A three-story townhouse for sale in Philadelphia is not only a historic building, but it also once belonged to one of the city's most prolific architects.
The property on South Chadwick Street began its life in 1865 as a carriage house and, in 1958, was sold to New York native Frank Weise. His urban planning and architectural work played a key role in how Philadelphia-area buildings look today. Weise is known for restoring a street market in the city's Society Hill neighborhood and helping to renovate Eastern State Penitentiary.
Weise died decades ago, but his talents as an architect are on full display throughout the home at 307 S. Chadwick St., said Melanie Stecura of Sotheby's International Realty, the property's listing agent.
"The progression of architecture in the city from the 1960s to the 2000s, you can see it in the levels of the building — from midcentury to postmodern," Stecura said in an interview. "I look at this as something extraordinarily unique and it has a progression of architecture that shows his immense talent and his artistic flair."
Weise was born in Brooklyn in 1918 and moved to Philadelphia as a child. He earned architecture degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. His architecture, and contributions to the city's history, was one of the reasons Philadelphia officials added the South Chadwick property to its registry of historic places in 2023.
Stecura said Philadelphia architecture buffs remember Weise using the home as both a studio and his private residence.
"Frank Weise, an often-underappreciated Philadelphia architect of the Post-World War II period, owned the property from 1958 to 2003," city historical records state. "Weise continued to work on the building throughout his 45 years of ownership."
The property served dual purposes, but Weise used it more for working than living, Stecura said
“For years, he lived there with a kitchen that didn’t work because he didn't cook," she said. "He was a true artist in that sense. His brain just worked in a different way."
The Frank Weise house sits in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, known for being within walking distance of the city's downtown, called Center City. In Rittenhouse Square, 300-square-foot studios start at $200,000 while larger luxury condominiums with city views sell for $10 million. In some parts of the neighborhood, residents live in three-story brick and brownstone rowhouses that are priced between $550,000 and $10 million.
After his death in 2003, Weise left his home to his daughter and son-in-law, both of whom in recent years have used the bottom floor as an office for their design company. The couple also rented the top floors to one tenant for years, Stecura said.
Now on sale for $3.5 million, the home features three bedrooms and one-and-a-half bathrooms across a 2,700-square-foot space. It also has a gas fireplace, skylights, two kitchens, and a curved staircase.
Stecura said she has shown the property a few times since placing it on the market. On most occasions, potential buyers have been wowed by the four rows of arched windows on the townhouse's facade, Stecura said.
"The windows are outrageous," Stecura said. "The way the light hits that house is everything. It's almost like a kaleidoscope."