WILDWOOD — Want to live in a firehouse?
The former, 96-year-old Holly Beach Fire Company No. 1 Fire Hall has been converted into two condominiums by developer Mike Popper.
There is no mistaking the three-story brick building as a firehouse.
The inside of the fire hall is divided into a 3,300-square-foot penthouse on the top floor with four bedrooms and three baths with two more modest, three bedroom units below.
Popper said the building had other uses such as a furniture store after it was decommissioned as a fire hall. The building had been abandoned before Popper purchased the property and gutted the interior.
The first floor has a triple-brick wall and the upper floors double-brick walls, said Popper.
A photo of the old fire hall was obtained from the Wildwood Historical Society as a guide for restoration, he said. While he had the right to tear down the fire hall, he purchased the building to restore it.
The fire hall’s original front doors have been replaced with vinyl panels that recreate the original design of the building. The ground floor of the building provides two garage spaces for each unit.
The firehouse now has an elevator. The units have sections of exposed brick to help retain the feeling of the old building, said Popper. The hall is loaded with windows, which have all been retained due to all the brickwork.
The penthouse features a great room with a fireplace, granite and stainless steel kitchen, hardwood floor and exposed breams and ductwork. A loft area overlooks the great room. The penthouse features his and hers closets and bathrooms. Plumbing fixtures and interior doors have an early 1900s appearance.
One bedroom has a porthole window leftover from the firehouse.
Popper cleaned, sealed and repointed all the exterior brick at a cost of $75,000.
The units are being marketed as “loft experience,” appealing to Philadelphia and New York City dwellers. The fire hall is located in downtown Wildwood on Pacific Avenue, cattycorner to Wildwood High School.
Mike Popper said he and his father Joseph and two partners design the all projects they build concentrating on custom, single family homes.
Does it cost more to restore a building than to build new condominiums?
Popper said it is less expensive to build new.
“This was a labor of love more than a profit making venture,” he said. “We thought it was best for the community that it stays instead of tearing it down and just building regular condos.”
The penthouse is priced at $599,000 and a smaller unit at $275,000. Bring your Dalmatian and fire engine photo collection.
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