5 Main Line Rental Homes for the Commitment-Phobic
Want to give Main Line living a trial run? Know you want to live there, but you're not sure where yet? Park yourself in one of these fine homes for a year or so.
Bright MLS image via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
Some people know they want the Main Line lifestyle. Others aren’t so sure. And still others know they want it but aren’t sure what form they want it in.
This week’s rental roundup is devoted to those undecideds. (Those of you who know what kind of Main Line lifestyle you want but don’t want to buy it probably live in one of the many apartment developments out that way already.) The homes we found on our search offer a wide range of styles, decor and amenities and have rents that range from reasonable to stratospheric. We’ll start our presentation in the upper atmosphere and work our way down to earth:
1125 Brynlawn Rd., Villanova (above) | 5 beds, 4 full, 2 half baths, 6,088 square feet, $10,000 per month. Contact agent about pets.
We trust that there’s a rent-to-own option available with this home, for we strongly suspect that whoever rents this will want to make a long-term commitment after doing so. You definitely get what you pay for here: this beautifully maintained Walter Durant-designed post-World War II Colonial has been updated to keep it in tune with the times and sits on a landscaped 3.47-acre lot with a swimming pool, terraces and some great views of the rolling hills beyond. The formal and informal rooms in this home are in excellent shape as well, and the two dens on the main floor have large windows that fill them with light. You’ll find Delft tile backsplashes in the kitchen, plenty of closet space, a dressing area in the master suite, and an in-law suite over the detached garage that’s connected to this home by a breezeway.
1125 Brynlawn Rd., Villanova, Pa. 19085 [Lavnina Smerconish | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
Bright MLS image via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
750 Panorama Rd., Villanova | 4 beds, 3 full, 1 half baths, 3,041 square feet, $4,700 per month. Contact agent about pets.
The center-hall Colonial is a Main Line staple. Which makes this effort to dress one in contemporary drag surprising. On the outside, this home offers no clue that what you’re about to encounter on the inside are crown moldings, Technicolor paint palettes, chair rails and a medallion-mounted chandelier in the dining room and a whiff of the 19th century in its unusually designed kitchen, where the breakfast table separates the refrigerator from the rest of the workspace. All the same, the abundant recessed lighting, sloping ceilings, modern pin spotlights in the kitchen and minimally decorated bathrooms (save the master) signal that this home’s contemporary soul isn’t giving up without a fight. And you get a nice modern patio out back.
750 Panorama Rd., Villanova, Pa. 19085 [Amanda Whelan | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
Bright MLS image via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
727 Mt. Moro Rd., Villanova | 4 beds, 3 full, 1 half baths, 2,751 square feet, $3,995 per month. Contact agent about pets.
Here, on the other hand, is a center-hall Colonial that makes no attempt to disguise itself save one: It’s hidden away from the street at the end of a driveway whose entrance is shared with the property next door’s. This one also wears its Colonial style more lightly than the Panorama Road contemporary home does, with simpler lighting and a muted color palette. The kitchen has all the space you need to cook great meals and store things, and the master bathroom got a recent upgrade. The finished basement makes a great play space or rec room, and there’s a tree-shaded patio in the back.
727 Mt. Moro Rd., Villanova, Pa. 19085 [Olivia Boswell | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
TREND image via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
417 S. Woodbine Ave., Penn Valley | 4 beds, 3 full, 1 half baths, 3,186 square feet, $3,500 per month. No pets.
And on the other hand, here’s a contemporary home that makes no effort to code-switch. From its open-plan living/dining room to its brand-new kitchen to its skylit bedrooms and bathrooms, this home displays a totally modernist sensibility. Abundant light pours into this home from large sliding doors, windows and those skylights. There’s a comfortable (skylit) family room a half-floor up from the main floor, over the garage, and the master bedroom over the living/dining room is spacious and nicely outfitted. The sliding doors in the living/dining room open out onto a deck that’s ideal for outdoor entertaining. This is the first of the homes featured this week that’s within walking distance of anything: shopping along Montgomery Avenue is close at hand, and you can get some exercise in heading just a little further, to the center of Narberth.
417 S. Woodbine Ave., Penn Valley, Pa. 19072 [Damon Michels | Damon Michels Team | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors via Zillow]
Image via Wayne Realty Corporation
1120 Greentree Lane, Penn Valley | 3 beds, 3 baths, 2,314 square feet, $3,300 per month. Contact agent about pets.
This handsome expanded Cape offers both sunny, light-filled interiors and a wooded lot for outdoor relaxation and entertaining. It boasts a recently redone kitchen with blonde wood cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The second-floor master suite features a large walk-in closet and a bathroom with marble-topped vanities. In back of this house you’ll find a triple-threat space consisting of a patio, a large deck and a yard surrounded by trees and flowering perennials.
1120 Greentree Lane, Penn Valley, Pa. 19072 [Mary Giovanni | Wayne Realty Corporation]
