Austin Turnbull loves the idea of making necessary improvements in an older home but retaining its true character.
He found Philadelphia to be fertile ground for such projects and fell in love with the city despite his original intent to stay only a few years. He renovated and sold a house in Fairmount and now plans to sell his home in Graduate Hospital so he can do it a third time in Rittenhouse.
“I like the concept of being a steward of history,” said Turnbull, a nurse, who does some of the work himself — “painting, demolition, light plumbing, stuff like that” — while contracting out larger jobs like electrical.
Turnbull bought the 874-square-foot Graduate Hospital house in 2022, struck by, among other things, a staircase going up the center of the two-bedroom, 1½-bathroom home. Plus it was close to his work.
The first floor has an open layout with the living room and a kitchen with granite countertops, a laundry room, a half-bathroom and the door to a back patio and barbecue area.
The second floor has the bedrooms, conjoined by a Jack-and-Jill bathroom with a claw-foot tub. Turnbull has used the second bedroom as a TV and entertainment area.
The house has an unfinished basement with storage space.
It is a walkable distance from Rittenhouse Square and Schuylkill River Trail and an easy commute to University City.
It is listed by Pamela Rosser-Thistle of BHHS Fox & Roach at the Harper Rittenhouse Square, for $485,000.
Leave a Reply