On the Market: Turn-of-the-Century Manor in Elkins Park
Save for its kitchen and bathrooms, this elegant house has been only minimally updated since it was completed in 1903. Which means that if you love Edwardian style, you get the genuine article here.
1010 Valley Rd., Elkins Park, Pa. 19027 | Bright MLS images via Keller Williams Realty
We’ve seen plenty of elegant English Tudor Revival mansions dating to the dawn of the 20th century in our search for outstanding houses to feature in this space. In most cases, their owners have thoughtfully updated their interiors to bring them more in line with 21st-century tastes and fashions.
The owners of this magnificent Elkins Park manor house for sale think differently, it appears. In maintaining this residence, they have made only the minimal concessions necessary to accommodate present-day preferences.
Which is to say, you will find the kitchen and bathrooms in this house up to modern snuff. Everything else about it remains the genuine article from the early 1900s.
Including the original wall-mounted gas lighting sconces. That’s one other concession: they all run on electricity now.
Foyer
The decision to maintain this house’s original character gives it several fabulous spaces you won’t find in most other houses of this type anymore. Starting with its spacious foyer, whose grand split staircase and wraparound balcony look like they could have been imported directly from Scarlett O’Hara’s Southern manse, Tara.* (It’s certainly painted the right color.)
Living room
Then there’s its expansive living room with its thick wood-beamed ceiling, fireplace with wood stove insert, and multiple seating areas.
Formal dining room / billiard room
Or how about the formal dining room, currently in use as a billiard room? They don’t make light fixtures like the one hanging over the billiard table anymore.
Casual dining room
The owners can get away with this adaptive reuse because this house for sale also has a casual dining room and an eat-in kitchen.
Kitchen
That kitchen, as you can see here, is completely up to date, right down to its six-burner gas range, double oven, Sub-Zero fridge, granite-topped counters and central island, and restaurant-quality range hood. The attached breakfast room, by the way, also has a wet bar with mini-fridge, and there’s a butler’s pantry to boot.
Bedroom
Fireplaces also abound on the upper floors: you’ll find them in at least two of this house’s six bedrooms.
Home office/gym
And on the third floor, you’ll find a huge room that currently serves as a home office and gym.
Playground
There are two other recent upgrades to this house, both on the outside. One is this handsome fenced-in playground your kids will enjoy.
Patio
The other is this pergola-topped stone patio with hot tub, which you and your guests will enjoy.
Put all this together and you get modern living in traditional dress, just two blocks from Melrose Park Regional Rail station. You’re also close to several fine Korean restaurants and an outstanding Asian supermarket, all of which line Cheltenham Avenue just to your south.
*A reader writes to inform us that the wraparound staircase in “Gone with the Wind” was located not in Tara but in Twelve Oaks, the home of Scarlett’s heart’s desire, Ashley Wilkes. We regret the error.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 6
BATHS: 3 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 5,687
SALE PRICE: $545,000
OTHER STUFF: The stone walls of the original carriage house also remain standing on this house’s lot. If you’re so inclined, you could restore this structure as a garage, workshop or studio.
1010 Valley Rd., Elkins Park, Pa. 19027 [Brian and Kristina Weaver | Keller Williams Realty]
