air-conditioning and thus slashing energy costs dramatically.
Published as “A Traditional Colonial vs. A Future-Ready Rowhouse” in the March 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
