Since the mid-1980s, the charming section of Northwest Philadelphia has been one of the largest historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places, with 2,700 buildings listed as significant resources contributing to its status. Anyone who has driven up Germantown Avenue and through its neighborhoods can understand the designation.
The Chestnut Hill Historical Society is now in the process of including more of its assets. A survey started last August and expected to be completed by December will likely add another 90 buildings erected since 1935, a trove of mid-20th century structures that includes nationally and internationally renowned designs and architects.
Among the revered mid-century homes of Chestnut Hill are the Margaret Esherick House, built in 1960, one of the few existing residential designs by Louis Kahn, and the Vanna Venturi House, built in 1962 by Venturi and Rauch for Robert Venturi’s mother. Dozens of other homes were designed by celebrated architects and firms, including Oskar Stonorov, Mitchell/Giurgola, Montgomery & Bishop, John Rauch, Kenneth Day, and Mark Ueland.
With a grant from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, the Historical Society enlisted the help of Philadelphia University students of architecture and historic preservation taught by associate dean David Breiner.
Breiner’s previous classes have documented the early industrial community of Rittenhousetown and historic buildings in Newtown Square. Chestnut Hill provided an opportunity for his students to examine the evolution of American architecture from Colonial to contemporary, Breiner said.
The 13 undergrads received a historic overview of Chestnut Hill from archivist Alex Bartlett and architectural historian Emily Cooperman. They were then divided into teams and began the field research trained and armed with materials by Anne Wertz, who is managing the survey project for the Historical Society.
Last week the students completed and submitted their review of the current conditions and any major alterations of the buildings, with red flags noted on significant changes to the historic resources. “Now more qualified people will focus on the issues they encountered,” Breiner said.
The criteria for adding the mid-century buildings to the National Register are the same as for older structures, Salganicoff said. The measurements include excellent attention to craftsmanship, outstanding examples of work by a certain architect, historic factors related to a person or event, and significance to the local community. And the buildings must be at least 50 years old, a criterion the mid-century buildings now meet.
The updated survey will help the Historical Society provide recognition of the mid-century designs as historic buildings. “These buildings are an important part of our architectural heritage and the continuum that design matters” in Chestnut Hill, Salganicoff said.
The Historical Society was founded at the time when the mid-century buildings were still new ideas on the local landscape, and the society’s mission began with saving a handful of early American buildings. In 1985, the effort to create a historic district began “so people could make good decisions about what’s appropriate to retain and what is not,” she said.
PlanPhilly is now a project of WHYY/NewsWorks. It began in 2006 as an initiative of Penn Praxis inside the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Though now part of WHYY, PlanPhilly still works closely with Penn Praxis in covering planning, zoning and development news. Contact Alan Jaffe at ajaffe@planphilly.com.