191 E Evergreen Ave

The dazzling and iconic detached, single-family town home on E. Evergreen Avenue in Chestnut Hill is the house for those with impeccable taste, flawless design confidence, and a sophisticated sense of style. Redesigned and altered in the late 1920's by the renowned architect, Edmund B. Gilchrist (1885-1953), it is a fine example of Gilchrist's move into the modernist era. The client was Arthur B. Carles (1882-1952), a noted artist of the time, whose style ranged from Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism. Purchased by a benefactor for the Carles family, the house was remarkably transformed from a modest Victorian to a spectacular home and artist's studio. Gilchrist literally raised the roof to create an expansive third-floor, open-space studio with north light, soaring ceilings, and a stair turret to roof decks with panoramic city views. (The owners think it may be the tallest single family home in Philadelphia, where you can see, on a bluebird day, the skyscrapers of Center City.) The original stone wall at the front of the house is topped with an intricate iron fence with vine designs. Sited up off the street level, the sense of seclusion and privacy is palpable as you walk through the metal front gate to the sunny court yard. The first and second floors are gracious and comfortable. From the court yard enter the spacious front hall, also used as the dining room by the current owners. To the front of the house is the living room with walls of bookcases , a fireplace, and huge windows. To the back of the house is a spacious family room with more casework, and a tastefully updated kitchen with topline appliances and fixtures. The second floor has three bedrooms, a dressing room, and three baths, along with plenty of storage. The third floor studio, presently used as the primary suite is simply indescribable. There is an attached bi-level suite with a kitchenette in the rear of the house, accessible through the main house, but with a separate entrance off the side yard. The outside space and driveway are fully fenced and artfully landscaped. Perhaps for some, the most desirable aspect of this property is its proximity to all the liveliness of Germantown Ave with its shops and restaurants, and numerous cafes. Walk to everything: parks, trains, museums, library, houses of worship, the arboretum, and more. This is a serious house for those with an essential joie de vivre. Come see before it's gone.