New look for old South Phila. dairy

In South Philadelphia's Newbold neighborhood, Anna Maria and Carmen Vona have renovated the historic Abbotts Alderney Dairies building at 1715-1719 McKean St.

The couple own and operate a business in a rear building on the parcel, which takes up nearly the entire block. But they have renovated 10,000 square feet in the two-story front structure, facing McKean and Colorado Streets, into apartment and office space at a cost of about $400,000.

The Vonas did most of the work themselves.

The front building, constructed in 1921, was designed by William Timm, a specialist in dairy buildings. In the 1960s, it served as a Potamkin auto dealership.

The Vonas purchased the structures in January 2001 and June 2004 for about $390,000.

"The [side] courtyard was a staging area for milk deliveries," Anna Maria Vona said, walking over cobblestones as workers put down limestone tiles for a new walkway.

Floors in both structures are 6-foot-thick reinforced concrete. Old carriage stalls for horse-drawn delivery trucks still grace the rear section of the property, which houses the Vonas' company, Carmana Designs, a custom cabinetry and millwork firm.

"We give our sawdust from the milling to Philadelphia Carriage Works," Anna Maria Vona said, showing off a machine that sucks in the residue.

Carmana Designs also rents space in its building to a music studio, a carpenter, and a call center.

The couple have leased the renovated first floor of the front building to Philly Pack, which teaches pet owners how to properly train their dogs.

The second floor is a 3,000-square-foot loft-style apartment with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

They have installed electrical wiring to light the facade with bright white LED spotlights, up-lighting the granite cornices and ledges at night.

Splurges included the windows, which alone cost $90,000.

"We replaced every single one of the 47 windows on the front and side facades with custom-made windows from Renewal by Andersen," Vona said.

The window framing is made of Fibrex, a mixed resin from Andersen.

In addition, most of the rear facade wall was demolished, creating two more window spaces about 17 feet high each, which added more natural light.

There's still work to be done. In the mid-1970s, a former owner applied a resin epoxy to the side facade of the front building, covered with small stones.

"We are chipping that hideous texture away by hand to reveal the original brick underneath and then having the facade sandblasted and power-washed to restore the brick. Eventually, we will steam-clean, power-wash, and brick-point the front facade," she said.

The courtyard is technically the 1900 block of South Colorado Street, which the dairy purchased from the City of Philadelphia and truncated into a dead end. Then the dairy built another building over Colorado Street, which extends about 100 feet short of Mifflin Street to the north.

"The cobblestones are original," she said. "We landscaped the courtyard and have incorporated adaptive, creative re-use as well."

The couple bought concrete planter boxes once used on the sidewalk at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel at Broad and Walnut Streets, and will add window boxes and hanging baskets.

They're also planning to string clear, incandescent Edison bulbs across the courtyard so that it can be used for social events.

"All these improvements will create a retro ambiance," she said.