‘Quiet and just beautiful’ in Bryn Mawr

When Steven Peikin and Amy Spicer moved back to the Philadelphia area in late 2023 after spending 2½ years in Florida, there weren’t many houses on the market. So when Peikin discovered a 4,100-square-foot, two-story home in Bryn Mawr on a solo trip, he convinced Spicer that he’d found the perfect home.

“She saw the pictures online,” recalled Peikin, a gastroenterologist at Cooper University Health Care. “I saw it on a Thursday and was told there could be no contingency or inspection, there were four other bidders, and I had to have our best offer in by Sunday.”

He took the plunge and bought the house, but when Amy saw it, she wasn’t completely sold. She felt the house was dated and she couldn’t get past the yellow exterior.

“When I saw the inside of the house, it was very 1980-esque and needed considerable remodeling,” said Amy, a pharmaceutical sales rep for Madrigal and a yoga instructor. “Steve found it very charming, but I saw it as my 97-year-old grandma’s house.”

The compromise was to make changes that would satisfy them both. The couple stayed in Airbnbs during a four-month renovation, and moved into the home in the spring of 2025.

With the help of Christina Henck from Manayunk-based Henck Design, they created a cozy, updated English Country style home in warm browns and neutrals.

“The house was very formal but we created a more natural, laid-back feel,” said Peikin.

They painted the exterior brownish gray, updated the bathrooms, created a dedicated laundry room, and added architectural elements to the living room and family room.

Those included custom bookshelves, a new metal mantle for the wood-burning stove, and extended ceiling beams. They also replaced all of the original lighting with a combination of recessed lighting and fixtures, swapped out the window treatments, updated the HVAC system, and added pavers to the backyard.

“Steve has a living room and I have a den,” said Spicer. “Mine is very calm and peaceful and his feels refined and sophisticated.”

Parts of the house had been renovated a couple of years earlier after a tree fell on the house, resulting in a new kitchen, primary suite, and roof.

Spicer’s son, Austin, 23, is currently living with the couple. He and his mom enjoy cooking together in their spacious kitchen featuring Thermador appliances and a stone island with a built-in stove. A second stove sits under the microwave. When weather permits, Peikin grills outside and they eat on the patio.

The mudroom off the garage leads to the kitchen through an arched passageway which may have been an addition to the original house built in 1950, Peikin said. The mudroom floor features black and gold tile and a huge inlaid wooden chest that they call the Narnia cabinet — akin to the one in the fantasy novel The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe — sits against one wall.

The primary bedroom suite includes a large window overlooking the tree-lined property.

“You can watch the deer and other animals in the backyard,” said Spicer. “While our home in Florida was lovely because we stared at water, it was loud. Here it’s quiet and just beautiful.”

Peikin and Spicer each have dedicated offices. He refers to his first-floor office as his studiolo, which during the Italian Renaissance was a place of study and contemplation. He meets with telemedicine clients there, but it’s also where he watches ballgames and hangs out.

Spicer’s office includes an altar featuring a Buddha, a space where she meditates and which she uses as a backdrop for the online yoga classes she teaches.

The backyard is where the family spends as much time as possible, swimming, hanging in the hot tub, lounging by the pool, warming up at the fire pit, or barbecuing. With help from All Seasons Maintenance & Design, Melady Landscaping, and Bloom Design, they created a cozy, inviting outdoor retreat.

“The best part of living here is that we are surrounded by a bamboo forest and tall trees, with beautiful crepe myrtle, dogwoods, and magnolias, and we have deer and lots of birds,” said Peikin. “We love the outdoors.”

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