When Ty and Lexie Peltzman began house hunting in the suburbs of Philadelphia a few years ago, they were in search of a home with history. So the couple focused on properties along the Main Line, an upscale area west of the city dotted with some of the oldest homes in the state.
They eventually settled on a stately, 10-acre property in the town of Haverford that included a 1925 Georgian Revival house designed by Horace Trumbauer, a Gilded Age architect known for creating residential manors for affluent city residents. The six-bedroom home was originally built for the Wideners, scions of American business who were once one of the wealthiest families in the country.
“It was really important to us to lean into the home’s history,” Lexie says of the property with six marble fireplaces and poured concrete flooring. She says she and her husband appreciate timeless, European-inspired design and wanted to avoid overtly modern trends when it came time to renovate. “So that meant preserving as much as possible while also making it a livable space to fit our family’s needs,” Lexie adds.
The couple enlisted the help of Haldon House to give the site a makeover. The design firm sought to restore much of the home’s authentic 20th-century touches while adding contemporary flourishes. Custom curved doors, existing fireplaces, and hand-carved plaster murals were all brought back to life. Original cabinetry in some areas of the home were kept and refinished while marble staircases and scallop detailing in other locations were meticulously preserved. But the design team also introduced a series of bold interior strokes to adapt the floor plan for modern living.
A kitchen that felt hidden in the home’s existing layout was expanded to become the central feature of the house, with new custom cabinetry and a walnut kitchen island. A previous laundry room is now an office space bathed in a shade of warm green and adorned with custom built-ins. And a jacuzzi in the primary bathroom was removed to install a double-sided concealed shower along with all new tiling and molding.
