Carriage Houses of the Square

As Rittenhouse Square has long been a fashionable place to reside, the carriage houses to maintain the carriages and horses were located just outside the perimeter of the square on small side streets like Rittenhouse Square Place, Manning Street and Latimer Street. A few are still used to garage automobiles, but most were converted to residences with unique details.



Here are two typical converted carriage houses adjacent to an older car park.



The most telltale sign of a previous carriage house is a beam extending high up from the facade that was once used in conjunction with a rope and pulley to hoist up hay for the horses. Most beams are gone, but the former hatch, usually converted to a window and the entrance gate, have either been converted to a large window or transformed to an entrance are noticeable. These types of structures usually don't have steps either.

This fantastic building now houses autos.





This is one of the few carriage houses attached to a single residence.