Linden Avenue Couple Win Doylestown Borough Stewardship Award

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Rich and Lisa Chase have won this year’s Mayor's Stewardship Award for their property at 396 Linden Avenue.

The couple was recognized at Monday night’s borough council meeting where they were presented with the annual award by Mayor Noni West.

Since 2015, the Doylestown Borough Economic Development Advisory Board has acknowledged the outstanding stewardship of dedicated borough property owners through the Mayor's Stewardship Award.

“All of this is done through a nomination process and the final selection is done by the Economic Development Advisory Board,” said Mayor West.

The purpose of the award, said Rick Brown, a member of the Economic and Development Advisory Board, is to acknowledge people who have been good stewards to their properties and who have made improvements, kept them up and added to them.

“In Doylestown we are fortunate to have such a wonderful assemblage of older buildings that are representative of many styles of architecture and really give character and vitality to the borough," said Brown. "The maintenance and cultivation of those over time is very important, especially in these times when we're fortunate to have this historic aspect to the borough, but also given the times we live in, there are new uses that are required and need to be applied. And how we go about doing that is important in terms of keeping a cohesive character to the place.”

The award recognizes exceptional stewardship of residential and commercial properties, including reconstruction, repair, and repainting of deteriorated conditions involving structures, including fences and walls.

The Chase home, which is 137 years old this year, dates to 1885.

“They restored the house and then they added to it and the committee was quite enthusiastic about what they have done,” said Brown. “The committee felt that their addition was a very sensitive one and one that contributed to not just the building itself, but the community as a whole.”

The age of house "makes us feel much younger," said Rich, who shared two interesting tidbits with the council and the public.

“When we did the renovation we were able to get photographs of the house from 1905 so lot of the window selection and siding was based on those photos,” he said.

He also shared a note left to them by the previous owner. It read simply, “It’s a great house. Great bones. Cherish it as much as we did.”

Other nominees for the award included:

• The James A. Michener Art Museum and JoAnn Maroney for the Community Labyrinth at 138 South Pine Street.

• Michael Halvorsen, 68 East Court Street.

• Jennifer and Nicholas Caramenico, 216 Union Street.

• John and Megan Martin, 192 Lafayette Street.

• Helen and the late James Aldredge, 53 North Church Street

• Franklin Court Condominium Association, 105 West Court Street.

• Susan and John Gilhorn, 277 West Oakland Avenue.

• Nick Malloy, 30 South Main Street.