A recent site visit by Philadelphia YIMBY has revealed that construction is complete at a four-story, three-unit multi-family building at 1025 Buttonwood Street in Callowhill, Lower North Philadelphia, near the elevated Rail Park. The site sits on the north side of the block between North 10th and North 11th streets. Designed by YCH Architect, the structure spans 3,297 square feet. Permits list Lins Decoration Contractor as the contractor and a construction cost of $180,000.
1025 Buttonwood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022
1025 Buttonwood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022
1025 Buttonwood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022
The building boasts a rather plain brick facade with horizontal siding on the lot walls. Although rising nearly twice as high as adjacent prewar structures, the design is generally inoffensive, in large part thanks to the brick exterior that is largely contextual with the surroundings. The most unfortunate parts are the ground level treatment, where a garage door takes up most of the street frontage, and the fact that the building replaces a two-story prewar rowhouse.
As noted in our previous article on the now-demolished rowhouse, the building featured an attic level at the top, illuminated by gabled dormer windows, one facing the street and another in the rear. Details such as these mark the building as one built in the Federal style, a vernacular that dates to the nation’s earliest years, named after the young federation, in juxtaposition to the preceding Georgian style.
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the United States and boasts a rich history of rowhouse construction that dates back centuries. YIMBY strongly supports new construction throughout the city and addition of much-needed housing stock; however, in order to preserve its unparalleled heritage, the city’s planning department must strengthen its preservation laws, particularly in its oldest neighborhoods, and facilitate development transfer rights in order to prevent robbing property owners of their development opportunities.
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Thoughtless base: check
Cheap windows: check
Lack of anything that resembles a cornice: check
Inexplicably assymetrical: check