Outstanding Graduate Hospital Contemporary

It’s no secret that people have mixed feelings about development in Graduate Hospital. Pros: There’s development in Graduate Hospital. Property values are up. People are moving there. Home sales are solid. Sunshine floods the streets. Cons: Picturesque and/or historic buildings get torn down to make way for new homes, and many of the homes are, well, less picturesque. They’re fine, mind you — they’re sleek and well-built and offer new residents plenty of perks. But the lack of contour, of curve, of old stone blushingly pink or brown, of stoops with worn white stone steps…it feels less like our colonial city and more like a prefab Tokyo suburb on the rise. And I’m going to keep saying that no matter how much delicious food I consume at Sidecar.

1934 Catharine, however, is “one of the better ones,” according to a colleague — and I have to agree. The corner home, built in 2008, is absolutely the best argument one could make for new construction homes in the area. Consider the following, which is just the tiniest fragment of the sliver of the picture of all the amenities you’ll find:

Plenty of natural light
Hardwood floors
Rooftop deck
Oversized garage
Home theater with bamboo wall covering
Second floor deck
Juliet balcony
California closets
Custom-designed shoe closet
Huge storage room
Five years on tax abatement
Backyard

Oh, and so much more. The gallery and the listing are enough to persuade even the hardiest skeptic that maybe — just maybe — this new construction stuff would actually be pretty nice to live in.

THE FINE PRINT
Beds: 3
Baths:3
Square feet: 2,704
Price: $925,000

Listing: 1934 Catharine Street [BHHS Fox & Roach – Center City Walnut]