A Museum-Quality Estate in Ambler for $2.95M
This impeccably restored and intelligently updated Victorian mansion sits on Whitpain Township's commanding heights. The view isn't the only thing you'll fall in love with, though.
276 W. Mount Pleasant Ave., Ambler, Pa. 19002 | Photos courtesy Toni Leidy, Long & Foster Real Estate
If you’re the sort who harbors fantasies of living like a Victorian grandee, you now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill them in letter-perfect fashion.
Well, almost. The historically accurate lamps in this beautiful mid-19th-century mansion run on electricity, not gas. The gas service is reserved for the very modern six-burner, restaurant-grade range in its kitchen.
Wraparound front porch
But those concessions to modern life (and a couple of sensitive additions made 10 years ago by architect Renee Hoffman) aside, we’re confident that merchant John C. Mercer, who built this home in 1860, would feel right at home in it were he to walk through its front door today.
Formal living room
Actually, what you’re looking at is most likely a spectacular restoration on Hoffman’s part, for after Mercer died, his wife Ann stipulated in her will that the home become a home for infirm Presbyterian clergy after her death. It remained one through 1909 at least, but from then until 10 years ago, this home’s subsequent history is obscure.
Kitchen
Kitchen dining area
What’s not obscure now is the care and attention that went into its expansion, rehabilitation and upgrading. The fittings and fixtures are all either historically accurate or in keeping with the home’s essential character. The kitchen upgrade respects this home’s Gothic lines. The original woodwork gleams like new, and the marble-mantled fireplaces all shine.
The newer additions fit right in as well. One of them, an orangerie — a sunroom designed to protect citrus trees in the winter — offers a bright and airy perch from which to take in the pool, spa and gazebo in the backyard, added at the same time.
Orangerie
The other is the carriage house, connected to the main home by a hallway wing. It contains three garage parking spaces and a fully outfitted guest/in-law/au pair suite with its own kitchen.
 Master bedroom |  Guest bedroom |
From this home’s third floor you get a splendid view of the surrounding territory that falls away from your home. And its six-acre lot means you can enjoy all this in peace and quiet whenever you want.
Pool
And when you don’t want peace and quiet, this home is also close to Ambler’s lively town center and Regional Rail station, giving you the choice of hanging out in town or hanging out in Center City.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 6
BATHS: 5 full, 2 half
SQUARE FEET: 9,500 (excluding carriage house)
SALE PRICE: $2,950,000
276 W. Mount Pleasant Ave., Ambler, Pa. 19002 [Antoinette Leidy | Long & Foster Real Estate]
