For months, social media has been alive with chatter about the renovations of the Byrne Mansion at 400 Main Street in Phoenixville. Next week, the R. Strunk Funeral Home opens its grand doors to the public for a ribbon cutting and what everyone has been waiting for: the renovation reveal.
On Thursday, January 24th at 4 PM, Dodi and Bobby Strunk, owners of R Strunk Funeral Home and Cremation Services and new occupants of the building, will be joined by the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce for a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Click here for details & registration
The mansion, built by Irish immigrant and knitting pioneer Thomas F. Byrne, has also been home to the Schuylkill Valley Model Railroad Club (SVMRRC), a fixture in the Phoenixville community, since 1972. The SVMRRC is currently undergoing their own renovation project and is looking forward to being open for the 2019 holiday season.
“The number one question we get when people see photos of this building is, ‘are the trains still there?’” Dodi Strunk said. “We want people to know yes, they are still here.”
Dodi Strunk grew up in Phoenixville and well-versed in the history of the town and, in particular, the Byrne mansion. In 1948, the mansion was sold, fully furnished, to the Phoenix Iron Company to be used as a home for executives and visitors. Both Dodi’s father and Bobby’s mother grew up in Phoenixville, and Bobby’s mother recalled visiting 400 Main Street as a child with her own father who, at the time, worked for Phoenix Iron & Steel.
“It can be difficult to acquire a funeral home,” she said. “Often, this is a family business that is passed on and inherited.”
But Bobby felt a calling. He began working in the business, and in 2003, he and Dodi purchased the Shalkop Grace Funeral Home in Spring City. Now called Shalkop Grace & Strunk, the funeral home will celebrate its 72nd year in business in 2019.
Eager to expand, the Strunks began looking to Phoenixville – no stranger to the funeral business – as a
second location.
Once home to numerous funeral businesses, both on the borough’s North Side and in the center of town, including one located right next door to the present-day R Strunk Funeral Home, Phoenixville was a natural fit.
In February of 2018, the Strunks put in an offer on the Byrne mansion, which had been vacant for nearly six years, and by May, it was theirs.
The Strunks tapped Ranieri & Kerns Associates, a premier construction firm specializing in high-end renovations, and local architect and expert James Lolli to rehabilitate the mansion.
From the moment the contractors’ vehicles appeared on the property to start the renovation, Phoenixville was abuzz with chatter. Almost daily, images of the building were being posted on social media, with nearly the same message, “I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s done!”
While the outward appearance of the building remains the same, the Strunks have spared no expense in restoring the mansion to the glory of its heyday, with a modern flair.
To do so, they sought the expertise of one of the Philadelphia area’s preeminent designers, Michele Yurick Kelly, owner and principle of M. Yurick Designs.
“It was important to me to be respectful of the integrity of the building, only to enhance it,” Yurick said. “When I made the selections, I tried to keep in mind what it might have felt like years ago.”
Working from old photos and accounts of Byrne’s living relatives, the Strunks set off on their quest to restore and preserve the nearly-125-year-old home.
“The craftsmanship of the ceilings on the main level along with the overall height of each space was breathtaking,” Yurick said. “It’s so rare to see anything like this in today’s construction.”
Digging into the history of the building, the Strunks earned construction began on Byrne’s mansion in 1895. A decade later, and using the same material, Byrne began construction on St. Ann’s Catholic Church which he dedicated in memory of his mother, Ann, as well as St. Ann, to whom he prayed while he recovered from a serious injury sustained while he was working on Centennial Hall in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.
Byrne later traveled to his birthplace in Ireland to place a headstone on Ann’s grave that had been crafted from the same material used to build the church. His mother had died less than two weeks after giving birth.
The next decade saw renovations and additions done to the building, and by 1910, the stately home was complete and is fully recognizable today with one exception: the large, wraparound porch.
“We understand the importance of preserving this building,” Dodi Strunk said. “It was well built and we respect that.”
As phase one of the renovation project comes to a close, the planning process for phase two begins, including the sizeable job of reconstructing the porch, which the Strunks look forward to over the next several years.
“The porch just feels like a missing piece to us,” she said. “We want to be as true as possible to the original structure of the house.”
Dodi jokes that, as they uncover more information about the home, they just keep adding phases.
“We’re up to about 10,” she said.
Among those are the eventual restoration of the Funeral Home’s family gathering room to its former life as a library. In their efforts to stick to the history they know, Dodi said they will attempt to find some of the early-1900s titles that once sat on the shelves.
“We feel like we’re stewards of this house,” she said. “We understand the honor of owning this building.”
The public is invited to join the Strunks for the Ribbon Cutting on Thursday, January 24th at 4 PM, at 400 Main Street, Phoenixville.
