Main Line Monday: A True One-of-a-Kind in Merion Station

520 Greystone Rd., Merion Station, Pa. 19066 | Photos by Peter Berlin for Edberg Solutions via RE/MAX Executive Realty

We’ll begin today’s Main Line feature with a grammar lesson: The word “unique” does not admit to modifiers. It means “there’s only one.” Thus, something can’t be “more unique” or “most unique.” A thing is either unique or it isn’t.

This home in Merion Station truly deserves the term. You’ll see nothing else like it in your house-hunting.

The two-thirds-acre lot this house sits on was once part of a larger estate nearby, and on it sat two structures: a carriage house and a modest Dutch Colonial home for a caretaker. At some point, the two structures were joined and the estate dismembered. Sometime after that, the home passed into the hands of an owner who had a bright idea: Why not turn the ensemble into one singular residence?

This is the product of that idea, and it’s a beauty that can accommodate anything and everything you might want in your life.

Because of its orientation on the site, you enter this home through what looks like it ought to be a back door, sitting as it does between the former carriage house and the home’s current two-car garage. This is actually a stroke of genius, for it leaves you totally unprepared for the delights that await on the other side of the door.

(Well, almost totally unprepared: the door and lighting do clue you in to the Arts and Crafts style that defines the interior spaces.)

Through the door is a spacious, light-filled foyer that connects both the main residence and the attached guest quarters that occupy the former carriage house. The guest quarters, which have their own separate entrance to the right of the main door, include a living room with kitchenette, a bedroom, and a bathroom, all thoroughly up-to-date and bathed in natural light from the huge patio doors and windows in the living room.

Almost straight ahead of you from the foyer is the spectacular great room, which incorporates the dining area and kitchen as well. The room is a soaring space with 18-foot-high ceilings that leave the original trusses exposed, knotty pine ceilings with skylights, hardwood floors and lots of custom cabinetry. The living area features a wood-burning fireplace with brick surround and built-in shelves, while the kitchen is a chef’s dream: custom wood cabinetry, light granite countertops, top-of-the-line appliances (including two microwaves) and bar seating next to the dining area. The combined spaces form a focal point that works whether you’re just enjoying family life or entertaining friends.

Inserted above the kitchen and living area is a loft balcony that is currently configured for use as a home office. A spiral staircase leads from one end of the balcony to the great room, and the other end is connected to the original Dutch Colonial house’s second floor.

Off the great room is a sunny solarium whose French doors open onto another patio and the extensive landscaped grounds.

The passageway between the kitchen and living area leads to the first floor of the Dutch Colonial, which has been transformed into a sumptuous master suite with updated master bath, sitting room and loads of closet space. Beyond the master suite are a laundry room and a mud room porch that also opens onto the patio and grounds.

Upstairs are three more bedrooms, one of which has an en suite bathroom, and a hall bath that was completely rebuilt two years ago.

The landscaping that rings the property ensures privacy while being pleasing to the eye. And it’s all conveniently located close to City Avenue, a short walk from SEPTA’s Merion Regional Rail station, and a pleasant stroll from Merion Park with its botanical gardens.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 5

BATHS: 4

SQUARE FEET: 4,237

SALE PRICE: $1,010,000

OTHER STUFF: The garage is equipped with electric-car charging hookups.

520 Greystone Rd., Merion Station, Pa. 19066 [Janet Ames | RE/MAX Executive Realty]