537 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, PA
Lancaster’s most important architect, C. Emlen Urban, designed this distinctive townhouse ca. 1893 for the residence of businessman / banker William Wohlsen and wife Catharine (Klenck) Wohlsen.
Mr. Wohlsen was owner of the Wohlsen Planing Mill which produced architectural woodwork. The interior of this house showcases some of Lancaster’s finest woodwork of that era.
William Wohlsen also was president of the Union Trust Company. He was born in Hanover, Germany, where he learned the carpentry trade. Mrs. Wohlsen also was from Hanover.
Mr. Wohlsen’s brothers, Herman and Peter, were builders and contractors. Herman Wohlsen’s carpentry business became today’s Wohlsen Construction Company
The house features a two-story polygonal bay window topped by an iron balustrade and a gable with double windows. There are sandstone lintels and a corbelled chimney. The exterior is mostly intact to its original appearance, except for the replacement porch posts.
With Exceptional Stained Glass by Rudy Brothers of Pittsburgh
J. Horace Rudy later expanded the glass studio to York, PA. in 1905.
Stained-glass images credit: Bright MLS
Above: Lancaster New Era newspaper, May 1, 2003