History Lesson:
Our unique block was designed & built by Charles Leslie in 1872 with a shared central garden instead of a street. The houses are built on 25′ wide x 25′ deep lots, which provide plenty of light, opportunities for cross ventilation, and of course, views to the garden. The garden provides the perfect backdrop for community interaction and adds a touch of beauty & nature to everyday life in the big city.  It’s also super quiet at night on our block which we have quickly grown to love (you may recall we used to live in Old City on 2nd Street… how?)

Our house underwent it’s first major renovation around 1900, when the owners of the Chichester Chemical Company, maker of the Diamond Brand Pennyroyal pills, lived here.   That’s when it received the two bay windows and surrounds, enlarged living room, enlarged master bedroom closet, increased the ceiling height in the 2nd floor and added the third floor with mansard roof… as well as all new interior doors, moulding, trim, tile, communication wires, knob and tube electricity, the list goes on.  Lucky for us we know quite a bit of history of our house and hope to post even more about it in the future when we have some spare time and aren’t using the dining room as a work shop. 🙂

Current Stats

Basement:

• Laundry area with utility sink & floor drain
• Storage area & our extra beer / champagne fridge
• Semi-organized workshop area filled with wood & mechanical equipment

First Floor:

• Front Stoop onto Madison Square & the lovely garden
• Antique tile/ mosaic entry with doors to living and dining room, & wood stair to second floor. We’ll be stripping the handrails and maybe even the painted stringer and risers.  Wall still need smoothed and painted but the light fixture is in!
• Brand New Fabulous Kitchen
• 1 brand new  half bath
• Living room
  • New built in credenza with travertine top
  • New coat closet
  • 1900 Tile & (newly stripped) oak fireplace with new travertine top
  • Stained glass window in the living room above the credenza, built for us by McElf Glass Studio in Buffalo
  • Hardwood floors
• Dining Room (this still needs some “finishing touches”
• Small but covered exterior utility/ trash bin storage off rear alleyway with fence and door to alley.  With a new sliding gate, window to basement and steps this year.

Second Floor:

• Master Bedroom w/ walk in closet, Bay window, hardwood flrs, original woodwork details
• “Orange Bedroom” – similar to our bedroom with a bay window, hardwood, and brand new closets. Currently used as studio work room/ dining room.
• Complete Guest Bedroom! With cork floors, new window, new closet, picture rail, the works; all under 100 sq ft.
• Complete Victorian Modern Spa Retreat Bathroom- now featuring a door and lock!
• Main hall with new linen closets & restored light fixtures
• Hall to third floor between the front bedrooms (patiently waiting for some cosmetic work)

3rd Floor Studio:

• Open floor plan with for Office/ living room/ built-in wood and glass library cabinets
• 5 large windows with 5 18″ deep new lovely marble sills
• Deck with new planters, a fabulous view of skyline, William Penn & PECO building, and a GRILL!

We love our house!!