200 Sabine Avenue

An Unidentified Architect

Is 200 Sabine an unattributed design by Minerva Parker Nichols (1862–1949)? America's first independent female architect designed and constructed at least six other houses in Narberth between 1888 and 1893.

One of Minerva's documented designs in Narberth is 232 N. Essex, first owned by James Simpson. 200 Sabine's first owner ("Mrs. Chadwick" in the 1896 Main Line property atlas) was Marion Simpson Chadwick, James's younger sister. The family connection, the distinctive front doors with unusual diagonal windows that adorn both houses — plus a Minerva house at 1014 Oak Lane, Philadelphia with a similar diagonal door window — prompts a conjecture: might both houses have been designed by MPN for the Elm Land and Improvement Company, who developed this neighborhood in the early 1890s?

A Look-alike in Asbury Park

Then MPN scholar Molly Lester and her colleagues came across the November 1891 issue of Scientific American Builder & Architects Edition. It showcased the almost identical   "$2,500 house … a very attractive cottage, erected for Mr. C. L. Urlick, at Asbury Park, New Jersey". No architect is credited with its design.

Ms. Lester:

It's unlikely that Minerva designed it [200 Sabine]. Her commissions in and around Narberth were well documented in the Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide and elsewhere during this period (earlier and later periods were much sketchier), and there are no references to the Sabine location and/or early owners that would link her to a project there. Moreover, she had no known ties to Asbury Park. We have no references to any projects there, despite the fact that these were the years she was most exhaustive in advertising her work. The fact that Scientific American featured such a similar project in Asbury Park suggests that some other architect was responsible for both.

Now we have a new question: are there more houses built to this plan?

Updated December 24, 2023.