Charles Schaeffer School

Charles Schaeffer School is a historic former school building located in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was renovated in 2019 and is now the corporate offices of the Philly Office Retail real estate company.

Charles Schaeffer School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Charles Schaeffer School, June 2010
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Location	4701 Germantown Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144
Coordinates	40°1′38″N 75°9′38″W
Area	9 acres (3.6 ha)
Built	1876, 1914
Built by	P.H. Somerset (1876); Keller & Company (2019)
Architect	Louis H. Esler (1876); Seiler + Drury Architecture (2019)
Architectural style	Gothic
Restored	2019
Restored by	Philly Office Retail
MPS	Philadelphia Public Schools TR
NRHP reference No.	86003327[1]
Added to NRHP	December 4, 1986

C.W. Schaffer School

The school was built in 1876 by the School District of Philadelphia, and is a 3 1/2-story, schist building in the Gothic-style. It features brownstone trim, a pedimented gable roofline, molded cornice with decorative brackets, and a three-story projecting front section added in 1914.^[2]

It was called the C. W. Schaeffer Combined Secondary and Primary School^[3] in honor of Charles William Schaeffer, a Lutheran theologian who grew up in Germantown.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.^[1]

Renovation and Current Use

In July 2011, the school building was purchased from the Mitzpah Seventh Day Adventist Church. Mitzpah had owned both the school and the adjacent Wakefield Presbyterian Church, but abandoned them to move into a larger historic church, the former Frankford Baptist Church (1853-1855) at 4357 Paul Street.^[4]

Philly Office Retail renovated the property and moved its headquarters into the building in 2019.^[5] The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia recognized Philly Office Retail with a grand jury award in September 2020 for its renovation of the building which respected and preserved its historic character.^[6]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania". CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Archived from the original (Searchable database) on 2007-07-21. Retrieved 2012-07-04. Note: This includes B. Mintz (July 1986). "Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form: Charles Schaeffer School" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-07-03.
3. Custis, John Trevor (1897). The Public Schools of Philadelphia, Historical, Biographical, Statistical. Philadelphia: Burk & McFetridge Co. p. 385, 391.
4. Hildebrandt, Rachel (October 11, 2011). "Key Germantown Ave Site Set For Rehab". Hidden City. Philadelphia. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
5. Friedman, Stacia (June 22, 2020). "Real Estate Developer Gets His Bearings at Wayne Junction". hiddencityphila.org. Hidden City Philadelphia. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
6. "2020 Preservation Achievement Awards". preservationalliance.com. Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.