March 02, 2006 Issue                                               

©2005 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mt. Airy home placed on historic register
by Kristin Pazulski

The Garrett House at 7048 Germantown Ave. was placed on the city’s Historic Register Jan. 13. This photo of the house was taken about 1900 by George Bacon Wood, and is courtesy of the Germantown Historical Society.

On Jan. 13, the Garrett House at 7048 Germantown Ave. in Mt. Airy was placed on the city’s Register of Historic Places by the Philadelphia Historic Commission.

The house was created in three stages, according to the research done by West Mt. Airy Neighbors, Bruce Laverty of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and staff of the Historical Commission. Little is known about the initial building phase, except they believe it was built in the 18th or early 19th century.

The second building stage occurred in 1835. Thomas U. Walter, a well-known architect who designed the U.S. Capitol dome, the House and Senate wings of the Capitol building and Girard College, reconstructed the building into a Greek Revival style country home for the George H. Garrett. The Garrett family owned a snuff tobacco business in Philadelphia, according to the research.

The third building stage was a conversion of the home to a large Italian Villa residence by an unknown architect in the 1850s. Since then, minor additions and constructions have been done to the building, but for the most part it is a “farmhouse with an Italian Villa design outside,” described Laura Siena, executive director of the West Mt. Airy Neighbors. “It has some grand rooms, and then some not-so-grand ones,” referring to some of the simpler farmhouse-style rooms.

West Mt. Airy Neighbors’ former board member Lois Frischling authored the Garrett House’s nomination for the Historic Register. The board voted in their December meeting to support the nomination.

The building was recently sold to a Chestnut Hill based real estate developer. Plans are underway to restore Garrett House, which had been neglected for over 35 years. “It needs a lot of work,” said Siena.

The developer is currently working closely with West Mt. Airy Neighbors, the Philadelphia Historic Commission and the City Planning Commission to design an overall plan for the two-acre property that the developer said will bring “new life to that section of Germantown Avenue,” while honoring the building’s history.