A Bit of Chester County in Wenonah for $690K

Inspired by but much larger than traditional Pennsylvania farmhouses, this Colonial offers everything you need for gracious living and entertaining.


5 Shawnee Dr., Wenonah, N.J. 08090 | Bright MLS images via Penzone Realty

Two things one finds in abundance in Chester County: traditional Pennsylvania farmhouses (or modern versions of same) and handsome homes surrounded by woods.

What one usually doesn’t find in Chester County is both in one location. Think about it: the farmhouse is the anchor of a farm, right? There’s not much room to farm in a forest.

Fortunately for us moderns, suburbanization has divorced the farm from the farmhouse, which makes possible homes like the one you see here.

This home is in Gloucester County rather than Chester County, but it would be right at home in Brandywine country. This custom-built Colonial in the Woods of Wenonah subdivision takes its exterior style cues from those farmhouses. It even goes so far as to incorporate fieldstone purchased from a historic working farm in Chester County for part of its exterior and the fireplace in its kitchen.

Kitchen

(Yes, it has a working fireplace in its kitchen. That’s an 18th- and 19th-century staple you don’t often find in homes built in the 1990s.)

Great room

Everywhere you turn in this home, you will find spaces that are modern in origin or form, like the huge two-story-high great room, yet take their design cues from our region’s past. The owner of this home has enhanced the effect by choosing vintage items to go with the traditional furniture.

Living room

The main floor layout is unusually intelligent in that it guides you through a series of spaces: from the two-story foyer, your eye heads naturally to the formal living room to its left.

Dining room

Sunroom

That in turn leads to the dining room, and beyond it lies the airy sunroom. These last two connect to a rear hallway that takes you past the kitchen (whose entrance is opposite the dining room’s hall entrance) to the great room, whose large Palladian windows hang over three French doors leading to a spacious deck with a gazebo overlooking a soothing pond. (Of course, you can skip the guided tour and just head from the foyer to the great room if you prefer.)

Rear patio, deck and gazebo

Back porch and pond

Beyond the great room is a covered rear porch, and there’s a screened enclosed porch off the breakfast room. A study to the right of the foyer completes the main floor.

Master bedroom

The master bedroom again is set up for modern living yet styled for the 19th century. It too has a working fireplace, this one with a marble surround.

Loft

Above the flagstone-clad four-car attached garage is a finished loft space that can serve as a rec room, game room, home gym or whatever else you wish to put there.

Garden

Beyond the deck in back is a beautifully landscaped garden. And beyond that, at the edge of your property, is a ravine through which runs the George Eldridge Trail, which leads to the Wenonah Tea House.

If you’re a lover of woodsy retreats, you’ll be hard pressed to find one that’s more appealing. Especially if you enjoy living in the past without giving up modern conveniences.

THE FINE PRINT

BEDS: 4

BATHS: 3 full, 1 half

SQUARE FEET: 6,520

SALE PRICE: $625,000

5 Shawnee Dr., Wenonah, N.J. 08090 [Joseph Penzone | Penzone Realty]