For many years, Marc Kurowski dreamed of living along the Susquehanna River, and, one day, while walking his dog, spied a duplex for sale on Front Street.
Like many once-grand riverfront homes, the house long ago had been converted to institutional use, owned for years by Teen Challenge, a faith-based residential rehabilitation program. It then was bought for a condo conversion, but, after some demo work, the new owners changed their minds and decided to sell it. In late 2013, by the time Kurowski got his hands on it, the house was a dilapidated, half-destroyed shell, but he saw tremendous potential for a grand home on a magnificent river.
A principal with K&W Engineers, Kurowski knocked down the wall that separated the two sides of the duplex, adjoining the spaces. It then was a matter of redesigning and rebuilding the interior of the circa-1890s structure.
There were many bumps along the way, including construction delays that turned the renovation into a 20-month slog. But, in the end, Kurowski took a building, abused and damaged for so long, and transformed it into a spacious, stunning, single-family home, topped off by a roof deck with breathtaking views of Riverfront Park and the Susquehanna River.
Photos by Elena Jasic.
