It’s known as the Air Mail House.Which is part of the point.
Owner Drew Coates explains why his North Hills home has a mailbox hanging some 25 feet above the ground from the branch of a venerable maple tree. On one side is painted Air Mail. The family’s name is on the other side. “It’s an easy way to identify the house,” says the partially-retired attorney.
Both Coates and his wife, Anne, also an attorney in the couple’s private practice, mention the flying mailbox when they’re giving directions to visitors and for deliveries. If you’re looking for an address on a street as busy as Limekiln Pike, it’s a helpful landmark to use. And it’s striking how many people do.
Coates gets a kick out of people’s reactions. When his chiropractor retired, Coates’ new chiropractor was making small talk and asked him where he lived. When he learned it was on Limekiln Pike, he asked if it was anywhere near the Air Mail House. Coates responded, “It is the Air Mail House.” The chiropractor immediately called his wife and said, “Guess who I have on my table!”
Coates admits that the idea didn’t originate with him. He’d seen something like it many decades ago – possibly on Second Street Pike, he thinks - and promised himself that when he bought a fitting house, he’d do the same.
It’s been hanging there for 17 years, “protected by the tree,” he says. The family has a regular mailbox on the front porch, so it raises no issue for the post office and Coates calls their letter carrier “a great guy.” In fact, Coates loves the area and thinks his neighbors are terrific.
He suspects that their five kids aren’t quite as thrilled by the Air Mail notoriety as he is. “They tend to think I’m a little wacky,” Coates acknowledges. Are there other things he does to deserve a “wacky” reputation?
“I can’t say anything. I’m an attorney. I have to maintain my image in the legal community,” he coyly replies. Then he reminisces about the days when he was president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Friendly Raccoons. If you don’t remember the Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney, that’s okay.
Just smile when you drive by. Coates says that smile makes it worthwhile.
