Houses are frequently anthropomorphized in a manner that imbues them with life, adopting them as a member of a family. For an early twentieth century corner row house in Center City Philadelphia, the notion of a house possessing “good bones” was all the more appropriate given the owner’s professional calling analyzing X-ray films in the field of radiology.

The three-story home was designed for one occupant, the entertainment of close friends, and the occasional house guest.  This unusual condition enabled the project to re-evaluate normative rules of living. The design did not need to concern itself with acoustic separation between floors. Adjacent programming that might normally require walls to create privacy was no longer necessary.  Full floors could be given over to one or two activities, enabling air and light to flow freely through the building.

While the corner location affords three façade exposures, the design needed to create a more light-filled and habitable living space on the street level where there was once a commercial storefront. The design introduces a generous second-floor opening above the kitchen, balancing the light from the old, high storefront windows to the south and windows previously trapped within a bedroom on the second floor. An open-riser, solid wood stair outlines the perimeter of this opening, drawing the eye and visitor into the upper floors of the building.

Ceiling joists, remarkably intact in one-hundred-year-old white pine, are sand blasted and left exposed to add color and texture to the space, contrasting sharply with the pristine white walls and ceilings that cover more complex floor transitions and new building infrastructure. Simple oak millwork is used to gather and organize transitions between spaces, always performing multiple tasks: wall and shelf, bench and cubby, guard rail and wet bar.

Expected Completion 2020

3,000 SF