Solo Real Estate’s listing for a trinity house 228 Catherine Street, #3 was featured in Philadelphia Magazine’s “Trinity Tuesday” series!
As the article puts it,
“A large part of the appeal of trinity houses is the character of the house. They’re often on tiny side streets, and the fact that they’re so small and so old adds an inherent vibe to them that you’re just not going to find elsewhere. This week’s Trinity Tuesday house has just that vibe.”
Read the full article here.
Unlike many buyers, Caitlin Perkins was not looking for as much square footage as her budget could buy. Nor was she looking for recently rehabbed. Caitlin was looking for a house as small as possible with a sound structure, in South Philadelphia, to be her canvas. Solo found her just the place.
As a mixed-media artist, print maker, and painter, she knew she could peel back wallpaper, pull up carpet, and build furniture. Aside from structural integrity (and a basement), her priorities were size and location—and not in the typical sense.
As for size, Caitlin was inspired by the sustainability of the Tiny House Movement and originally sought to purchase a genuine “tiny house” on wheels (usually around 170-300 square feet), and a vacant lot to park it on. However, no bank would give her a mortgage for a house with wheels or vacant land.
Then a colleague pointed out that many houses in South Philadelphia fall within the tiny house criteria of 172-875 square feet. Added bonus for Caitlin was the fact that her employer, Fleisher Art Memorial, participates in Philadelphia Home-Buy-Now, an employer down payment matching program providing assistance for employees purchasing homes, typically near the workplace—in this case, zip codes 19147 and 19148.
With her budget and specifications in place, she needed a realtor to help her find and buy her future canvas. Caitlin reached out to several agencies to set up introductory interviews. “Deborah Solo was the only agent who took time to meet with me in person,” she recalls. “Everyone else was too busy to bother and just sent me a brief email back.” Deborah, on the other hand, thoughtfully walked her through the home buying process before Caitlin had even committed to being her client. Caitlin was sold.
Deborah was able to quickly identify properties that met Caitlin’s criteria and budget. Within a few showings, they found the perfect property in the Whitman section of South Philadelphia, and immediately put in an offer. Two other developers also put offers on the house. Deborah encouraged Caitlin to write a personal letter to the owners in addition to going in at the full asking price that the developers were offering. The letter worked, and the seller selected Caitlin’s offer!
Did we mention that the house, weighing in at 728 square feet, had drop ceilings, wood paneling, velvet wallpaper, and 30-plus year old carpet? In other words, in Caitlin’s eyes, “I knew this was the perfect house.” On March 1st, a week after closing, she began peeling back the layers on the walls, floors, and ceilings in the house to get down to the original structure, with the help of her friend and handyman Tom Karu. Caitlin began adding her custom, creative finishes from there.
By the time the photographs were taken for this article in mid-May, Caitlin had made an astonishing amount of progress. Exceptionally astonishing considering she did all the work on the property while working her full-time job. “I find it energizing,” she explains.
Only an energized individual could remove five layers of flooring from the living room, layers of wall paper from each wall, lift drop ceilings, build custom kitchen shelving and countertops, patch plaster walls and use the historically accurate technique of lime washing.
Out of these and many more accomplishments, the only thing that temporarily thwarted Caitlin was the staircase. “It almost broke me,” she recounts, “it had carpet, then linoleum, then several layers of paint and adhesive…it took forever.” The results of her hard work? A house that is a Pinterest DIY dreamscape, and a homeowner who lost four sizes in the process!
Not only has the house itself been a canvas, Caitlin also plans to use much of the space in the house to create art in. The front room will be primarily a painting studio, the basement a printmaking studio, and the second bedroom is her writing room.
We may have to make a second visit to Caitlin in a few months, at the rate she’s enhancing the property, it has many more dramatic transformations to come! She has already decided that creating a water-saving washing sink in the bathroom will be her next project.
While most households yearn for that extra bedroom, a laundry room, or space for a home office, some homebuyers are actually seeking less square footage.
Philadelphia actually has a long-standing tradition of tiny houses: small rowhomes originally built for factory workers that now have a whole new appeal.
Smaller homes have become an attractive and realistic option particularly for first-time homeowners, seniors looking to downsize and eco-conscious buyers.
The energy efficient size of a tiny home reduces cost of living while also forcing homeowners to simplify their lives by streamlining their possessions.
Known officially as the Tiny House Movement, an increasing number of homeowners are opting for said small abodes, the qualifying square footage of which is 172 to 875 square feet(unofficially).
Subscribers to the movement can attend workshops to learn how to build their own little lodgings, purchase a pre-made portable pad for as little as $57,000, or buy from existing housing stock that pre-dates the movement but meets the qualifications.
As for the latter, Philadelphia has an impressive stock of tiny houses that were built long before small was cool.
Many neighborhoods in Philadelphia that have high prices per square foot boast a number of these small-bordering-on-tiny houses.
If potential buyers are willing to opt for less square footage and embrace the tiny house ethos, they can afford neighborhoods they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.
What’s more, the trendiest neighborhoods in Philadelphia also have excellent access to public transportation, further decreasing the cost of living.
In fact, the Federal Office of Housing and Urban Development now officially accounts for transportation costs in their housing affordability index, renamed the Location Affordability Index.
A perfect example of finding affordability at the nexus of less square footage and proximity to public transit is this charming 940 square foot property at 2423 South Juniper Street. In the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood, it is mere blocks from the Broad Street line and the ever-increasing Passyunk Avenue food, drink, and entertainment attractions.
While it’s just over the 875 square foot cut-off for tiny houses, we doubt anyone will complain about the extra 65 square feet. It’s what allowed the current owners to squeeze in an office, after all!
Opening image: cropped version of “Tiny House Giant Journey in the Petrified Forest and an RV” by Guillaume Dutilh – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons -http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tiny_House_Giant_Journey_in_the_Petrified_Forest_and_an_RV.jpg#/ media/File:Tiny_House_Giant_Journey_in_the_Petrified_Forest_and_an_RV.jpg
Tiny house in woods: “The Shed” by Benjamin Chun – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr – https://www.flickr.com/photos/benchun/3625699371/
