Warburton House

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Warburton House is an eleven-story brick building at 1929 Sansom St. in Philadelphia, designed by Arthur Loomis Harmon and built in 1926 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 2002 under criteria A and C, with local significance in commerce, architecture and social history. Its period of significance runs from 1926, when it was built, to 1952, when the Dominican House of Retreats and Catholic Guild bought it.

Physical character

The building rests on a concrete foundation under an asphalt roof, with an arcaded entrance and granite-trimmed arches, and upper floors step back above the ninth floor beneath a honeycomb parapet. In 1957 Bernard W. Roney renovated the hotel lobby and entrance vestibule, the ballroom was converted to a chapel in the 1950s, and about 1986 the two passenger elevators were replaced.

Historical context

The Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania, founded in 1914, resolved in 1924 to build the hotel, which opened in 1927 as its headquarters and a residential hotel for professional women. In 1952 the building was sold to the Dominican House of Retreats and Catholic Guild, which renamed it the Lucy Eaton Smith Residence and used it as a residence until 2001.