On the Market: Norman Estate with Entertainment Barn in Villanova
What began as a huge, handsome Norman mansion in 1925 has been expanded and updated over the years to the point where it’s an entertainer’s dream today.
The entrance court at “Arborview” just cries out “Elegant Main Line living.” But off to one side of this grand updated mansion at 770 Parkes Run Lane, Villanova, PA 19085, sits a newer structure that’s the Main Line version of a Bucks County party barn. | Bright MLS images via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
When I hear the phrase “party barn,” the image that pops into my head is one of an actual barn somewhere in Bucks County whose owner turned the huge interior into a dance floor, or a bar, or a game room, or even more often some combination of all of these.
What usually doesn’t pop into my head is a purpose-built carriage house on the grounds of a Main Line mansion that includes a regulation basketball half-court.
Yet that is precisely what you will find on the grounds of this Villanova Norman mansion house for sale.
The house itself is called “Arborview,” and it dates to 1925. It got renovated and added onto in 1990, followed by a total renovation in 2003 by E.B. Mahoney Builders. Which means that now, if you buy this house, you will be buying a “Mahoney-built” home.
And what a home you will be buying! It now contains the best of everything as well as plenty of room for you to live, relax and entertain on a large scale.
A long driveway takes you from the main gate on Parkes Run Lane to the stone gates that mark the entrance to the main house’s circular forecourt. From that forecourt you can make out the two stair turrets and the hallway connecting them.
Sitting room
Immediately to the right of the main entrance stair tower is this airy sitting room with large windows facing both the forecourt and the backyard.
Dining room, sitting room end
Dining room, view towards side terrace end
Directly behind the main stair tower lies the formal dining room, which is connected to the sitting room at its fireplace end.
Side terrace and grill off dining room and library
The French doors at the opposite end open onto this side terrace, which has a built-in grill for indoor/outdoor dining.
Breakfast room and kitchen
To the immediate left of the main stair tower, in front of the dining room, sits the kitchen, which is one with the breakfast room. Large windows flood the breakfast room with light: one looks out on the forecourt and the other on a side yard next to it.
Kitchen and breakfast room
The kitchen boasts Viking and Sub-Zero appliances, including a double-wide refrigerator-freezer that should be able to hold enough for a grand feast. The Viking range’s four gas burners, griddle, grill and double oven should allow you to prepare it easily. A butler’s pantry between the kitchen and the dining room lets you or your caterer stage things before serving.
Library/den
Library/den, view towards balcony wet bar
Both the kitchen and the breakfast room have doorways leading to a balcony with a wet bar overlooking the library/den. I won’t swear to this, but given how this house is laid out, all of these rooms appear to be in the 1990 addition.
Living room
An interior hallway with a sitting area and fireplace connects the sitting room to the other stair tower. That hallway runs past the grand living room, which boasts a cathedral ceiling and a huge fireplace with a 13-foot-high, seven-foot-wide hearth. (Or maybe this room was also added on in 1990; it occupies a one-story wing off the main house’s main axis.)
Primary suite anteroom
At the top of that other stair tower you will find the primary bedroom suite, located over the house’s four-car garage. You enter the suite via an anteroom that leads to the fireplace end of the bedroom.
Primary bedroom
The bedroom has its own private balcony and two sitting areas, one by the fireplace and the other by the windows at the far end.
Primary bathroom 1
Primary bathroom 2
Primary bathroom 2
It also has two lavishly outfitted bathrooms, each connected to the other so you won’t have to worry about getting in the way of your significant other when getting ready to face the day or to retire at night.
Second-floor den
In addition to five other bedrooms (one outfitted as a home office) and four bathrooms, the second floor also contains a skylit den with a balcony overlooking the rear terrace and backyard.
The main house also has a third floor with a full bath and space that can be used either as climate-controlled storage or two additional bedrooms.
Entertainment barn
Third-floor bedroom
Third-floor bathroom
In addition to those two bedrooms, you will find one more on the upper floor of the entertainment barn, built in 2012 on a technically separate lot across from the garage apron.
Entertainment barn lounge
Entertainment barn kitchenette
That en-suite bedroom on the barn’s upper floor would make a perfect guest or in-law bedroom, as your guests or in-laws can also make use of the kitchenette at the far end of the barn’s lounge and dining area. A half bath for your party guests sits next to the kitchenette.
Basketball half-court
And the lounge overlooks the regulation basketball half-court.
Pool and rear terrace
In addition to the grill, the backyard has an in-ground pool beyond the rear terrace in back of the dining room.
All this makes this Villanova Norman mansion house for sale the equal of those Bucks County party palaces. But instead of heading to Doylestown, Lahaska or New Hope when you want to dine out or shop, you can head to Wayne or Ardmore instead. This house lies about one mile to the southeast of Wayne and a mile and a half to the west of Ardmore, both of which offer a slew of places to dine, socialize and shop.
And between this house and Wayne lies the Radnor Trail, which crosses Conestoga Road a short distance from here. You can take the trail to Encke Park, where you will find a baseball field, a skatepark and a driving range. And while the trail won’t take you to it, you can also get to the Chanticleer pleasure garden via a short drive. Finally, the Conestoga Swim Club and Radnor Valley Country Club lie in the opposite direction from all this, in Ithan; just turn onto Sproul Road just before crossing under the Blue Route in order to get to them.
Between everything that’s in it and everything that’s around it, this Villanova Norman mansion house for sale lacks for nothing. If you’re an entertainer or a baller, it has your name written on it. And if you’re neither of these, living here might just help you become both.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 7, plus 1 in the entertainment barn
BATHS: 6 full, 2 half, plus 1 full and 1 half bath in the entertainment barn
SQUARE FEET: 11,033, plus 2,552 in the entertainment barn
SALE PRICE: $5,950,000
OTHER STUFF: The entertainment barn sits on a legally separate parcel of land with the address 768 Parkes Run Lane. Both parcels are included in this sale.
770 and 768 Parkes Run Lane, Villanova, PA 19085 [Karen Strid | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
