{"nrhp_refnum":"06001006","name":"Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"101-121 W. Johnson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.04551603600004,"lon":-75.18487408599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-11-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story former retirement home for retired music teachers at 101-121 W. Johnson Street, at the northwest corner of Johnson and Cherokee Streets in Germantown, Philadelphia, built in 1914 and expanded in 1931, with a carriage house dating to c.1898 at the rear of the parcel. It is clad in buff Roman brick and designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the home is an early 20th-century philanthropic institution founded by music publisher Theodore Presser for retired musicians and music teachers, giving it social history significance. It also argues the building is an important institutional example of the Italian Renaissance Revival style with a villa form and an outstanding work of the firm Seymour & Paul Davis.","narrative":"Built in 1914 on Johnson Street in Germantown, this three-story building of buff Roman brick, with limestone and terra cotta ornament, was designed by the Philadelphia firm Seymour & Paul Davis in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Music publisher Theodore Presser paid for the home, its furnishings and a perpetual endowment, and it opened to about 100 retirees who had taught music for at least 25 years. Applicants had to be at least 65 years old. The home was expanded in 1931 with a steel and concrete wing designed by Davis & Dunlap. It operated as a retirement home until 1980 and as a convalescent home until 2002. The building's villa form, its unusual charitable purpose and its architectural design are the main reasons it was listed. The c.1898 carriage house behind it is also counted as a contributing building.","period_of_significance":"1898-1956","architect_builder":"Seymour & Paul Davis (architects); Henry E. Baton (builder)","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant since the convalescent home closed in 2002; the carriage house has not been occupied for many decades.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.085323-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/06001006.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001006/3cbb2d233f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001006/3cbb2d233f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Presser_Home_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Presser_Home_Philly.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000678","name":"Colonial Germantown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/colonial-germantown-historic-district-66000678/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997392","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presser_Home_for_Retired_Music_Teachers","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7241658"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/presser-home-for-retired-music-teachers-06001006/"}