East Falls Norman Manor House for Sale, a Modern Medieval Wonder

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This spacious and secluded house mixes the medieval and the modern. And he has Wissahickon Park as his neighbor on the other side of the fence.


This Norman farmhouse looks so authentically medieval that you would expect to enter it by crossing a moat and find chickens running around its forecourt. Fortunately, neither applies to this totally modern home at 3031 W. School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA 1914 | Bright MLS Images via Keller Williams Real Estate

Yesterday we took you to Tuscany at the turn of the 20th century with a charming Italian style mansion in Merion Station. Today we take you to 15th century Normandy with a spacious farm estate in East Falls.

On second thought, maybe we won’t get you that far back. Maybe we’re just taking you back to 1940 when this beautiful Norman East Falls mansion for sale was built.

The reason for our temporal indecision? Elements of this house definitely give it an air of a medieval castle, while others betray its modern influence.

And oddly enough, you’ll find the stronger elements of the two just to the right of its focus.

house for sale East Falls Norman mansion main staircase

Main staircase

house for sale East Falls Norman mansion main staircase

Main staircase, view from the second floor hallway

The turret to the right of the front door contains the spectacular main spiral staircase.

The medieval castle part originates from its stone walls, arches and tiled floors, while the Modern part originates from its staircase banister and is enhanced by the spectacular contemporary chandelier that stretches from the second floor to the first.

To be fair, once past that this house offers modern comforts and amenities, but in a way that a medieval grover would certainly appreciate.

house for sale Manoir Normand East Falls living room

Salon

To begin with, there is a spacious living room to the left of the foyer, fitted with a picture window leading to the main entrance and a fireplace – one of the five * in this house – flanked by French doors to the rear. . (A true medieval mansion would have had fireplaces in every room, but in our time five is enough.) Also note the deep window sills and door openings, another common feature of medieval construction made necessary by the thick stone walls.

house for sale East Falls Norman Manor dining room

Dining room

To the right, beyond the staircase tower, is a sunny dining room, which contains the second fireplace, a large bow window and patio doors leading out to one of the two terraces of this house. These last two items are most certainly of modern origin, as glass was very expensive in the 1400s.

house for sale East Falls Norman mansion butler's pantry

Butler’s Pantry

Next to the fireplace in the dining room, a door leads to a long pantry which retains its original cabinetry.

food

Food

Another door near the opposite end of the pantry leads into a much more modern kitchen-diner with upgraded and updated cabinetry, modern track lighting, and premium Viking appliances including a stove top with six gas burners and a hot plate.

library

Library

Between the main and back stairs, the kitchen and the four-car garage, is a library where the third fireplace is located. This room has a medieval heart thanks to its Gothic fireplace, deep window sill and moldings, but also note the knotty pine bookcases, a design element of the 1940s.

bedroom

Bedroom

Turn left at the top of the main stairs to access the wing of the master suite. Before you get there, however, you’ll pass a bedroom with a beamed cathedral ceiling and a balcony overlooking the backyard.

salon

Salon

Beyond is a living room which contains fireplace number four.

dressing room in the master suite

Dressing room in the master suite

After the living room, you enter the main suite through its dressing room.

main bathroom

Main bathroom

The main bathroom is adjoining this walk-in closet. Like all but one of this home’s seven bathrooms, it has been updated with modern fixtures, fittings, and finishes, like the marble tiling you see here.

master bedroom

Master bedroom

Beyond that, the master bedroom has plenty of space, the number five fireplace and its own balcony overlooking the side yard.

bedroom (home office)

Bedroom (home office)

Across the main staircase is bedroom number four, which currently serves as a home office and has an en-suite bathroom. The back staircase, next to this room, goes up one floor to a small third floor which contains a fifth bedroom and the third full bathroom.

lair

Lair

Next to these stairs is a den with a Juliet balcony overlooking the main entrance.

accessory apartment dining room and kitchen

Accessory apartment dining room

apartment kitchen accessory

Accessory apartment kitchen

This den serves as the antechamber to the two-bedroom accessory apartment above the garage.

living room apartment accessory

Accessory apartment living room

accessory apartment room

Accessory apartment room

This apartment, which could serve as a in-laws, an au pair or a guest suite – or even an Airbnb – has a living room and a full kitchen with stove and mini-fridge open to the dining room. eat in addition to the two bedrooms and full bathroom.

Bathroom

Bathroom

(Speaking of tubs, the only bathroom that hasn’t been upgraded is the powder room next to the main entrance. But look how its original 1940’s plumbing fixtures look. crisp – and brand new!)

living room and dining room terrace

Terrace lounge and dining room

This East Falls Norman mansion for sale has as much space outside as it does inside.

terrace in the garage wing

Terrace in the garage wing

This space includes a large patio behind the living room and a smaller one behind the garage wing.

And its expansive backyard looks even bigger than it is as it overlooks Wissahickon Park.

Live here and you will enjoy the privacy and tranquility. This house sits at the end of an almost private lane with only three other residences. Your only other neighbors are the Thomas Jefferson University campus in East Falls, part of which adjoins your land at one end, and the park-like Alden Park apartment complex, which adjoins it at the other. Neither is accessible from your street.

That makes this East Falls Norman mansion for sale the perfect ‘country retreat’ in the city. Not to mention a spacious and gracious home where you can “go to the Middle Ages” without sacrificing the comforts of modern creatures.

THE FINE PRINTING

BEDS: 6

SPA: 5 full, 2 half

SQUARE FEET: 12 722

SELLING PRICE: $ 2,800,000

*OTHER THINGS: The agent’s description of this house says it has six chimneys, but the five chimneys shown in these photos match the number listed on the spec sheet.

3031 W. School House Lane, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1914 [John M. McDonald and Matthew G. Fusaro | Keller Williams Real Estate]

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