655 - 657 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, PA
This extraordinary double house was designed by Lancaster’s most important architect, C. Emlen Urban. The building is next door to two more double houses by this architect. The six units were built in 1892 by developer John W. Holman.
This Queen Anne double house has very elaborate ornamentation, including terra cotta faces and arabesques. There are steep cross gables in a mansard roof with fleur-de-lis finials.
Number 655 was built for jeweler Charles S. Gill. Mrs. Charles Locher was the first owner of Number 657. This row of six Emlen Urban homes is a tour de force of Lancaster architecture.