A little taste of Tinseltown here in Philly's suburbs

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities.

Hooray for Hollywood!

Hollywood, Pa. 19046, that is - a triangular piece of Abington Township just over the line from Rockledge Borough and near the edge of Philadelphia's Fox Chase neighborhood.

There are other spots in this region with Southern California-style houses - Mount Airy and East Falls have them - but the collection of about 175 homes between Huntingdon Pike and North Cedar Road may be the area's largest.

Not every house in this Hollywood looks as if it's been plucked from Los Angeles, however. As residents Tom and Kathy Dwyer tell it, the original developer - for reasons that might range from the stock market crash of 1929 to an unfaithful wife - did not finish Hollywood.

Information from the Library Company of Philadelphia's digital collection, which includes an aerial view of the construction in 1928 (see it at goo.gl/4bxzuK), says that developer Gustav Weber came up with the idea to build Hollywood after a West Coast trip, and that he went bankrupt in the Great Depression.

When a new developer came along in the early 1940s - Sidney Robin, according to the Library Company site - the upper edge of the neighborhood was filled with homes more typical of this part of Montgomery County, the Dwyers say.

Hollywood is a bargain when it comes to real estate, says Carol McCann, an agent with Re/Max Millennium in Fox Chase, with houses typically selling for $200,000.

If you can find one for sale, she quickly adds.

"Most listings sell in less than 30 days," McCann says, "so you won't find a large inventory of available listings at one time."

The last listing she had here sold in just one week, she says.

Robin Beall, who heads the Hollywood Civic Association, says, "Once I saw my house 10 years ago, I knew I wanted it.

"Many people here say, 'I had to have it,' when they talk about their homes," Beall says. "The bond between each is strong."

Currently, the only active listing, 616 Los Angeles Ave., is priced at $219,900, according to Trend Multiple Listing Service.

"There is a high demand for single-family homes in that price point in a great school district [Abington]," McCann says.

Families with children are just one group attracted to Hollywood. The other, McCann says, are empty-nesters attracted to the single-floor living offered by homes that have not been altered with a second story.

"It is definitely a unique area," she says.

The single-story house across San Diego Avenue from the Dwyers' home belongs to Kathy's parents, Tony and Nancy Morgan. The couple downsized from Haverford Township to Morgantown and then to Hollywood two years ago, when the house became available and their daughter and son-in-law renovated it for them.

The one-floor living, combined with proximity to shopping and other services, is "ideal," Nancy Morgan says.

Tom Dwyer, who retired 10 years ago after a teaching career in the Cheltenham public schools, bought his house in 1993.

"It was the uniqueness of the houses, plucked right out of the Southwest," he says.

His three-bedroom/one-bath house is low maintenance compared with the century-old home he left in Wyncote, where "there were always things to do."

The Hollywood house has a lot of pluses, including Moravian tile fireplaces and thick walls that are warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

An air conditioner cut into the living room wall is used by the Dwyers on very hot days, but a single fan kept the room cool during a recent visit when it was 90 degrees outdoors.

There are a lot of original houses in Hollywood, and some recent renovations - such as the one Marge and Tom Sexton have completed on what was the old post office on Gibson Avenue - have been respectful of Weber's intent. Yet many houses have been altered over the last eight decades to accommodate style changes.

Some of Weber's ideas were abandoned early on: Plants that thrived in Southern California didn't survive Northeastern winters, and flat roofs didn't bear up under snow and rain and leaked.

"He used a lot of Moravian tile from the Mercer works on sidewalks and outdoor stairs," says Beall, who has 22 tile steps at the rear of her house.

"It is a nightmare," she says.

aheavens@phillynews.com
215-854-2472
@alheavens

StartText

Population: 500 (est.)

Median household income: $75,542*

Area: A few acres

Settlements: Three since 2013**

Homes for sale: One

Average days on market: N.A.

Median sale price: $200,000

Housing stock: 175 units dating from 1928 in the Southern California Spanish style

School district: Abington

* Abington Township
** Coldwell Banker Preferred

SOURCES: Robin Beall, Hollywood Civic Association; Carol McCann, Re/Max Millennium, Fox Chase; Coldwell Banker Preferred; Abington TownshipEndText