The historic Levy Leas Mansion at 40th and Pine has now been reduced to a pile of debris. Hidden agendas and selective thinking is to blame says architectural historian and preservation professor Aaron Wunsch. Here is his final word on the 160-year-old West Philadelphia home

Demolition of the beleaguered Levy-Leas House is underway at 40th and Pine. Hidden City co-editor Michael Bixler takes one last look at the building’s lost potential with a walk inside one of architect Samuel Sloan’s last remaining West Philadelphia homes

Could a last-ditch effort at diplomacy between the University of Pennsylvania and the Woodland Terrace Homeowners Association save the John P. Levy House from demolition? Aaron Wunsch says it can and should be done, though it would take a touch more civic stewardship by the university and an even-keeled willingness to compromise by the neighborhood group

Not every historic building in the city can be saved, though total demolition doesn’t have to be the final answer either. Michael Bixler looks at a third way at Perry World House, now under construction, in conversation with University of Pennsylvania campus architect David Hollenberg

Bad news for the John P. Levy House at 40th and Pine. Condition goes, says the Historical Commission, approving the University of Pennsylvania’s request to remove a proviso that barres them from razing the mansion before proper permits are obtained and building plans established

The days might be numbered for the Samuel Sloan-designed John P. Levy House at 40th and Pine. Today the Historical Commission’s Hardship Committee approved a recommendation that could clear the way for the Italliante mansion’s demolition

The green light’s been given to the demolition of two brownstones on the city’s Historic Register at 38th & Chestnut. Chris Mote reports that the homes, once the parish house to the adjacent Episcopal Cathedral, will be replaced by a 25-story apartment tower whose profits will go toward a complete restoration of the church and provide new facilities for the Diocese

A Samuel Sloan designed church in West Philadelphia is the latest case study in the stare-down between preservation and demolition. Christopher Mote tells us P&A Associates wants to demolish and replace it with a one-story modern glass building, but a group of Penn preservation students is thinking big about reuse