The McKean Houses
1923 & 1925 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built in 1869, for Henry Pratt McKean (1810-1894) and his only surviving son, Thomas McKean (1842-1898). The typically Victorian twin houses at the corner of 20th Street off Rittenhouse Square were designed by Frank Furness in the then fashionable Second Empire style. The McKeans lived between here and their country estate, Fernhill. In 1897, Thomas' son, H. Pratt McKean, demolished the existing house at No. 1923 and replaced it with what is now known as the Stotesbury Mansion, home to the Philopatrian Literary Society. Thomas died in 1898 and No. 1925 then became the home of Edward T. Stotesbury who in 1910 bought No. 1923 as well and - keeping the facades - spent $1.5 million converting the two houses into one home....
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From 1921, Stotesbury and his new wife, Eva (mother-in-law of Doris Duke) - began to devote the majority of their time to their 147-room country estate, Whitemarsh Hall, and five years later sold his double-townhouse. No. 1925 (the half he first called home) was demolished and replaced by the Chatham Apartment Building which still stands today, while No. 1923 became - and remains to be - home to Philopatrian Literary Society.
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Image (cropped) Courtesy of the New York Public Library
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