Passing by the formwork on the 1400 block of Bainbridge Street, you may get the impression that the Artisan Homes are simply continuing their inexorable trek toward Broad Street, with only a check cashing place at the corner to thwart their progress. But you would be mistaken indeed.

Artisan homes, formwork

Outdated map

1413 and 1417 Bainbridge St. are the ‘Townhome by Other’ noted on the outdated map above. And the fact that the parcel sizes are five times that of one of the Artisan homes is sort of a misprint- they’re only a little over three times the size. Still, yikes. 1400 Bainbridge Street LLC purchased a large auto garage a little over a year ago, and made quick work of tearing it down.

In the past

In its place, the principals, who are also the owners of C&R Building Supply and the developers of several successful projects in the area, are building themselves a couple of homes to live in and pass down to future generations. The homes they’re building are the type you’d expect to find on the Main Line, surrounded by a lavish estate instead of steps away from Broad Street, but we will certainly take it.

Such big foundations

The developers went before SOSNA shortly after purchasing the property and got approvals for two 61′ tall homes (!), each with nine (!) garage parking spaces (accessed on Kater Street), a garage rooftop swimming pool (!!!), and half-court basketball and a couple of bowling alley lanes in the basement (!!!!). Lots of bedrooms and bathrooms and a fancy kitchen or two should be expected here as well, in what will certainly represent the fanciest homes in the neighborhood and may end up being the most high-end, tricked out homes built in the city this year.

We honestly can’t wait to see these homes completed, and hope that we can work our way into getting a tour before the families move in. And let’s not lose sight of what this project means for the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, an area that’s been considered “up and coming” for years: when these homes are finished, we can’t imagine that there will be anyone who will be able to claim with any legitimacy that the neighborhood is anything but ‘arrived, and still improving.’ Kind of an amazing transformation over the past decade, no?