The speculative residential development [†] of the 3400 block of Queens Lane bgan in 1925 with the issuance the first building permits; Penn Street and Midvale Avenue followed over the next several years with completion in the early 1930s.
Building permits list M.J. McCrudden ast the owner, architect and contract for the 210 properties in the district. Henry T. McNeill is said to have been the architect; however, his name does not appear on the permits, pehaps because he was not licensed at the time of their construction.
The designs for the houses on Midvale, Penn and Queen were unique adaptations of conventional Tudor Revival architecture to the higher density, more economically modest part of Philadelphia. By incorporating fundamental characteristics of Tudar Revival architecture (steeply pitched roofs; overlapping gables; false half timbering applied to wall surfaces as decoration with rough plaster and brick fill often arranged in a herringbone patter) as well as the features more specific to the Philadelphia Cotswold tradition (cross-gables, large casement windows, and prominent chimneys), McCrudden and McNeill created long rows of attached houses with the look and feel of expensive Tudor residences.
† Tudor East Falls Historic District Nomination, 2008, www.phila.gov, accessed June, 2021.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Midvale Avenue • Penn Street • Queen Lane