The 1700 block of Addison Street is one of the lovelier stretches you'll find in the Rittenhouse neighborhood. Almost without exception, the block features three-story Greek Revival rowhomes that date back to the years before the Civil War. We're not usually such big believers that architectural repetition equals beauty but here it just seems to work. Also, there's something wonderful about the year-round Christmas lights wrapped around the block's trees. Last year, Philly Mag included this block on their list of the 25 Most Beautiful Philly Streets.
418 S. 17th St., the easternmost home on this block, isn't like the others- not even a little bit. We would guess that a three story home once stood here, but looking back at an image from 1963, we can see that it's been gone for at least the last fifty years.
The current building includes the one-story structure you see in the image above, along with a rear addition and a small second floor addition.
We've thought about this building many times over the years, noting its distinct appearance compared to the surrounding homes and wondering how it got to be this way. But thanks to an eagle-eyed reader, we now believe that this building's days are numbered. Last month, the home went on the market for a price of $325K. It went under agreement about a week later. We're almost certain that whoever is buying this property isn't doing so with the intention of moving in, rather they'll tear it down and build a very expensive new home.
The property is only 42' deep, so we would expect the future owners will go to zoning to try to build something a little deeper than the 33.6' permitted by right. They may look to go taller than the allowed 38' of height also. But considering that the entire block is part of a historic district, getting those approvals might be more challenging than usual. This should make for some interesting CCRA meetings and perhaps a Historical Commission meeting as well. Not only will we keep an eye on what eventually gets built here, but we'll be interested to see what someone is willing to pay to live at the end of this amazing block.