8836 Germantown Avenue

 

(photograph courtesy of Chestnut Hill Historical Society-John Naylor Collection: 1970.40)

MAP NUMBER: 41
DATE: ca. 1850
ORIGINAL OWNER: “The Isaac Starr House”
ARCHITECT: Unknown
CONTRACTOR: Unknown

This Italianate-style house is representative of  mid-19th century houses
that could be found throughout Chestnut Hill. The spindle work on the
wrap-around porch was a later Victorian addition.  Alterations and additions
were performed in 1902, 1921 (Harry Gordon McMurtrie, architect), 1922
(H. G.  McMurtrie), and 1941.  The openness of the land behind the house
suggests the sweeping views of Wissahickon Creek Valley and Montgomery
County that the first owners must have enjoyed.  The Chestnut Hill Hospital was
given this house by the Laughlin family.  The "Annex" served for a period of time
as a dormitory for the nurses attending the Hospital's School of Nursing.  
In the early 1930s, this building housed Miss Catherina Zara's School, which
moved to 516 W. Moreland Avenue in 1933 and was absorbed by Springside
School in 1954. 

See "Springside School 1879 - 1979," pps. 64, 94, and 95.