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The finished house through autumn leaves: two white gables with arched windows, the arched porch and front doors, and a fieldstone wing, behind a split-rail fence

Glen Mills House

Glen Mills, PA · Completed

A new four-bedroom home on a wooded slope, with a main-floor primary suite and living spaces facing the trees.

Location
Glen Mills, PA
Status
Completed
Project
New home
Our role
Architect — existing-conditions scan, design and permit drawings
The kitchen: white cabinets, a range under a steel hood and a dark island, the breakfast table in a bay of windows beyond
The breakfast table sits in a bay of windows.

The owners wanted a beautiful, one-of-a-kind house that sits low in the woods, with rooms that feel cozy and intimate.

Steep gables, a stone base and an arched entrance establish the house’s exterior character. Inside, the main living spaces face the woods, with the kitchen and breakfast nook connected to a living room centered on a stone fireplace.

What we worked through

Part of the old foundation had to stay, so the new house could keep the old one’s place close to the creek. We kept the block walls of the old crawlspace, raised them and set the primary suite over them; the new basement beside them was poured and pinned to the old walls. The drawings settled how new met old, down to the footing under the new masonry chimney, before construction began.

Living room around a stone fireplace, the dining area and windows beyond

How do we turn this into our dream home?

Start with what’s there. Explore what could change. See how the pieces come together.

The old house before the work: a small white stucco house with a tall chimney, overgrown and set in the woods
The old house before the work: a shingled gable over a stone base, with ivy across the front
The old house before the work, half hidden by vines and fallen branches
The old house before the work, from across the overgrown yard
Main floor of the Glen Mills house over the outline of the house that stood thereLivingNookKitchenPantryDiningPorchEntryFoyerPrimarybedroomClosetBathMudroomPowderFRONT · DRIVEREAR · WOODS
  • Removed: the old house
  • Stays: the foundation, below
  • New: the main floor
  • Kitchen, nook, living and dining: one space
  • The foundation that stayed
  • Primary suite
  • The foyer, between
  • Over the foundation that stayed
The back and side of the house from the permit-set model: the chimney, the stone base and the stair down to the yard

Ground falls away · basement opens to the yard

Seen from the woods, behind the house

The finished house through autumn leaves: two white gables with arched windows, the arched porch and front doors, and a fieldstone wing, behind a split-rail fence
The kitchen and living room: a long island, oak floors, windows to the woods
From the kitchen, through two white arches to the arched front door
The side gable of the house among tall autumn trees
The old house before the work: a small white stucco house with a tall chimney, overgrown and set in the woods

Built · 2024

Before · July 2022

Plan · permit drawings

Model · permit drawings

The old house, July 2022.Plan: the old house dashed, the foundation that stayed hatched in gold, the new main floor in line.Plan: the kitchen, nook, living and dining rooms as one connected space.Plan: the primary suite over the old foundation, the foyer between it and the living spaces.The back of the house from the permit drawings, seen from the woods, with the main-floor windows marked.The finished house, 2024.

This is where we started.

The house on the lot when the owners came to us, photographed in July 2022. Before any of it came down, we recorded it in a 3D scan.

What stays? What changes? Where do we make room?

Most of the old house came down. One block of its foundation was sound, so it stayed, and the new house is planned over it and out toward the woods.

Stays
A block foundation, about 25 × 23 feet
Removed
The rest of the old house
New
A four-bedroom house, the primary suite on the main floor
View the basement plan
Basement plan from the permit set; the heavy walls at right are the original block foundation that was kept
Basement plan, from the permit drawings: the heavy walls at right are the original block foundation.

Bring everyone together

The kitchen sits at the center of the main floor, open to the living room and the breakfast nook that face the woods, with the dining room beside it. Everyday life happens in one connected space.

The kitchen and living room: a long island, oak floors, windows to the woods
Built, 2024: the kitchen and the living room, one space with windows toward the woods.

Make room for privacy

The primary suite takes the other end of the main floor, over the foundation that stayed, with the foyer between it and the living spaces. The other three bedrooms are upstairs.

View the suite plan
Main-floor plan of the primary suite from the permit set: bedroom, walk-in closet, two closets and bath
The suite in the permit drawings: bedroom, walk-in closet, two closets and the bath.

Open up to the outdoors

Tall windows face the trees. Behind the house the ground falls away, so the basement opens straight onto the yard.

Breakfast nook in a bay of windows, a navy wet bar beside it
Built, 2024: the breakfast nook, a bay of those windows looking into the woods.

And this is what it became.

The new house, finished in 2024. Look around it, or see the before.

Talk about a new house or a renovation
Four cut-away 3D sections through the house showing the basement, two floors and the roof framing
Cut-away sections from the permit set: the basement on the retained foundation, two floors and the roof framing.
From the kitchen, through two white arches to the arched front door
Arches lead from the kitchen to the front door.
A stone fireplace wall in the living room, the kitchen island and range hood beyond
The stone fireplace, with the kitchen beyond.
The house from the air, set into the wooded slope
The house sits into the slope, close to the woods.
Under the arched porch: arched wood double doors between the stone base and white board-and-batten
Under the arched porch: the timber entry doors.
The side gable of the house among tall autumn trees
The oak stair with black balusters, rising from the living room
A rendering of the design at dusk: white gables over a stone base, the windows lit, among the treesRendering
A rendering of the design, before construction.
The house from the side lawn: the porch's arches along the stone base under two white gables
The porch’s arches run along the stone base to the corner.
The kitchen island and its stools, with the arched front doors in view beyond
From the kitchen island, the arched front doors.
Breakfast nook in a bay of windows, a navy wet bar beside it
A wet bar beside the breakfast nook.
A powder room with an antique vanity, beside an arched opening down the hall to the kitchen
A powder room off the arched hall.
The top of the oak stair under a gold chandelier, the railing wrapping the opening
The top of the stair, under a gold chandelier.
Two wicker chairs under the porch roof, between stone piers and white board-and-batten walls
The side of the house: a dormer in the board-and-batten gable and a stepping-stone path to a door
The oak stair with black balusters, looking down the hall to the kitchen
The stair hall looks down to the kitchen.
A playroom under the roof: sloped ceilings, oak floor and two arched windows
Arched windows in the room under the roof.
The back of the house: white board-and-batten gables and a tall chimney among autumn trees
The back of the house and its tall chimney.
The house from directly above: charcoal roofs among autumn trees
From above, the roofs among the trees.
The house above a split-rail fence and a boulder wall, white gables against autumn trees

Project facts

Township
Thornbury Township, Delaware County
Program
Four bedrooms, primary suite on the main floor
Retained
Part of the original block foundation
Built
2024

Services behind this project

Related work

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