Historic Father Divine mansion for auction | Real Estate Newsletter
And Philly renters finding deals.
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The North Philly mansion I toured last week contains a lot of history.
It’s one of the neighborhood’s few surviving mansions built in the late 19th century for members of the city’s manufacturing elite. And it’s also been owned since 1946 by the International Peace Mission Movement, the religious organization (some say cult) founded by a charismatic man known to his followers as Father Divine.
The group used to own a bunch of real estate across Philly. (You may know the Divine Lorraine.) But membership is way down, and the Peace Mission has been shedding properties. The one I toured is the latest headed for auction.
Keep scrolling for that story and to
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The scale of the Peace Mission’s mansion on North 16th Street hits you as you walk through it.
Wooden pocket doors reach to 18-foot ceilings. Fireplace mantels are the biggest I’ve ever seen. When you think there can’t be more rooms, there are more rooms.
Some of the features in the 35,000-square-foot mansion:
crystal chandeliers
hand-painted mural ceilings
marble floors
more than a dozen stained-glass windows
And the whole thing is going up for auction this month.
It’ll be the second North Philly mansion since last year that the Peace Mission has auctioned.
Peace Mission members aren’t known for being talkative. But I got to speak with a 93-year-old former follower who still lives in the city.
She joined with her mother at 5 years old, when she was given a new name.
She told me she used to play piano during banquets at the mansion, which Peace Mission members called the Bible Institute. She was 25 when she left the organization and hasn’t been inside the building in decades, but she remembers it well.
Keep reading for photos of the Peace Mission’s mansion, more about its history and function, and what happens to it now.
On an apartment hunt a few years ago, a friend and I found a 1,280-square-foot, newly renovated place with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in the Society Hill area.
That all sounded good, but what really sold us on the apartment was the landlord’s offer of 10% off the rent and a 14-month lease. That meant we’d be paying about $1,900 total per month. (We tried to get an even longer lease, but I guess that was pushing our luck, ‘cause they said no.)
Philly renters keep finding deals. And an increasing number are “concession surfers” who move from property to property chasing incentives. The trend is possible thanks to a surge in apartment construction that’s created a rental glut for the first time in decades.
One developer and owner of rental properties across the city said he had never given a concession before this year. Now, his company is offering two months of free rent in some cases. He pointed to all the new multifamily construction — in other words, competition — in the area around Northern Liberties, Fishtown, and Kensington.
Demand for Philly apartments exists, but it’s been no match for record levels of construction over the last few years. Citywide, the rental vacancy rate is up. In one Philly zip code, a third of the apartments built since 2021 are still empty.
Thousands more apartments are on the way, mostly in a few hot neighborhoods. But experts say the rent war won’t last.
The latest news to pay attention to
The average Philly homeowner’s property tax bill will go up by $330 this year, the result of the first citywide real estate reassessment in two years.
Second-home owners are skipping traditional Jersey Shore towns to buy on the mainland.
Prefabricated steel Lustron Homes were a pioneering but failed post-WWII housing solution. They still exist in the Philly area.
Another member of a N.J. family that let their affordable housing complexes fall into disrepair has been convicted of mortgage fraud conspiracy.
The price of a permit to park in your Philly neighborhood will more than double.
A man who persuaded well-known Philly developers and wealthy Gladwyne neighbors to invest millions of dollars in his businesses was just charged with fraud and witness intimidation.
A piece of Graffiti Pier collapsed last week, but Philly’s street artists say the “no trespassing” signs won’t keep them away.
House of the week: For $742,000 in Elkins Park, a mid-century modern house designed by a noted art deco architect.
This one’s for anybody who’s dreamed of having farm animals. Or anybody who just wants to see some photos of cute little goats.
Melissa Meacham has always wanted goats. Her husband, Michael, always wanted sheep. They now have both and more at their Montgomery County property, which they named Screaming Goat Farm.
They recently held an open house, so the public could see their rescued animals. And they plan to hold another one in October.
The Meachams’ split-level home sits on six acres next to a trail within a park. The couple looked for at least a year before finding it. Over the last two years, they’ve transformed the 1,800-square-foot home from an outdated ‘90s house to a modern farmhouse.
Keep reading to see goat pics and learn more about the Meachams and their home.
🧠 Trivia time
A pretty unique property is listed for sale on Zillow: the 26-acre Mount Vernon Cemetery in North Philly. But the listing comes with a few caveats.
Question: How much is the overgrown cemetery listed for?
A) $700,000
B) $1 million
C) $2 million
D) $2.5 million
This story has the answer.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
No one gave me the correct answer to last week’s quiz. That photo was taken in the Kensington section of the city at Harrowgate Park.
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Last month, I was walking home with a neighbor, and they were startled when I stepped off a curb to pursue an enemy: a spotted lanternfly.
Ever since we were all told that they’re invasive pests that should be killed, a friend and I have been on a mission to take out any that cross our paths.
Unfortunately, I haven’t stomped any yet this year. The couple I’ve seen have flown too far into streets, where I couldn’t chase them.
For readers who share my mission, my colleague wrote a guide for homeowners on spotting and stopping these pests. Happy hunting.
And enjoy the rest of your week.
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