121 PLEASANT ST Name of Resource: Joseph Meehan House
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ADDRESS: 121 PLEASANT ST Name of Resource: Joseph Meehan House Proposed Action: Designation Property Owner: CDPHI LLC Nominator: Keeping Society of Philadelphia Staff Contact: Megan Cross Schmitt; [email protected] OVERVIEW: This nomination proposes to designate the property at 121 Pleasant Street and list it on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The nomination contends that the property satisfies Criteria for Designation A and J. Under Criterion A, the nomination argues that the property is significant owing to its association with the life and work of Joseph Meehan, “a prominent editor, horticulturalist, landscape gardener, nurseryman, writer and veteran of the Civil War.” Under Criterion J, the nomination argues that the property is significant as a representation of the “commercial and cultural legacy of the larger Meehan family in Mt. Airy, Germantown, and Philadelphia.” Joseph Meehan was the brother of famous botanist, author, and publisher Thomas Meehan, who ran Meehan & Sons Nursery in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. The nomination implies that the yard to the west of the house is historically significant because Meehan “no doubt began planting on the grounds” when he purchased the property in 1880. However, the nomination does not identify any specific features including plants that might convey that significance. The nomination states that “the feeling of a bygone era is further amplified by the ample landscape of matured trees and plantings that occupy the large undeveloped lots on both sides of the dwelling.” The yard to the west was historically associated with the Meehan house. Houses stood on the parcels to the east until after 1962. The parcels were not historically associated with the subject property and are currently owned by the City. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: The staff recommends that the nomination demonstrates that the property at 121 Pleasant Street satisfies Criteria for Designation A and J. (must comply with an Office of Property Assessment address) Please attach a narrative description and site/plot plan of the resource’s boundaries. Please attach a narrative description and photographs of the resource’s physical appearance, site, setting, and surroundings. Please attach a narrative Statement of Significance citing the Criteria for Designation the resource satisfies Please attach a bibliography. NOMINATION FOR THE PHILADELPHIA REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Figure 1. The primary (southeast) elevation of the subject property. Source: Google, 2019. The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds – Built ca. 1886 – 121 Pleasant Street Mt. Airy - Germantown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 3 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Figure 2. Left: Looking northeast into Pleasant Street with the subject property on left. Source: Bradley Maule, 2020. Figure 3. Right: The boundary for the proposed designation is delineated in blue. Source: Atlas, City of Philadelphia. Figure 4. Below: An aerial view of the subject property in context. Source: Bradley Maule, 2020. 5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION The boundary for the designation of the subject property is as follows: ALL THAT CERTAIN lot of piece of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, SITUATE on the Northwesterly side of Pleasant Street at the distance of 75 feet northeastwardly from the northeasterly side of Musgrave Street, CONTAINING in front or breadth on Pleasant Street 87 feet 11 inches and extending in length or depth of that width northwestwardly between parallel lines at right angles to Pleasant Street on the Southwesterly line 72 feet 6 ½ inches and on the Northeasterly line 72 feet 5/8 inches. BEING known as No. 121 Pleasant Street. Map Registry No. 052N170162 OPA Account No. 222071600 Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 4 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Figure 5. The primary (southeast) elevation. Source: Google, 2019. 6. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Situated on the northwest side of Pleasant Street in the Mt. Airy section of Germantown, the Joseph Meehan House & Grounds is a detached two-and-one-half-story stone masonry dwelling with a side-gable roof and a single-story front porch. Built on a double pile plan with a two-story rear el, the building is of a ubiquitous form that emulates houses built in Philadelphia since its foundational period. However, upon closer inspection, the modest architectural flourishes speak to a quotidian aesthetic of working to middle class houses found historically in the larger German Township. The feeling of a bygone era is further amplified by the ample landscape of matured trees and plantings that occupy large undeveloped lots on both sides of the dwelling. The primary (southeast) elevation features a façade of finished schist of a random bond, which is penetrated by two apertures per floor. The first floor features a two-part mullion window on the left and a single pedestrian door on the right with an infilled transom. All of the windows are one-over-one replacement fixtures. The first-floor elevation is shaded by a single-story porch with a shed roof. The porch is formed by stone pillars at the base that support a concrete slab floor. The roof of the porch is supported by three metal units that likely replaced original turned wooden posts. The second-floor features symmetrically placed single windows with Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 5 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. stone headers. A generous eave of the roof provides some shade to the second-floor façade, featuring exposed wooden rafter tails. A large dormer rises from the center of the pitched roof and is dominated by a two-part mullion window. The gable-front features a triangle panel defined by decorative wood Victorian details. Projecting eaves with exposed wooden rafter tails are repeated in the dormer roof. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles. A simple brick chimney stack rises from the left side of the roof at center. Figure 6. An aerial view of the subject property, showing the southwest elevation in the associated landscape. Source: Bradley Maule, 2020. The southwest elevation features two window groupings per floor with one-over-one replacement windows throughout the building. The ground floor includes a three-part bay window with one window per elevation on the left and a single window on the right near the south corner of the building. The second-floor features two single windows in a group above the bay window with a like window above the single window on right. The top half-story features two single windows that are symmetrically placed. The rear el features two windows on the first floor and a single window on the second floor. Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 6 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Figure 7. Top: The southeast and northeast elevations. Source: Bradley Maule, 2020. Figure 8. Bottom: The southwest and southeast elevations. Source: Bradley Maule, 2020. The northeast elevation of the main block is a blind, stucco-clad wall. The rear el features at least one window on the second floor. Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 7 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Figure 9. Joseph Meehan. Source: The Germantown Historical Society. 7. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds (Figures 1 through 8) at 121 Pleasant Street is a significant historic resource that merits designation by the Philadelphia Historical Commission and inclusion on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The subject property satisfies the following Criteria for Designation, as enumerated in Section 14–1004 of the Philadelphia Code: (a) Has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the City, Commonwealth or Nation or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past; and (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community. The period of significance begins with Joseph Meehan’s ownership in 1880, when he no doubt began planting on the grounds, through construction of the house ca.1886 until the time of his death in 1920. Nomination to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Fall 2020 - 8 The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds, 121 Pleasant Street, Mt. Airy - Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. Figure 10. Left: Joseph Meehan in his Union Army uniform. Figure 11. Right: Joseph Meehan in his middle age. Source: The Germantown Historical Society. Criteria A & J The Joseph Meehan House & Grounds at 121 Pleasant Street in the Mt. Airy section of Germantown comprises an unassuming yet significant historic property associated with the life and work of Joseph Meehan (1840–1920) (Figures 7, 8, and 9), a prominent editor, horticulturist, landscape gardener, nurseryman, writer and veteran of the Civil War, who was historically “one of Germantown’s best known residents and a leading horticulturist and nurseryman of the United States.”1 Historic Context: Joseph Meehan (1840-1920)