4500 Chester Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19143

Description

Designed by prominent Philadelphia architect Willis Hale (c.1889), this handsome, move-in ready Victorian has the best location in all of University City for a panoramic view of West Philly’s beloved Clark Park - plus an amazing wrap-around sun porch from which to view it. It’s on the corner of a block of beautifully intact twin houses now included in the City’s Chester Regent Historic District. Numerous updates have been made, including adding central air conditioning, a heat pump, and new storm windows for maximum year-round comfort.

The thoughtfully restored brick and stone stairs at the main entrance from 45th Street lead to a vestibule that opens into a foyer; the living room is to the right, with a French door to the sun porch; on the other side of the foyer is a large dining room. Original pocket doors mark the entrances to both the living room and dining room from the foyer. Beyond the dining room is a large, light-filled kitchen at the rear of the house, with several southeast-facing windows overlooking the park and rear yard. The kitchen is open to an adjacent room with a vaulted ceiling, laundry closet, and half bath. Sun streaming through the skylights in the vaulted ceiling bathe the room in morning light. The large rear yard (22' x 35’) boasts a large, paved patio and raised western red cedar planting boxes filled with flowering perennials. On the two upper floors are six large rooms and three baths. The rear bedroom on the second floor has a fireplace and a private bath; the other two rooms on this floor share a hall bath built into a turret. The third floor has a partial in-law kitchen currently used as a crafts room, plus two additional enormous rooms and another turret bath. There's also a full attic, and a full, unfinished basement.

The location is close to everything: Clark Park, of course, the restaurants and shops on Baltimore Avenue, and the no. 13 trolley (T3) that can whisk you to center city in 15 minutes, stopping at UPenn, Drexel University, and the 30th Street transportation hub along the way.