On the market: A five-bedroom house on almost 2 acres in East Norriton for $525,000
“I always wanted a house with some land,” says the homeowner, whose backyard borders a creek lined with walnut trees.
Joe MacDonald grew up in Philadelphia’s East Falls neighborhood, but when the time came to settle down permanently, he opted for more space.
He and his wife, Janet, bought a small house in East Norriton, built an addition to it, and spent the next 42 years there, raising four children and making it the home for other family members.
At one point, they had five boys in high school living there.
But the years and yard work have finally caught up with them, and they’ll be looking for something smaller in the same area.
“I always wanted a house with some land,” says Joe, recalling the drive through the area when he first spotted it. He’s a retired Reading Railroad and SEPTA locomotive engineer who is now pastor of a nondenominational church.
He and Janet, a hairdresser, had been living in a duplex in Manayunk.
The East Norriton house “was 325 feet off the road,” Joe says. “There were woods and a stream, and my kids practically lived there. And grandkids.”
The house in Montgomery County, which is on almost two acres, had just two bedrooms, but he wound up putting on a 2,400-square-foot addition.
More recently he put in a new roof, new siding, and a new heat pump upstairs, and switched the house — now with five bedrooms and three baths — to gas.
The house has a wraparound deck, a large living room with vaulted ceilings, bay windows, and a hand-laid stone gas fireplace.
The kitchen has custom cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and a breakfast bar. The dining nook seats eight with built-in cushioned benches.
The family room has newly finished hardwood floors leading into a potential in-law suite that includes a large bedroom with a private entrance to the 10-car driveway and a full bath.
Upstairs is the primary bedroom with an enclosed balcony. The adjacent bathroom has a soaking tub and standup shower.
The back yard borders a creek lined with black walnut trees on the property.
The house is listed by Brandi Shaw of Keller Williams Langhorne for $525,000.