Welcome to Casa Mura, a John Simon Sabatino original design built In 1989. Included in this sale is the adjacent lot of 178 Hillcrest to give you over an acre of privacy and a wonderful driveway connector from Bells Mill Road to Hillcrest Avenue. Sabatino built this house for himself amid the ruins of a former mansion. It features award-winning gardens and celebrates the architect's love of art and natural light. His vision lives on with the current owners who make sure art, light and nature meld inside and out. The home is designed for living and entertaining mostly on the main floor. The front door, located within the walled garden, opens up to a welcoming, two-story entry foyer with hand-laid marble floor that accesses the large living room with fireplace, beautiful dining room with door to a screened porch (also connected to the living room), family room with fireplace, and a hall leading to the primary bedroom suite with walk-in closets and full marble bathroom. All rooms offer either doors to the outside or large windows bringing the outside in. The spacious kitchen connects to the family room, dining room, laundry room and garage. Up a grand staircase, two additional bedrooms and a study/bedroom await. The basement is partially finished and the property is planted with specimen plantings, perennial flower beds and a stunning western facing arbor full of lavender, rosemary, climbing roses, Russian sage, butterfly bushes and more plants to delight the senses. Casa Mura is across the street from the Morris Arboretum, the state arboretum of Pennsylvania, and minutes from Fairmount Park, the shops and restaurants of Chestnut Hill, Septa's Chestnut Hill East and West train stations and the Blue Route and Pennsylvania turnpike.
Single-familyProperty Type
1989Year Built
0.71 acresLot Size
$307Est. Price/Sq.Ft.
2 garage spacesParking
Listed by Ellen Hass• Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty
•215-298-9415 (broker)
Listed by NINA FURIA• Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty
•215-298-9415 (broker)
Bought with Lisa Ciccotelli• BHHS Fox & Roach-Haverford
*Taxable value of land and structures on it ("additions") is determined regularly by local assessors and does not affect market price.
Public record
Public record
Zoning
Permits
Beds
4
Baths
3
Stories
2.5
Lot width
230 ft.
Lot depth
145 ft.
Lot size
0.71 Acres
Year renovated
—
Sq. Ft.
6,292
Year built
1989
Style
Single Family Residential
County
Philadelphia County
APN
091141810
Parking Spaces
—
Basement
—
Accessible
—
HOA Dues
—
Garage
—
Features
—
Last updated by owner on Jul 27, 2026.
RSD-1
/EDO
/WWO
/NIS
Residential Single-Family Detached-1 District
The RSD, Residential Single-Family Detached districts are primarily intended to accommodate detached houses on individual lots. It is intended that RSD zoning be applied in areas where the land use pattern is characterized predominately by detached houses on individual lots or where such a land use pattern is desired in the future. The Zoning Code includes three RSD districts that are differentiated primarily on the basis of minimum lot area requirements.
Zone overlays
Eighth District Overlay District
Wissahickon Watershed Overlay District
Narcotics Injection Sites Overlay District
Permitted uses
Include but are not limited to:
Garden center
Housing-Single unit
Recreation-Other
Sep 12, 2026 • Active
Electrical
Electrical
Feb 3, 2026 • Final
Plumbing
Repair and replace the water distribution piping.
Plumbing
Permit history is from public records and may be incomplete or inaccurate. Redfin and its agents make no representations about the property condition or permit status. Buyers should independently verify all information.