245 S 3RD ST Philadelphia, PA 19106
3 Beds
5 Baths
2,520 SqFt
UPDATED:
Key Details
Property Type Townhouse
Sub Type Interior Row/Townhouse
Listing Status Coming Soon
Purchase Type For Sale
Square Footage 2,520 sqft
Price per Sqft $589
Subdivision Society Hill
MLS Listing ID PAPH2615988
Style Mid-Century Modern,Contemporary
Bedrooms 3
Full Baths 3
Half Baths 2
HOA Fees $600/ann
HOA Y/N Y
Abv Grd Liv Area 2,520
Year Built 1963
Available Date 2026-05-09
Annual Tax Amount $16,860
Tax Year 2026
Lot Size 1,345 Sqft
Acres 0.03
Lot Dimensions 20.00 x 67.00
Property Sub-Type Interior Row/Townhouse
Source BRIGHT
Property Description
In the late 1950s, the City of Philadelphia handed architect I.M. Pei one of the most consequential urban design commissions in American history: the transformation of a derelict food market at the edge of Society Hill into a new model for city living. Pei, the architect who would later stun Paris with the Louvre Pyramid, reshape the National Mall with the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, and reimagine the Hong Kong skyline with the Bank of China Tower, designed this home.
Pei's solution for Society Hill was a masterwork of urban intelligence. He positioned his trio of soaring concrete towers close to the Delaware River, then designed a series of three-story townhouses — planned around private courtyard quadrangles — to create a seamless, unhurried transition from his modernist towers to the colonial row houses of one of America's oldest neighborhoods. The result earned the AIA Honor Award in 1965 and a place in the Museum of Modern Art's landmark exhibition "Modern Architecture, USA" that same year. Architectural historians regard it as one of the defining achievements of postwar American urbanism.
Step through the deep-set arched entryway — a signature Pei gesture that frames the threshold as a moment of arrival — and the architecture takes over. Flemish bond brick, laid with the precision Pei demanded of every project, meets interior oak floors and oak casework that have only deepened in warmth over six decades. Blackened steel details punctuate the palette with characteristic modernist restraint. At the top of the home, clerestory windows — a deliberate echo of the gridded concrete facades of the towers above — draw light down through the full height of the house, morning to evening, season to season. And beyond the rear of the home, your own private courtyard: enclosed by brick walls and iron gates, designed to turn away from the city and toward calm — the kind of protected stillness that makes urban living genuinely livable. Just beyond, an assigned parking space positioned directly adjacent to the courtyard offers a rare level of convenience and privacy in this setting.
Homes of genuine architectural pedigree are rare at any price. A home designed by a Pritzker Prize laureate, part of a project in the MoMA permanent record, in one of the country's most celebrated historic neighborhoods, is an opportunity that seldom presents itself.
Location
State PA
County Philadelphia
Area 19106 (19106)
Zoning RSA5
Rooms
Other Rooms Living Room, Dining Room, Primary Bedroom, Bedroom 2, Kitchen, Family Room
Basement Full, Partially Finished
Interior
Interior Features Dining Area
Hot Water Natural Gas
Heating Forced Air
Cooling Central A/C
Fireplaces Number 1
Fireplace Y
Heat Source Natural Gas
Laundry Lower Floor
Exterior
Garage Spaces 1.0
Parking On Site 1
Water Access N
Accessibility None
Total Parking Spaces 1
Garage N
Building
Story 3
Foundation Slab
Above Ground Finished SqFt 2520
Sewer Public Sewer
Water Public
Architectural Style Mid-Century Modern, Contemporary
Level or Stories 3
Additional Building Above Grade, Below Grade
New Construction N
Schools
School District The School District Of Philadelphia
Others
HOA Fee Include Common Area Maintenance,Snow Removal,Insurance
Senior Community No
Tax ID 051056040
Ownership Fee Simple
SqFt Source 2520
Special Listing Condition Standard
NEARBY SCHOOL & BUSINESS