Walnut Hill is a West Philadelphia neighborhood we’ve covered some, but only to a limited extent. We have written about the 51-year-old Walnut Hill Community Association’s (WHCA) transformation of city lots into community gardens  and University City District’s efforts to brighten the neighborhood, and today we’ll tell you about renovations to a somewhat historic home in this neighborhood.

A few weeks ago, when we were out taking photographs of the old West Philadelphia High School, which could be reimagined as studio and loft apartments aimed at the academic bloc in the area, we noticed a three-story Victorian home being renovated two blocks west of the school at 4945 Walnut Street.  The home, the eastern side of a twin, is connected to a home with a boarded up first floor window.

The home with the chipping paint

The home under…

About two years ago, we toured 1128 S. 19th St., a large corner property that caught fire mere weeks before we set foot inside. The first floor was trashed, the second pretty severely damaged, and the third only had some minor blemishes from smoke and water. We passed on the property, and it’s continued to sit vacant, though it was listed on the market for over a year at a price of $175K.

Before the fire

Over the past couple of years, the front of the property has been bowing out, with a fairly significant crack developing in the facade. Awhile ago, a wooden brace appeared in front of the building, ostensibly to prevent its collapse. Just last month, we passed the building, and said, “gee, that crack seems to be getting bigger fast.” And wouldn’t you know it, a couple of…

Last week, we told you about four vacant buildings on the 1500 block of Ridge Ave. that had recently received Doors & Windows violations notices. Today, we bring another such property to your attention, this time closer to Girard Ave.

The blight

1800-08 Ridge Ave. is a beautiful hulk of a building, with 32 rooms and over 16K sqft of interior space. It was last purchased for $300K (yikes) back in 1999, by James and Ernestine Swinton. Its last use was as a rooming house, according to an old listing, and it’s been vacant since before 2005. Looking at the building and considering that it was once next to the Ridge Avenue Farmers Market, we suspect it once had some important use- could it have once been a hotel in a previous life?

Image of the old Farmers

…

A reader checked in recently, wondering about 2619-21 Poplar St., an apparently vacant building with a cool-looking sign. Located just half a block from the excellent North Star Bar, this location was clearly once home to a bar itself, with a similar double-wide footprint. We don’t believe, however, that this business had the same live music aspect that makes North Star the institution that it is.

The building

Nearby North Star

Looking at public record, the owner of this property is John Graveley, who purchased (or received) it from the Graveley Family Partnership. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same family that owns the large vacant lot next door that we told you about a couple of months ago. While the lot is over $28K delinquent in property taxes,…

A friend of Naked Philly tipped us off to this one yesterday, and we couldn’t wait to share.

1700 Christian St. is a disaster. It’s been a dilapidated, blighted property for over a decade, which is made even more unfortunate by the fact that a school sits directly across the street. The property is owned by Lurube Developers LLC, which has (possibly, public record is a little confusing on this) owned the property since 2002. Taxes have not been paid on this property since 2006, and the owners owe over $10K in taxes at this time.

From Google

A closer look, in the past

This company also owns 1701 Montrose St., located just to the south. The property on Montrose St. was such a public safety hazard, it was torn down by the city in the last couple of years.…

Last month, we did some speculating on the renovation of a building on the western end of the 1100 block of Sansom St., a block that’s got little to offer aside from parking (of the non-free variety). Turns out, there’s something else on this block worth talking about.

Looking west. See it?

How bout now?

Close enough for you?

Yes, this block was the home of Pauline’s Bridal Shoppe, once upon a time. How long ago, you may ask? When did it go out of business, you may wonder? What’s the address, you may inquire? Unfortunately, we have no answers. We can’t find anything about the business, its history, the owners of the property, or the property itself. We can’t even identify its address from looking at the OPA.

So……