No Bam-Bam for ‘Pebbles’: New Owner Opts to Renovate Rather Than Tear Down Historic House
The old Pebbles Guest House as it currently appears.
Shortly after it was built in 1909, a photograph was taken of a four-story Victorian house standing nearly alone on a windswept stretch of shoreline in Stone Harbor, with its wraparound front porch affording sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Stone Harbor was young and not yet incorporated, as the enterprising Risley brothers had just begun its development, aiming to attract wealthy Philadelphians who were seeking relief from the summer heat. Before long, more houses were built, the streets were laid out, and the town started to grow around that Victorian home, which came to be known as the Pebbles Guest House.
A photograph taken today shows a greatly changed landscape from that early time, but one thing has remained constant over the last 112 years: The Pebbles still stands.
The Pebbles, located on the corner of First Avenue and 94th Street, has welcomed countless guests in more than a century, including future U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and other politicians, showbiz folks (including The Rockettes) and visitors from around the globe while surviving two hurricanes and other destructive storms, and evading the wrecking ball. It is now poised to enjoy many more years with the start of a massive renovation planned by its owner, Larry Berran.
Berran, a native of northeast Philadelphia, is the CEO of iPipeline, a company that makes management policy software for life insurance and investments.
He is the Pebbles’ fourth owner. Its first owner, Philadelphia politician John Irwin, used the house as his private summer residence. In 1939, Irwin sold it to Carlton Richards, who converted it into a guest house. Richards is credited with christening it the “Pebbles” when he removed the grassy lawn and spread a carpet of pebbles. John Curto, who died in March, was the third owner and also used it as a guest house.
Berran’s initial plan when he purchased the Pebbles in late 2020 was to knock it down and build a new home on the lot.
“I didn’t know it as ‘the Pebbles’ then,” says Berran. “I knew it as an oversized lot meeting the criteria I was looking for. I didn’t know what I would be getting myself into.”
Berran was even told by a friend and neighbor in Stone Harbor that people were upset because they assumed he would be knocking it down. So, he began learning about the house and its history through the Stone Harbor Museum, former guests, neighbors, and what he described as “random emails, direct messages, and phone calls.”
He already had discovered a plethora of material hidden within the house, dating back many decades.
“Some of the more interesting items include guest records going back to the 1970s, which were kept on index cards,” he says. “In the later years, records seemed to be kept in notebooks. We also have some of the guest books where people would sign in, as well as guest books where people would leave a note about their experience at the house. There are a lot of interesting stories and memories in the house, and that doesn’t include undocumented happenings since becoming a guest house in 1939.”
Especially helpful to Berran were Jim Talone and Karen Camagna from the Stone Harbor Museum, and Bill and Christine Lansinger. The Lansingers had experience restoring an old home, having renovated the old Rosery house on 94th Street, just down the block from the Pebbles.
“I met with architects Mark Asher and Rebecca Fellerman [of Asher Slaunwhite Architects in Stone Harbor],” says Berran. “We discussed ways in which I could achieve my goals while saving this Stone Harbor treasure. I really started to get excited about what we could do with the house and getting to meet many of the people who really loved it.”
“When Larry came to us, we discussed renovation versus knockdown,” Asher says. “It’s actually very difficult to renovate old houses, but fortunately the Pebbles lent itself to it. There are precious few of these houses left and it becomes more important to try to save them. Bringing the Pebbles back to life had a lot of community support.”
Starting with Berran’s “wish list,” the architects played the role of editors, deciding what could and could not be done to modernize the old house. Magically, says Fellerman, they were able to fulfill nearly all the items on that wish list.
Digging into the Pebbles’ past, and studying old photographs that were available at the Stone Harbor Museum, Fellerman – who has a passion for historical homes and a solid background in historic preservation – discovered new information. The original front porch had washed away in a storm about 1914, and later photographs showed columns that didn’t match the original ones.
Other interesting discoveries came when vinyl siding was removed, revealing original unpainted trim; old gas pipes were found that had been used for lighting. Through the years, vinyl windows had been installed that shrank the original size of the window openings; removing them will provide the Berran family more expansive views.
“The more history we found, the more excited Larry got,” says Fellerman.
Renovating the Pebbles will also allow Berran to retain a four-story house; had a new one been constructed, it would have been limited to two stories on the lot.
“This gave Larry more of what he wanted,” Fellerman says. “And it seemed more and more dominoes were falling into place towards saving it.”
He hired builder DL Miner Construction of Cape May Court House to turn the architect’s plans into reality.
Berran learned that the house was out of compliance in many areas and so needed to get several variances. Having heard horror stories about the process, he again debated whether he should just build a new house to make it easier and less expensive.
“But I was also torn with doing something that would be really unique and special,” he says, adding that he got strong support at the hearing from people at the Stone Harbor Museum, the Lansingers, and even some he didn’t even know.
Among the features of the Pebbles that will be retained are the main entryway, original living room, stained-glass windows, a secret hidden staircase (used by servants), dining room, front wraparound porch, and grand staircase.
“We’re adding an addition to the rear of the house on the first two floors to provide for a more modern family room and kitchen [the existing home had a working kitchen],” Berran says. “We’re also reducing the number of bedrooms from 11 to eight, and the number of bathrooms from 11 to nine, to add more living room space.”
The first step in the renovation, set to begin in late October, is to raise the Pebbles – which has been described in historical writings as built on 3,000 pilings – so that it meets FEMA standards. As it’s lifted, it will be repositioned slightly onto a new foundation that DL Miner president Brian Stuart says will enable it to stand up against flooding.
“I have a love for these older homes and so I’m really excited about this project,” says Stuart, who added that the renovation is expected to take 11 to 12 months. “This is really going to be a group effort, a team put together by the owner. We’ve worked with Mark Asher for many years and happy we’re going to be giving the Pebbles a new life.”
For Berran, the decision to renovate the Pebbles rather than knock it down has turned out to be a win-win situation. When the process is complete, the house will not only provide many years of enjoyment for himself and his family, but also stand as a reminder of the early days in Stone Harbor’s history.
