Northwest Philadelphia home tour reveals the inside of historic and restored spaces

A home tour through Northwest Philadelphia on Sunday brought a slew of visitors through a series of historic houses in the area that have been restored from states of near-ruin. 

 

Here’s a rundown from Historic Germantown of the houses that were featured on the tour. 

Germantown

– 4xx W. Price St. Designed by Hazelhurst & Huckel in 1890 for a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, this home features a dramatic porch and restored paneling that had been covered by previous owners for 60 years. Huckel went on to design Grand Central Station in New York City.

– 58xx Wissahickon Ave.: Designed and occupied by Philadelphia architect Joseph Miller Huston, Oaks Cloister started as a small and simple home/design laboratory. After winning the competition to design the Pennsylvania State Capitol in 1901, Huston started adding large and opulent additions to the property, including a ballroom and a below-ground beer hall.

Mt. Airy

– 65xx Lincoln Drive: Designed by architectural firm of Duhring, Okie & Ziegler in 1899, this home was built in an even-then historic colonial-revival style, but featured cutting-edge amenities like the “Kenney Flushometer” toilet. Current owners continue to bridge historic and modern tastes, restoring the home and decorating it with modern works of art.

– 3xx Pelham Road: Owned by a cigar-manufacturing magnate before his business went bust in 1914, it changed hands for many years before being bought by the United House of Prayer for All People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith. Quirky paint jobs and gradual disrepair ensued until the current owners purchased the house in 2008.

– 1xx Pelham Road: Boyd & Boyd architects designed the property with technical flourishes big and small, from the carved Indiana limestone on the facade to the two-story bay windows. Occupied by Combs College of Music from 1964 to 1985, the house now shows no signs of its previous incarnation.

Chestnut Hill

– 4xx W. Chestnut Hill Ave.: Oldest of the six featured properties, and the only not to undergo a dramatic restoration, this home was built as a wedding present in 1926 and appears on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in the Norman style, the house merges interior and exterior spaces with a loggia, a screened porch, and a stone terrace guiding visitors to the outdoor swimming pool.