On the market: Green condo in Northern Liberties for $679,000

From his landscaped roof garden in Northern Liberties, Michael Aceto has a perfect view of the skyscrapers of Center City.

The rolling hills of Chester County he can see only in his mind.

But the Unionville-Chadds Ford area is where he grew up and where he is returning with his wife to raise his family after four years in a cutting-edge condo that is stylistically worlds apart.

“I’ve been living in an urban environment for 10 years,” says Aceto, a civil litigator in Philadelphia. “I really enjoyed a lot of those aspects … the sports scene, restaurants, concerts.

“Now I’m ready for a change of pace.”

Aceto leaves behind a three-bedroom, three-bath unit in the Thin Flats development, which has the top government rating for energy and environmental design.

The 2,156-square-foot condo, built in 2009, is on the second and third floors of the building. Each bedroom has a private deck, and each bathroom is glass-tiled with handmade ceramic sinks by local potter Liz Kinder and an oversized soaking tub.

The open-plan living room blends into the dining area. The master bedroom and another bedroom are on the third floor.

The kitchen features cabinetry designed and built in Italy, a Liebherr built-in refrigerator, and a dual-fuel range/oven.

The unit has hardwood floors, central AC, dual-zoned in-floor hydronic radiant heat, and solar panels.

But Aceto says that what really sets the unit apart is the hardscaped green roof deck, allowing owners to design their own private landscape. It has a direct natural gas line for the grill, a water line for a hose, electric outlets, and an Ethernet port.

“You could host 30, 40 people up there,” Aceto says, adding that, overall, “the quality of the build is very high. This condo is built like a tank. The craftsmanship is excellent.”

It also has private off-street parking.

The property is listed by Johnny McDonald of Weichert Realtors for $679,000.