The stone house at 1929 Johnson Road, near Gawain Road, was built in 1942. Visitors will be able to tour this house in Plymouth Township on Sunday, May 20th. Open house hours are 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Ms. Nicole Klein of Keller Williams Main Line Realty is handling the sale of this house on behalf of its owners.
The sales price is $494,500.00.
According to Montgomery County, the last time this property sold was in 2012. At that time, the County reported that the sales price was $435,000.00. Remodeling took place, according to the County, in 2012. Montgomery County reports the assessed value of the property for tax purposes is $203,590.00. Annual real estate taxes are estimated at $5,569.00.
Among key details from the real estate listing: This house includes 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. The 2,845 square foot house is set on about an acre of ground.
“We have always been drawn to the warmth and strength of old stone houses,” states Ms. Nicole Lick, current owner of the house at 1929 Johnson Road. “We fell in love with this house because of the natural light that spills in the beautiful arch and picture windows and because of the quiet acre it is nestled on.”
“The charm and character of this house spreads throughout every, rambling corner,” according to Ms. Lick. “This big house welcomes you home to craftsmanship from a time when details mattered. There is a sturdiness about this house that reminds us regularly that it has lots of memories stored within and will be well loved long into the future.”
In the mid-1960’s, this house was the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. Herbert Springall, Jr. and their family. Prior to moving to Plymouth Township, Mr. Springall had worked in hospital administrative positions in the western United States.
According to a news article in the Fredericksburg Standard of Texas on November 30, 1966, Mr. Springall was a native of Virginia, graduated from Austin College in 1958, and then served our country in the United States Marine Corps until 1961. He then entered the “University of California at Berkeley where he received a Master of Public Health degree in 1963,” according to the newspaper.
A few weeks earlier, another news article in the Fredericksburg Standard – this one on November 2, 1966 – noted that Mr. and Mrs. Springall were celebrating the birth of their second child at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Los Angeles. The newspaper reported that Mr. Springall was the assistant administrator of the Hospital at that time, but was set to become the associate administrator of Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia as of December 1, 1966.
This section of the Freedom Valley has changed considerably since the mid-1960’s. At that time, the postal address for this section of Plymouth Township was “Norristown”. Today, “Plymouth Meeting” is the postal designation for 1929 Johnson Road as well as for much of Plymouth Township.
The real estate market has evolved through the years.
“Today, market conditions are tight,” states Ms. Kathy McGuriman, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Montgomery County Association of REALTORS. “We are seeing a severe lack of inventory of houses for sale in Plymouth Township as well as in neighboring communities.”
While serving on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Association of REALTORS, Ms. McGuriman is also a real estate agent with the Blue Bell office of Long & Foster Real Estate.
“Buyers that had been sitting on the fence are coming into the market,” explains Ms. McGuriman. “With interest rates up and likely interest rate increases in the near future, many buyers are determining that this is the time to make a home purchase.”
The result: “We see multiple purchase offers for the same house,” states Ms. McGuriman.
Typically, when inventory of available houses for sale is low, with house prices increasing, and multiple purchase offers not unusual, sellers would be enticed to put their houses on the market. That doesn’t seem to be happening to the same extent as in past years.
“Home owners may want to sell to garner a nice price, but many are faced with two problems,” explains Ms. McGuriman. “If they sell their current home, what house will they then buy and at what cost. Second, if they decide to sell before securing a new permanent home, they may need to rent a place to live in the interim while waiting to buy a new home. Few want to move twice in a short period of time.”
The attributes in Plymouth Township appear to have helped keep the real estate market robust. For example, within less than one mile of 1929 Johnson Road are the recreational amenities of the Greater Plymouth Community Center. Also within less than one mile of this house is the Plymouth Elementary School. Within less than two miles of 1929 Johnson Road is the Colonial Middle School.
The regional road network is extensive in this section of the Freedom Valley. Within about one mile of this house are intersections of Johnson Road with Germantown Pike, Plymouth Road, and Belvoir Road.
Retail shopping is also plentiful in this area. Within about two miles of 1929 Johnson Road are restaurants and shops at the Plymouth Meeting Mall, the big box stores of the Metroplex, and the shopping centers of East Norriton.
As noted above, Ms. Nicole Klein of Keller Williams Main Line Realty is handling the sale of the house at 1929 Johnson Road on behalf of its owners. If you’re not able to make the open house on May 20th or if you have further questions, Ms. Klein would be the person to contact.
She can be reached by telephone at 610-520-6534, by email at nicoleslistings@gmail.com, and by social media at facebook.com/NicoleKleinRealtor. If you’d like to view more photos of 1929 Johnson Road or review additional details about this house, please visit nicoleslistings.com.
Credits:
The photographs of 1929 Johnson Road are courtesy of The Nicole Klein Team of Keller Williams Main Line Realty, 2018.
The photograph of Mr. W. Herbert Springall, Jr. appeared in Plexus, the yearbook of the Temple University School of Allied Health Professions, in 1968 and is courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center of Temple University Libraries, 1968.
The aerial map of Plymouth Township is courtesy of Google, 2018.
Sponsor:
This edition of The Times Of The Freedom Valley is sponsored by The Nicole Klein Team of Kelley Williams Main Line Realty.
This specific news column is being done as a prototype for a form of civic journalism where individuals, businesses, organizations, and other entities will be able to sponsor news columns that are informative for our audience.
In this form of civic journalism, all aspects of The Times Of The Freedom Valley are fact-based and journalistically-sound. Sponsors have no editorial control over content and sponsors do not preview the news columns before publication. Content in each news column may include information from sponsors as well as content from others not related to the sponsors. Comments from sponsors and other parties are in quotations to provide transparency in the news columns.
Do you have questions about local history? A street name? A building?
Your questions may be used in a future news column.
Contact Richard McDonough at thetimesofthefreedomvalley@gmail.com.
© 2018 Richard McDonough