Salvation for Vintage Chestnut Hill Home Is So Last Minute, a Backhoe Was Onsite to Start Demolition

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teviot
Image via Michael Bixler at Hidden City.
The distinct architecture of Teviot in Chestnut Hill is worth preserving, according to representatives from local organizations that include the Chestnut Hill Conservancy.

Teviot, a vintage Chestnut Hill home whose design dates to 1888, was almost lost forever. It’s been saved — temporarily. But efforts are advancing keep it preserved forever, as Alan Jafee noted in his story for Hidden City.

Teviot, named for a Scottish river, was designed by Wilson Eyre, Jr., a noted, 17th century architect.

It managed to miss a listing on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, an absence that enabled present owner Kenneth Curry to think he could remove the structure.

Intervention from Lori Salganicoff, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Conservancy, halted the onsite backhoe Curry hired from its demolition work.

She then schooled Curry on what he had: a distinctly architected structure from a designer known for imbuing residential blueprints with both spark and grace.

“He wisely decided to pull back on his original plan,” she said.

A document detail, however, may interfere with keeping Teviot permanently safe: The protective deed restrictions apply only to new construction and subdivision, not razing the existing home.

Salganicoff has therefore committed to remaining vigilant to secure its future.

“We stand ready to help however we can to make preservation of that property make sense,” she said.

Hidden City has more on Teviot.

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This home in Yonkers, N.Y., was also designed by Wilson Eyre, Jr.

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