What a shame about the 1884 Chalfant House! The mansion, at 220 North Union Street in Kennett Square, went up in flames on Wednesday afternoon. Known for its imposing "upside-down chimneys," the house was designed by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and built for Kennett businessman William Chalfant.
Fortunately no one was seriously hurt in the fire, and the four tenants (the house was divided into apartments) and their pets all escaped. A GoFundMe website (220 N .Union Street Fire Relief Fund) has been set up to help the victims, who lost all of their belongings. (I've contributed and I hope you will, too.)
Multiple local fire companies, including Longwood, Kennett, Po-Mar-Lin, Avondale, Oxford and Hockessin, were on the scene; in addition to the flames and smoke, these hardy firefighters had to cope with the strong winds and sub-freezing temperatures.
Two news helicopters were flying overhead, and people who live near the scene (including Kennett Square mayor Matt Fetick) posted their dramatic photos on social media.
As soon as I heard about the fire I turned to my copy of "Greetings from Kennett Square" by local historians Joe Lordi and Dolores Rowe. They describe the Queen Anne-style house as "magnificent" and say that the top-heavy chimneys "are thought to resemble early locomotive smoke stacks."
The house was an important work by Furness, who also designed the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts on North Broad Street in Philadelphia, the old library at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Wilmington train station.
I'm told that the house once was a funeral home, and there was still a crematorium in the basement. The house was on many summer walking tours of the borough and was slated to be on this year's candlelight tour as well.
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