Just Listed: Historic Former Boarding School in West Chester
This Federal-style house facing Marshall Square Park began life as a boys' boarding school. It's one of the most elegant houses on a square that's full of them.
200 E. Biddle St., West Chester, Pa. 19380 | Photos courtesy Mike Ciunci, Keller Williams West Chester
Marshall Square sits at the northeast corner of West Chester’s historic heart. On three of its four sides, you will find grand old Victorian and Dutch Colonial houses facing the park.
You will also find this standout.
This beautiful Federal house for sale, the only one bordering the park, is probably also the oldest house facing it. Built in 1836 by an astronomer, it housed the West Chester Boarding School for Boys from that year until the school closed in 1862. Ever since then, it has served as a private residence. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The house has a touch of Southern charm about it thanks to the two-story portico added to its front in the mid-19th century, but otherwise, it’s a Yankee Doodle dandy through and through.
Foyer
You will find it as elegantly appointed on the inside as it is on the outside. The house has a classic center-hall layout, with a wide foyer and central staircase. You’ll also find a servants’ staircase immediately to the left of the central stairs and a third staircase leading from the kitchen to the second floor.
Living room
A formal living room and billiard room to the right of the foyer make a perfect space for pre- or post-dinner conversation and entertainment.
Billiard room
Rear patio
French doors lead from the billiard room to a stone-paved rear patio.
Dining room
Dinner takes place in the formal dining room across the foyer.
Kitchen and breakfast room
Side patio and garden
A large modern kitchen behind the dining room has a sunny breakfast nook and a door leading out to the garden in the side yard.
Master bedroom
Upstairs, you’ll find a master suite and a family room on the second floor and four more bedrooms on the third. Front and rear balconies on the second floor let you look out upon this house for sale’s beautifully landscaped grounds.
Master bathroom
Like the kitchen, the bathrooms have all been updated. The master bath boasts elegant black marble tile around the tub, shower and toilet and atop the vanity.
In addition to all this elegance, this house for sale has another feature not often found in the borough of West Chester: Parking for five cars. If you work in the borough, you may find you will need only one, for this house is a mere six-block walk from the very center of West Chester and the historic 1701 county courthouse.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 5
BATHS: 3 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 6,253
SALE PRICE: $1,395,000
OTHER STUFF: The seller has accepted an offer, but the sale is contingent on certain conditions being met. In the meantime, the seller will consider backup offers. In other words, if this looks like a place where you’d want to live, better act fast and hope the sale falls through — or submit a better offer and make it fall through.
200 E. Biddle St., West Chester, Pa. 19380 [Mike Ciunci | Keller Williams West Chester]
