Semi-Attached Home, circa. 1830s
Inside: four bedrooms, four full baths, one half bath, brick exterior, gas heat, central a/c, three fireplaces, elevator, eight car parking, finished basement w/ laundry, roof deck
This was formerly a “it can be yours” article on the website.
The Joseph Sims House is one of the original row homes built in Philadelphia. It was designed by Robert Mills (1781 – 1855), a prominent row house architect in the 19th Century.
Mills is known to have designed the Franklin Row, that this home used to be a part of, and the Carolina Row. It’s possible that he designed quite a few other rows in Philadelphia as well. Aside from Philadelphia, Mills designed many rows in early American, mid-Atlantic cities including the Waterloo Row in Baltimore and much of the housing in the Washington DC area. His most famous work is the Washington Monument.
Mills was a highly effective urban dwelling architect who, besides designing space efficient row houses, also promoted the use of fireproof materials when building row houses. This helped transition row houses from fiery death traps into the epitome of city living. Stylistically, he helped establish the Federal architectural style as the style of choice for almost all urban architecture during the early American period (see our article on Federal row house architecture). The Joseph Sims house represents one of the last survivors of his work in Philadelphia. Originally located at 228 South Ninth street, it was later moved to its current location.
Our observations include the very interesting facade with it’s very large singular windows. The inside is almost completely modernized with large open spaces.
Photos courtesy of the property’s listing agent at the time.
Row House Living 