Half Preserved, Half Destroyed, Woolworth Mansion Asks Just $295,000

The Woolworth Mansion is for sale, at a price fit for the original five-and-dime store. Whether that’s a bargain, though, is arguable given its sad deterioration.

On the market for just $295,000, the mansion in Scranton, Pennsylvania, was once the opulent abode of Charles Sumner “Sum” Woolworth, who along with his brother Frank founded the chain that bore their name.

Now, more than a century after it was built and nearly two decades after  Woolworth went out of business, the home and its adjoining carriage house sit in a state of almost eerie disrepair: About half the home is beautifully preserved and still cuts a striking figure, as the listing photos show. But inside, the third level’s floor is missing, paint is peeling off the walls, the stairs are unclimbable and junk litters many rooms.

Listing agent Wayne Evans admits, “While the exterior of both buildings have been preserved, the estate’s interior is in need of restoration.”

Yet some of the interior’s incredible details remain: Beautiful carvings are etched along doorways and ceilings, and spectacular original glass windows line the walls of the sunroom and main entrance, seemingly unharmed despite the destruction within.

Sum Woolworth commissioned the home in 1909, when the Woolworth chain was explosively popular. Having moved to Scranton from the state capital, Harrisburg, 30 years earlier, Sum was responsible for establishing what would become the real flagship store of the chain. He had an eye for detail: He created the signature mahogany counters with glass showcases, and made sure the store was brightly lit and clean, according to the Woolworths Museum website.

Over the next three decades, the F.W. Woolworth chain would expand to more than 500 stores, 15 of which were Sum’s, before merging into a massive corporation, according to the Woolworth Museum.

Despite the international growth, Sum stayed in Scranton and continued operations there.

Unlike his brother, who commissioned the renowned Woolworth Building in New York City (once the tallest building in the world, and where the penthouse alone is nine stories tall with a price tag to match), Sum was a humble, quiet man who shied from the spotlight. He became engaged in local politics, urban rehabilitation projects and a few investments. When Frank died in 1919, he was asked to take over the corporation, but he declined and instead became chairman, watching four presidents come and go. Sum died in 1947 at the age of 90.

Later, the 7,859-square-foot home was zoned commercial. According to Evans, the Woolworth Mansion became part of the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing. Most recently, it was owned by the Lackawanna Institute, a nonprofit whose original plan was to create an “urban think tank” there, Evans says.

Though it’s hard to get an exact count on rooms, Evans says that there were about five bathrooms and five bedrooms on the second floor in addition to four or five bedrooms on the third floor for the in-house staff.

The home sits on nearly a half of an acre near downtown Scranton. The $295,000 price tag does not include the Carlisle House located behind it, though a buyer would have the option to tack it on.

More blasts from the past on Yahoo Real Estate:

The Doomed Time Capsule on Billionaire’s Beach (28 photos)
An Epic Restoration for a Hoarder’s Disaster (33 photos, before and after)
Old-School Midcentury Modern Gets Radical Transformation (28 photos, before and after)