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Fri
May 25
2012

Latimer Street House is a Spectacle to Behold

Like anybody else, we’re always looking for nicer digs. Sure, we’re entirely happy with our quaint, two story row home on a quiet block just outside of Center City, but the thought of moving to a new house in another part of town, or a place with more space, or with a unique design definitely has crossed our minds. So when we noticed the “For Sale” sign at 1200 Latimer St. the other day, we confess that we spent a couple of minutes fantasizing about what it would be like to live there. A quick check on the price tag shattered that daydream into a thousand fragments. Yup, it’s listed for $6.2 million.

Something different

The home is owned, and was designed by husband and wife duo David and Ligia Slovic in the mid-1990′s. Mr. Slovic, who can obviously design and build an unusual house, has apparently moved away from architecture and more toward art in recent years.

According to the second edition of Philadelphia Architecture: a guide to the City, this house was built on the site of three row homes demoed in the 1940s and “attempts to bring the amenities of suburban living to an urban setting.” A central courtyard divides the building, which means that much of the building’s light comes from windows that face the interior of the property. This explains the blank walls on the first floor, which may have felt more necessary twenty years ago. Along with its size and shape, industrial design elements make this building stick out dramatically from the adjacent homes.

Fits right in?

The listing explains that the home has nearly 6,000 sqft of living space, with three bedrooms and five bathrooms. A separate professional studio/living space is also located somewhere on the property. Three car parking, a roof deck, and the aforementioned 2,000 sqft courtyard make this home not only unique in terms of design but also in terms of amenities offered in the heart of Center City. No swimming pool though, sorry.

Check out some photos from the listing:

Up on the roof

Part of the kitchen. Maybe time for a new dishwasher?

Looking into the courtyard from inside. Note the crazy high ceilings.

Okay, so maybe this place is a little more than we need at the moment. Even so, it’s a fun exercise to think about what it would be like to live here.

One bonus that comes to mind immediately: easy access to the recently-opened Odd Fellows Cafe!

10
COMMENTS
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Posted in Washington Square West | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments
  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5732429 Scott Meyer

    ugly. just ugly.

  • Guest

     On the outside.  Pretty amazing space and light on the inside.  I could definitely work with it. :)

  • guest

    Well, I’m sure the high cement walls are nice when blocking out the drag queens, hustlers and crack heads that roam up and down that darkened block of 12th Street at all hours. 

  • Steve S.

     Looks more like LA in the ’80s (think pre-blobitecture Gehry).

  • Jbob

    For years, I thought this was Planned Parenthood.  Who knew?

  • qguy

    Talk about a building that turns a dark, off-putting, forbidding, cold shoulder to the rest of the community!

    And just for an added bonus, if a family were to move here, when their kids behave badly in school (as kids eventually do) and their teachers inevitably ask the age-old question, “What, do you live in a barn?” they can honestly answer: “Yes, I live in a modern, open-plan, explosed-steel-beam, granite-clad, thumbing-its-nose-as its-neighbors, hipper-than-thou, pretentious-as-sin barn!”

  • Stuartptt

    Drag queens, hustlers and crack heads? Yeah, I haven’t been in that neighborhood since the 80s either.

  • Laurenalice

    Living in Center City and surrounding neighborhoods since 1994, this was always such a progressive building to me. Albeit I was young and dumb back then, but it still retains that futuristic/modern city quality for me, and I secretly like it. Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine did a piece on it once. And I laughed out loud at the dishwasher comment. 

  • Guest

    The dishwasher comment is hilarious.
    Internally I think it’s cool there are such unique places like this in the city but externally I think it missed the mark. I thought this place had some commercial use. In the first pic I feel like I see the loading dock on the right, the service entrance on the left and people working upstairs on typewriters. 

  • George

    It’s actually pretty cool.  There was a separate one bedroom apartment on the second floor of the building that they were renting a few years ago.  I took a tour (rent was a bit out of my price range), and it was a really cool space.  I would have moved in if I could have afforded it.  They have also restored and modernized the interior of a historic property around the corner on 12th street (between Walnut and Locust) which was absolutely amazing.  They are also both very nice people (from my limited interaction with them).

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