Go inside this 22-room Wallingford estate on the market for $2.15 million
The 5-acre compound includes a main house, a two-bedroom carriage home, and a former greenhouse. The property was built more than 100 years ago and contains many original details.
A 5-acre compound with a sprawling main house, a two-bedroom carriage home, and outdoor gathering spaces is on the market in Wallingford for $2.15 million.
The main residence at 1018 Beech Rd. in Nether Providence Township contains six to eight bedrooms, 5½ bathrooms, and more than 7,500 square feet of living space.
“One of the most astonishing things about it is how original it is,” said listing agent Brooke Penders of Coldwell Banker Realty. “Nobody has ever remodeled this house in any way.”
The three-story neoclassical-style home was built in 1921 by the Philadelphia firm Savery & Scheetz for wealthy industrialist and former Chester Mayor Howard H. Houston. It is sometimes referred to as the Houstonia mansion.
Many of the original elements — down to old call buttons for house staff — remain intact, Penders said, and its current owners have “brought the architecture forward,” adding more color throughout the home.
Visitors enter the home through French doors on a bluestone terrace, underneath a Juliet balcony, and arrive in a “grand reception hall,” as the listing describes it. The entryway gets natural light from a large Palladian window halfway up the grand staircase.
A large living room with a soapstone hearth fireplace sits off the center hall and is connected to a sunroom and a terrace.
On the other side of the hall is an office that connects to a dining room, which also has a soapstone hearth fireplace.
Beyond the dining room lies a butler’s pantry, containing a beverage fridge, an extra dishwasher, and storage space. Next to the pantry is an expansive kitchen with stainless steel built-in appliances and a large island.
Behind the kitchen, a mudroom connects to a side porch and a back stairway to the second floor, which has a master bedroom with an en suite bathroom and a dressing room; five additional bedrooms; three full bathrooms; a den; and a laundry room.
Another bedroom suite — “ideal for guest or perhaps an au pair,” according to the listing — is located on the third story, which also contains “bonus rooms,” cedar storage rooms, and “a billiard room” that currently serves as a family room.
The main house also has a large unfinished basement, which is not included in the home’s square footage.
Included with the property is a 2,500-square-foot carriage home, which is located on a separate tax parcel that Penders said could be sold separately.
The detached home “serves perfectly as an in-law suite or a rental,” according to the listing. It includes an eat-in kitchen, a “great room,” family room, two bedrooms, one full bathroom, a deck, and three heated garage bays.
The property features several outdoor gathering ideas, including a former greenhouse, and its 5 acres is surrounded by township parklands.
“Not many properties offer this kind of acreage,” Penders said. “The level of privacy is really unparalleled.”
Located in one of the region’s most affluent areas, and in the sought-after Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, the home would be well-suited for a large family, perhaps even a multigenerational one, said Penders.
Penders sold the home to its current owners in 2014 for $1.15 million, according to property records.
Inquirer Greater Media
