Allan Domb Buys Historical Buildings Near Independence Hall


Side view screenshot of Domb's new properties via Google Street View.

Side view screenshot of Domb’s new properties via Google Street View.

Allan Domb, “Condo King” and recently appointed president of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors, has bought two historical buildings near Independence Hall: the Shippen-Wistar and Cadwalader Houses on South 4th Street.

Shippen-Wistar is perhaps the more well-known given its notable tenants. In 1744, William Penn sold the land to one William Shippen, a physician and one of the founders of the University of Penn. According to the Philadelphia Real Estate Blog, Shippen was a delegate to the Continental Congress and built the home circa 1750. His son, William Jr., went on to become the Continental Army’s director general of hospitals and one of the first speakers on anatomy in the country.

238-240 S 4th Street, circa 1938. Photo credit: PhillyHistory.org.

238-240 S 4th Street, circa 1938.
Photo credit: PhillyHistory.org.

The home exited the annals of Shippen family history when it was sold in 1798 to Caspar Wistar, an anatomist who taught at Penn. The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology is named in his honor, as is the plant genus Wisteria. In 1815, Wistar became president of the American Philosophical Society following Thomas Jefferson’s resignation.

Photo credit: Sandy Smith via Philadelphia Real Estate Blog.

Photo credit: Sandy Smith via Philadelphia Real Estate Blog.

Today, the properties that last belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania have three possibilities under its new ownership, according to Natalie Kostelni of PBJ:

  • Sell them as one for residential purposes, priced at $5.75 million
  • Sell them as one for commercial business purposes, priced at $5.75 million
  • Sell them separately; Shippen-Wistar for $2.75 million, Cadwalader for $2.95 million.

Condo King Buys Historic Properties [Biz Journal]