Rittenhouse Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Why it's listed
Brick rowhouses, speculatively built rows and architect-designed houses line four blocks of Sansom Street north of Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. Most of the contributing buildings date from between 1830 and 1948, with the earliest surviving houses on Sansom and Moravian Streets built around 1850 to 1860 for workers employed in nearby brickyards and quarries. Italianate and Second Empire rows predominate, while larger houses from the 1880s onward were designed by prominent architects, including Cope and Stewardson, Frank Furness, John Windrim and Magaziner and Eberhard. The house at 131 South 18th Street, completed in 1895 by Washington Bleddyn Powell, is the area's main Romanesque Revival example. Its owners included wealthy professionals and at least one prominent contractor. The nomination proposes adding the area to the Rittenhouse Historic District on grounds of architecture and community planning, because its residential character and mix of working-class and elite residents match the existing district.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the area shares the residential character, socio-economic mix and high quality of architectural design of the existing Rittenhouse district, and that its exclusion was arbitrary. It holds a concentration of late-19th and early-20th century architecture, including Italianate and Second Empire rows and architect-designed houses, and its working-class and elite history is presented as distinct from the commercial character of the adjacent Center City West Commercial Historic District.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 10001070, listed December 28, 2010. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by the Center City West Historic District, S 21st St, the Rittenhouse Historic District, and S 17th St, Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | December 28, 2010 |
| Reference number | 10001070 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1830-1948 |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Second Empire, Romanesque Revival, Late Victorian, Colonial Revival, Art Deco, International Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 39.95320, -75.17252 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 10001070.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.