NOMINATION OF HISTORIC BUILDING, STRUCTURE, SITE, OR OBJECT PHILADELPHIA REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PHILADELPHIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION SUBMIT ALL ATTACHED MATERIALS ON PAPER AND IN ELECTRONIC FORM ON CD (MS WORD FORMAT) 1. ADDRESS OF HISTORIC RESOURCE (must comply with a Board of Revision of Taxes address) Street address: 1548 Adams Avenue Postal code: 19124 Councilmanic District: 7 2. NAME OF HISTORIC RESOURCE Historic Name: Wilmerton House Common Name: 1548 Adams Avenue 3. TYPE OF HISTORIC RESOURCE Building Structure Site Object 4. PROPERTY INFORMATION Condition: excellent good fair poor ruins Occupancy: occupied vacant under construction unknown Current use: 5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION SEE ATTACHED 6. DESCRIPTION SEE ATTACHED 7. SIGNIFICANCE Period of Significance (from year to year): 1700-1750 Date(s) of construction and/or alteration: circa 1713-28 Architect, engineer, and/or designer: Builder, contractor, and/or artisan: Paul Wilmerton Original owner: Paul Wilmerton Other significant persons: CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION: The historic resource satisfies the following criteria for designation (check all that apply): (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; or, (b) Is associated with an event of importance to the history of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or, (c) Reflects the environment in an era characterized by a distinctive architectural style; or, (d) Embodies distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style or engineering specimen; or, (e) Is the work of a designer, architect, landscape architect or designer, or engineer whose work has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the City, Commonwealth or Nation; or, (f) Contains elements of design, detail, materials or craftsmanship which represent a significant innovation; or, (g) Is part of or related to a square, park or other distinctive area which should be preserved according to an historic, cultural or architectural motif; or, (h) Owing to its unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood, community or City; or, (i) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in pre-history or history; or (j) Exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community. 8. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES SEE ATTACHED 9. NOMINATOR Name with Title: Kristin Hagar, historic preservation consultant Email: [email protected] Organization: Historical Society of Frankford Date: July 9, 2012 Street Address: 1507 Orthodox Street Telephone: (215) 743-6030 City, State, and Postal Code: Philadelphia, PA 19124 Nominator is is not the property owner. PHC USE ONLY Date of Receipt:________________10 July 2012___________________________________________ Correct-Complete Incorrect-Incomplete Date:______24 July 2012_______________ Date of Notice Issuance:_______8 April 2013_______________________________________________ Property Owner at Time of Notice Name:_________________________________________________________________________ Address:_______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ City:_______________________________________ State:____ Postal Code:_________ Date(s) Reviewed by the Committee on Historic Designation:____________________________________ Date(s) Reviewed by the Historical Commission:______________________________________________ Date of Final Action:____________________________________________________________________ Designated Rejected 3/16/07 5. BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION Beginning at a point (fig. 1) on the northeast side of Deal Street at a distance of 231.8 feet from the southwest curb at the intersection of Adams Avenue and Romain Street, the property boundary extends (fig. 2) southeastward along Deal Street for a distance of 17 ft and 11 in. to a point; thence northeastward 143 ft. and 2 ¼ in. to Adams Avenue; thence northwestward along Adams Avenue for a distance of 18 feet to a point; thence 144 ft. and 11⅜ in. to the point of origin. Figure 1: boundary starting point Figure 2: Parcel: 1548 Adams Avenue Map and parcel information (right) courtesy of Parcel Explorer, Department of Records, City of Philadelphia: citymaps.phila.gov/ParcelExplorer/ (last accessed June 3, 2012) 1 6. DESCRIPTION The house known as the Wilmerton House is a 2-1/2 story, early Colonial house located at 1548 Adams Avenue, between Frankford Avenue and the Frankford Creek, in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. The house is detached; however, the front façade (northeast elevation) rises from the curb and the sides of the house tightly face adjacent buildings, so the property has no front or side yards. (See figs. 3, 4.) Only the front façade is in public view; additional information has been obtained through historical and contemporary maps and photographs. Behind the house (the southwest portion of the property) stands an L-shaped building that extends onto the property at 1550 Adams Avenue. The L-shaped building does not contribute to the historical significance of the property. The reminder of the property behind the L-shaped building along Deal Street is open. Across the street from the property, on the northeast side of Adams Avenue, are six contiguous vacant lots, all surrounded by a low-rise wooden fence. (See figs. 4, 9, 10.) The property comprises 2,574 square feet; the rectangular-shaped house within it is approximately 612 square feet. 1 The house is currently vacant. The exterior walls are comprised of rubble stone, popularly believed to have come from the Frankford Creek bed; the foundation is also comprised of stone. Ashlar quoins feature on the façade but otherwise the stone is uncoursed (figs. 3, 7). The gable roof, not original, is covered in green asphalt shingles (fig. 3). Discoloration on the stone exterior has been caused by aesthetically careless repointing work on the mortar joints (figs. 3, 7). The quoining, original to the house, appears to be in relatively good condition. There is possibly an historic box gutter, now exposed, along the cornice line (figs. 3, 5). Three stones extending at an angle from the base of the façade, below the first floor window, give evidence that a bulkhead to the basement once existed (fig. 8). The house, about 18 feet in width, has two bays containing a window and the doorway on the first floor and two windows on the second floor (fig. 3). The doorway, on the right side of the façade (nearest the northwest corner of the lot), is inset by several inches and raised from ground level by two steps: one, platform-like; the other, narrow. The original doorframe and door no longer exist, and the platform-like 1 Office of Property Assessment, City of Philadelphia opa.phila.gov/ (last accessed June 3, 2012); Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 2006, Map Collection, Free Library of Philadelphia; Google Maps maps.google.com/ (last accessed June 3, 2012). 2 step is curiously not quite aligned with the door opening. This, and the fact that there is movement in the stone lintel, suggests that the door opening was retrofitted or otherwise altered. The movement in the stone lintel poses a critical structural threat to the building at present. Currently, the house entirely lacks a doorframe and a door; the entrance has been boarded with plywood (fig. 7). All three windows on the front façade are vinyl replacement windows set into historic wood frames, double-hung on the second floor and casement on the first floor. All three frames are painted brown (see figs. 3, 5, 6). Below the first-floor casement window, there is evidence of a spray-foam application to replace deteriorated sill or mortar (fig. 6). A single story, wood frame appendage to the rear of the house, presumably a kitchen shed, is evident in the 2006 Sanborn map. Among historical maps referenced by the author, a shed first appears explicitly in a 1929 Bromley map, though it may not be the same shed evident in the 2006 Sanborn map as indicated by rectangles of differing shapes (see figs. 11- 12). 3 Figure 3: Northeast elevation along Adams Avenue, 2011 (Historical Society of Frankford) 4 Figure 4: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 2006 (Free Library of Philadelphia) 5 Figure 5: Detail: Northeast elevation along Adams Avenue, second-floor window 6 Figure 6: Detail: Northeast elevation along Adams Avenue, first-floor window 7 Figure 7: Detail: Northeast elevation along Adams Avenue, first-floor main entrance 8 Figure 8: Detail: Northeast elevation along Adams Avenue, evidence of a bulkhead 9 Figure 9: Aerial view, northward. Google Maps, 2012, (maps.google.com/) Figure 10: Aerial view, southward. Google Maps, 2012 (maps.google.com/) 10 Figure 11 (left): Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 2006 (Free Library of Philadelphia) Figure 12 (right): Geo. Bromley, Philadelphia Wards 23 and 41, 1929 (Athenaeum of Philadelphia) 11 7. SIGNIFICANCE Likely constructed between 1713 and 1728, the Wilmerton House is a rare remnant of early settlement in Frankford, which itself is among Philadelphia‟s earliest communities. Moreover, while the house is currently in fair-to-poor condition, it is architecturally significant, and unique, as an example of early Pennsylvania rural architectural found today within city limits. The Wilmerton House, at 1548 Adams Avenue, meets