22 dean street
borough of west chester, chester county, pennsylvania
historic preservation
Although The Sharples Farmstead’s remnant acre of land (originally part of a multi-hundred acre land grant from William Penn to Thomas Dean in 1742), Farmhouse (c.1802), and Carriage House (c.1884) was inhabited at the time of Cee Jay Frederick Associates’ introduction to it, it had long lapsed into a significant state of disrepair as an urban infill site in the heart of this southeast Pennsylvania borough. Cee Jay Frederick Associates’ relationship with it was extensive in embracing the task to develop the property while functioning as the singular entity responsible for the design, restoration, preservation and construction of all the improvements that would result. In the process, the Farmstead was successfully nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, and the overall development project that accomplished the historic restoration of the farmhouse and carriage house produced ten new townhomes and two new carriage house residences, a detached vehicular garage for the Farmhouse, and received a significant local historic preservation award. Of particular importance is the relatively meticulous preservation of the extant farmhouse and carriage house structures and the site design, which preserved a relatively austere farm setting for the farmhouse, per se, that had been in the ownership of the same Quaker family since 1747.
multi-family residential
This one-acre infill site was transformed as an urban infill condominium development comprised of fourteen total living units by adding ten “row houses” (or townhouses) and two carriage house “replicas” of the existing late 19th Century carriage house. As a consequence, in addition to the administration of a successful National Register Nomination for the Sharples Farmstead, the original identity for the property and its constituency, Cee Jay Frederick Associates performed planning assistance in the achievement of a Conditional Use approval for the development of the property by preparing a land plan that satisfied the existing zoning requirements through the application of the condominium form of ownership and the provision of extensive hearing testimony. Subsequently, the firm had total responsibility for the site and landscape design and architectural design, documentation and construction administration. The result is a development which makes strong reference to the existing streets, alleys, and neighborhoods of the area, while setting the farmhouse in an open environment that suggests its former open setting and context to the maximum extent possible in recognition of its evolution from a mid-eighteenth century farmstead to a densely populated late 20th century borough. The units themselves, while contextually referential to both the general area and form of the heart of the borough and the extant farmstead buildings themselves, provide for a contemporary lifestyle plan and layout on their interiors, according to a traditional size and format, with the inclusion of two bedroom, two and one-half bathroom accommodations, with accessory loft rooms/spaces and under-unit enclosed vehicular garages. The farmhouse setting comprises a visual hub/amenity for the overall community.
