Back from the South and Still in Pennsylvania


Will I ever stop posting about Pennsylvania?  Honestly, I had only this one more scheduled, but then during my visit to southern friends and relatives, another Pennsylvania house popped into view in a spring magazine.  I may need to linger here a bit longer.  (I had a wonderful visit in the south, loved Savannah, Charleston, and Stuart Florida.  More about those areas in a future post.  Suffice it to say, I now think I need another fantasy house - one in Charleston.)  But now to Pennsylvania.

The beautiful home below looks old, but was newly completed in 1994 with the expertise of architect, John Milner, and with three years of hard work by the owner and his wife, Suzanne Roberts and her husband, chairman of Comcast.  It appeared in Architectural Digest's September 1994 issue.

Can you believe this house is only eighteen years old?  It really looks as though it were at least one hundred and eighteen years old (except for the comfortable chairs and sofa).

The antique tables, the red ware, the fieldstone fireplace and the old wood flooring add much to the charm of this home.

An all too brief view of the home's kitchen reveals old beams, more wide plank floors, and a peek into the buttery beyond.  

Doesn't the cupboard below remind you of some of those seen in the Brandywine homes?  Love the hardware on this cupboard's door and on the door in the background.

"A circa 1790 Fraktur drawing is set alongside miniature pottery from the same era in a staircase niche.  Suzanne Roberts, who oversaw the design of the interiors, found many of the antiques at local shows."  I only wish more of this kitchen was visible.  I would like to have seen how the antiques were combined with new kitchen convenience - a special interest of mine.

A guest bedroom.

Another guest bedroom in the loft.

Exterior of the guest house with plants authentic to "18th and 19th centuries."

Interior of guest house.  While I love the beams and the fireplace, log cabins are a bit too primitive for me, but the owners "wanted it to look as though it was lived in by a neighboring farmer who had traded with the Indians."  (And why should the owners care what I think!!)

Guest bedroom in the guest house.  Again the feeling is a bit too "western" for me.

The owners themselves who care not a whit about my thoughts and rightly so.

And now onto another home designed by John Milner, the architect for the home above.  Several years ago my son, his wife and myself went to a Christmas tour of homes in the Brandywine area.  John Milner's offices, located in this area, were open to the tour-goers.  We loved the office and every image that appeared on the computers in the office.  Since then, John Milner remains one of my favorite architects.  The images which follow will help you understand why.  These images and more are available at Johnmilnerarchitects.com. 

One of his interiors appears below which I chose it because it is of a kitchen - see I do remember my focus.

Again, part of the kitchen.  Love their old table mixed with new lighting here.

How lovely is this new barn!  The landscaping is perfect.

I long to see the inside of each of Milner's houses.  Note the two chimneys, indicators of charming interiors.

One of his charming interiors indeed.

With John Milner, I was going to leave Pennsylvania for quite a while, but bear with me next time as we visit one more home there.  But now, onto images of a random kitchen I stumbled upon, again helping me with my kitchen focus.

The kitchen pictured above (and below) is a design mixing elements of old and new.  While I love this mixture, my source here is unknown.  This happens when I tore pictures from magazines before thoughts of a blog ever entered my head.  My apologies.

I love commercial stoves like this Wolf.

If my kitchen were being photographed, I would straighten the slipcover on that chair.  But, oh well, I'm sure the owners don't care about my opinion anymore than did the owners of the log guest house from above. 


It's good to be home again after my southern trip.  Always enjoy my ventures from home and seeing good friends and relatives, but hate living out of a suitcase and love being home.  Glad to be writing my blog again.  Till next time.
billie