452 Race Avenue Lancaster, PA
This almost-suburban house was built in 1924 by builder / contractor Albert B. Wohlsen Sr. for his family’s home. He lived here with wife Kathryn (Sharpe) Wohlsen and their children.
Mr. Wohlsen worked with the construction company founded by his father Herman F. Wohlsen. That building business became today’s Wohlsen Construction Company.
Two Wohlsen brothers grew up in this Race Avenue house: Albert Wohlsen Jr. and Robert S. Wohlsen. These two brothers became the third generation of Wohlsens to lead the Wohlsen construction company. Albert Wohlsen Jr. also became mayor of Lancaster.
The house includes some Tudor Revival details. That architecture style was the height of fashion here during that era. Lancaster architect Melvern R. Evans Sr. designed this home. Three years earlier, in 1921, Architect C. Emlen Urban had created one of the city's finest Tudor Revival houses for this Albert Wohlsen Sr.’s brother, Herman A. Wohlsen. That house is located around the corner at 930 Buchanan Ave. Both these Wohlsen brothers’ Tudor-style houses face Buchanan Park.