Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
Are you addicted to Halloween? Do you wish it lasted all year? Is your life happier when it’s a non-stop horror show? If so, have we got the house for you. A former coffin factory is for sale in Olde Kensington. 153 W Jefferson is a five-story brick building that sits across the street from decidedly less spooky businesses like a pickleball court and a childcare center that are symbolic of a rapidly changing neighborhood. Buy it and be the guy who tells the parents outside the new daycare that you sleep in a coffin. You’ll make friends in the neighborhood in no time! Despite its haunting past, 153 W Jefferson looks like a downright pleasant place to live in the present. Windows on three sides let in lots of bright light, while tall ceilings, an open floor plan, and exposed beams create perfect conditions for loftlike living. Or for manufacturing ornate, wooden beds for cadavers, in case you feel like getting the building’s original business up and running again. ‘Tis the season after all. In a different previous life, the building was home to a colony of artists and musicians who put on concerts and shows in one of the building’s several grand living spaces. Katie Monks, the Toronto-based guitarist and vocalist of Dilly Dally, lived there for a few months in 2018 and described the coffin factory as “a place to worship the creative process and live out your dreams.” That changed in 2019 when the building was sold to an entity titled Coffin Factory LLC for $1.46 million. Plans to develop the building into condos fell through, said real estate agent, Alex Prince. Now it’s back on the market for $2.89 million, almost twice of what it sold for six years ago. What does the future hold for this former coffin factory? Developers are probably already dreaming up plans for a multi-purpose building, but there’s a catch: The property’s RSA-5 zoning technically bans anything other than a single family home, meaning anyone hoping to convert it into offices or a hybrid live-work space will need the city’s blessing. And a lawyer. And at least a few buyers who think “former coffin factory” equals historic charm, not haunted house.
