208-210 Rex Avenue
THE BALTZELL HOUSE
The Chestnut Hill Conservancy’s primary interest in the project at 208-10 Rex Avenue is preserving the historic mansion and helping to encourage that any new development be consistent with the character of the area. The historic Italianate house was the first structure on its large block when it was created 160 years ago, and is a well-preserved and significant example of Chestnut Hill’s architectural heritage. A substantial rear wing was added in 1927 in the Arts and Crafts style by Philadelphia architect H. Louis Duhring, who owned and resided in the house between 1919 and 1946. Noted artist Paul Rickert lived in the Duhring addition from the late 1970s until about six years ago.
In April of 2017, the Conservancy nominated 208-210 Rex Avenue as a Historic Building to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Read more about the significance of this site and our nomination HERE.
You may have read about the preservation/development near neighbors meeting that the Conservancy hosted April 2018 at the request of the prospective developers of 208 Rex Avenue. The Conservancy, which nominated the historic home to the Philadelphia Register a year ago, was asked by the prospective developers to provide some meeting space for a few near neighbors so that they could show some early-stage concepts and get feedback from the neighborhood.
As that meeting, and our perspective, were not accurately reported in the Local, the Conservancy published a clarifying OpEd the following week. Read it HERE.
On Thursday, May 3 the Chestnut Hill Community Association’s Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee held a meeting focused on the plans for Rex Avenue. Read the Local’s report on that HERE.
