A cousin with only a life estate sold John Coltrane's Philadelphia house for $100,000, and his sons sued to take it back

John Coltrane bought 1511 North 33rd Street in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood in 1952. In 1958 he and his first wife, Naima, gave it to his mother, Alice Gertrude Coltrane. She died on 4 September 1977. Her will let her cousin, Mary Lyerly Alexander, live in the house for life. On Alexander's death it was to pass to three grandsons: John Jr., Ravi and Oran Coltrane. John Jr. died in a car accident in 1982. In 2004 Alexander sold the house to Norman Gadson for $100,000. The deed spelled the family name "Cultrate." Gadson died in 2007 and held the house as trustee for his daughter Hathor, who has Down syndrome. Alexander died on 31 August 2019. In 2020 Preservation Pennsylvania listed the National Historic Landmark as at risk. On 27 April 2022 Ravi and Oran sued Gadson's daughters to eject them and quiet title, alleging the sale was a sham. The daughters claimed adverse possession and asked for the $100,000 back if they lost. The sides settled in early 2024, and the house returned to Ravi and Oran. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Trust's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund then named it the first recipient of their family stewardship grants. In 2026 the house is in the sons' control, with restoration funded^†.