Main Line Monday: “Dallas” in Bryn Mawr for $650K

This expansive rancher looks like it could have been built by a distant relative of J.R. Ewing.

684 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010 | TREND images via BHHS Fox & Roach

What do 1950s ranch homes want to be when they grow up?

We strongly suspect something like this one.

Somewhere between its birth and now, it ran across owners who, it appears, had visions of Southfork dancing in their heads. The result of this cross-pollination is a home with a Main Line address but a Texas feel.

The transport begins when you drive through the gate of this handsomely updated home and scope out the meticulously manicured front lawn. Then, as you drive up the driveway, park your car in front and walk through the front door, you may hear the theme from “Dallas” playing faintly in the back of your head. 

To your left as you enter is an expansive main living space whose functions have clearly been delineated by wood-beam dividers yet is totally open. The original living room has had its fireplace enhanced by a floor-to-ceiling stone surround and been transformed into a comfortable family room. Beyond it, the home’s original garage has been transformed into a huge living room with a second fireplace and two sets of French doors at the rear leading to a maintenance-free rear deck.

The dining room and kitchen share one common space, a tile floor and country French decor. The kitchen boasts built-in appliances including a cabinet-front Sub-Zero refrigerator.

What were once four bedrooms are now three, with two of them combined into a spacious master bedroom with a wood-beam accent, two walk-in closets and French doors that lead onto an arbor-covered rear terrace. The master bathroom has been reimagined as a private spa, a vision in stone tile with a shower that includes both rain and hand-held shower heads.

That fourth bedroom got moved to the basement, where it might work better as a home office. There’s also a tile-floored rec room down below.

Out back, behind the deck and terrace, is your own private resort, featuring an in-ground pool and a basketball court at the back of the roomy back yard.

This home and its 1.08-acre lot are situated in Bryn Mawr’s southerly reaches, which means your kids will attend Radnor Township schools. That freeway that runs not far from this home, then, is the Blue Route, not the LBJ Freeway, but with two country clubs just up Sproul Road, you might be forgiven for thinking your one acre is actually North Dallas forty.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 3

BATHS: 3

SQUARE FEET: 2,567

SALE PRICE: $650,000

684 S. Bryn Mawr Ave., Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010 [Robin Gordon | BHHS Fox & Roach – Haverford Station]