5851 Fernwood St, Philadelphia, PA 19143

This right-sized rowhome full of eco-friendly updates is on a block that ends at Cobbs Creek Park. The breezy floorplan offers spacious rooms with high ceilings, great natural light and original details sprinkled throughout. The charm begins at the front garden with mature landscaping that provides year-round color and a spacious enclosed porch entry. From there, an original multi-paned door with sidelights opens to a spacious living room with a decorative fireplace. The rear section of the house has been opened up to create one large open kitchen/dining room. In addition to a large pantry closet, the L-shaped workspace was handsomely updated with white Shaker-style cabinets, subway tile backsplash, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances including a Whirlpool dishwasher and LG slide-in induction range. The rear deck offers something rare for the city: a view not of neighboring houses, but an expanse of greenspace and a neighbor’s charming garden. Back inside and up the staircase with curved banister are the primary bedroom and hall bath at the front, a middle bedroom with room for a full bed, and a rear bedroom with two exposures. The primary bedroom has a square bay window and a sweet arched niche flanked by closets with original mirrored doors. The hall bath has veined large-format porcelain tiles, including a full-wall surround in the bath, a functional skylight and a generous linen closet with original mirrored door. The clean and bright basement’s high ceilings and previous garage space make it super usable for more than just storage. Recent updates and green features include solar panels on a newer roof that’s partially painted reflective white, all natural gas systems converted to electric, including a new hybrid heat pump with ducted AC on the first floor and minisplits upstairs, and a rain barrel that stays. This quiet block where the pride of ownership shows is convenient to Baltimore Ave for shopping and transit as well as two rec centers with pools including the 7.6-acre Myers Rec Center and park, where a $27m renovation is near completion, and of course nature lovers will love being half a block from the Cobbs Creek trail.