August 12, 2024
Provided Image/HomeJab; Eddie Tully
The former Siloam Methodist Church, at 1345 E. Susquehanna Ave. in Fishtown, was converted into professional photography studio and family home by its current owner 2004. The property is going to be listed for sale for $3.5 million.
Towering above rowhomes along East Susquehanna Street in Fishtown is a 19th century church that an ambitious owner bought 20 years ago to convert into his professional workspace and home.
Built in the years before the Civil War, the stone Gothic structure, at 1345 E. Susquehanna Ave., cost $400,000 when it was last sold in the midst of Fishtown's early transition into a hotspot for development. The building originally served as the Siloam Methodist Church, which had its 100-year anniversary in 1960 and still boasted more than 100 members in its congregation at the time. The property is one of the neighborhood's architectural gems and a remnant of its social and industrial history.
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The property goes for sale at the end of this week, listed at $3.5 million.
In 1999, following decades of decline, the Siloam Methodist merged with the nearby Summerfield Fishtown Church on East Dauphin Street. That left the 17,500-square-foot building vacant, awaiting an imaginative buyer willing to take on the risk of defining its next chapter. It was in need of major renovations to restore its floors, doorways and other interior features.
Over the last 20 years, the church has served as the studio and home of Dominic Episcopo, a professional photographer who's worked with brands like Campbell's Soup, Lululemon, Wawa and Manhattan Bagel. One of his studio's shoots for Frank's Red Hot featured Eagles legend Jason Kelce munching on a platter of chicken nuggets.
"There are so many people in the Fishtown area who walk by and just are curious about what goes on behind those doors," Dominic Fuscia, Episcopo's real estate agent, said Friday. "The owner got married in that building. There have been a lot of social events in that building, and he's allowed a lot of other people to use it, as well."
Among the projects that transformed the church, Episcopo installed 128 solar panels on the roof in 2013, making solar the primary source of energy for the property.
On the first floor there is a 4,000-square-foot photography studio along with a kitchen, lounge area, makeup corner and full bathroom. On the second floor, the former church sanctuary has a 35-foot-ceiling, and there are stained glass windows throughout the building. The sanctuary is unfinished and has a side room that initially was used as the primary bedroom while Episcopo built out the third floor balcony, which has two bedrooms and a custom-built dressing room.
The home's owner, a professional photographer, created a 4,000-square-foot studio on the first floor of the former church.
There is a kitchen on the first floor of the renovated church building.
The primary bedroom is one of two bedrooms on the property's third floor.
This is one of two bedrooms on the third floor of the 164-year-old building.
The foyer on the second floor of the former church.
Siloam Methodist Church had a congregation of about 100 people in 1960. The second floor, where services once took place, is still largely unfinished.
In this aerial view, for former Siloam Methodist Church, at 1345 E. Susquehanna Ave., stands tall among the other buildings in the neighborhood.
The old church has a total of four bedrooms and six bathrooms, as well as a kitchenette in addition to it main kitchen and a 3,500-square-foot basement with 10-foot ceilings. A separate wing attached to the church that fronts Almond Street has two loft apartments with their own entrances and utilities.
The video below gives a full tour of the building.
Despite its age and architecture, the building is not on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, which Fuscia said he thinks is strange.
"Before we even listed it, we had a couple people come through," Fuscia said. "They want it to be historically designated, for whatever reason for them. There's definitely chatter and serious interest (in the property)."
Fuscia has worked in Fishtown for two decades. He was once involved in the sale of an old pickle factory on Sepviva Street, but the Siloam Methodist property has been most unique. Fuscia's preference would be to see more old buildings restored and repurposed, he said. While more expensive to renovate, he believes they retain their value.
"There's a lot of history in these buildings. When I see something torn up just because you can build it out more and get more units out of something, and they destroy the integrity of the interior, that really upsets me," Fuscia said. "This building, with this owner, what he did was a labor of love."
