Features: The Ultimate Philadelphia Dream House

We picked the best eight rooms by local architects and interior designers and put them together to create one cool, fabulous, fantastical home

THE GREAT ROOM

 What to do in a 4,000-square-foot renovated barn, especially when its sole purpose is for entertaining? (The main home on this Gladwyne estate is 500 feet away, and there’s a guest house on the property as well!) Designer Michael Shannon broke it up into distinct wall-less “rooms”: a large, comfy seating area in front of the dramatic three-story-high picture window, and a more intimate one (anchored by a needlepoint rug the owner found at an antiques show) in front of the grand fireplace, separated by the 16-foot-long dining table that comfortably sits 24, or can be split in half and moved to the side to create a big dance space under the massive rustic chandelier. (To ease the owner’s worry the chandelier might be too heavy and someday crash down Phantom of the Opera-style, the chandelier maker hung from it.) Off to one side is a bar; to another is a desk and a windowseat. And there’s an even more intimate gathering area, plus a kitchen for catering, and a full bath … just in case someone might want to sleep over.

Do-It-Yourself: “People are so uptight about making sure one fabric perfectly matches another,” says Shannon. “Everyone needs to relax about fabric.” He suggests that when choosing and matching fabrics, you squint. That allows you to focus, not on the pattern, but on the color. And if the colors look good together, says Shannon, that’s usually all that matters. —V.G.

Michael Shannon Designs, 1315 Walnut Street, suite 1717; 215-717-1094.