House of the week: A rural midcentury modern in Devon for $900,000
The home has four bedrooms, a large garage, and a workshop.
The phrases midcentury modern and practicality don’t always go together, but they did for Amanda and Tyler Wickstrom.
When they were renting in Roxborough and looking for their first house, Tyler and Amanda in 2018 came upon a wooded ranch house retreat on a hillside in Devon.
He had always liked houses in that style but hadn’t expected to find one in the Philadelphia area market. And she wanted a home on the Main Line. This one was indeed a piece of California recreated on the East Coast, commissioned by a couple who migrated east around 1969.
Tyler doesn’t know who the architect was, although stylistically it is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright.
With 4 bedrooms and 2½ baths, it was a perfect fit for Tyler, who works in engineering for a coffee company, and Amanda, an attorney.
It’s almost two separate dwelling units, with a two-plus-car garage embedded in the lower floor, along with a workshop for Tyler. In fact, when the couple contracted COVID-19 at different times, the sick party quarantined on one level.
The lower level has two bedrooms, a family room, a laundry, and a full bathroom with working wood-burning fireplace.
The upper level has a living room that flows into the dining area and kitchen, which has a Wolf gas stove, quartz countertops, another working fireplace, and views of Valley Forge Mountain. There are two bedrooms on this level, including the primary suite, a full bathroom, and a half bathroom.
Tyler says what makes the house unusual is the altered light coming from the north.
The house is listed by Marion Dinofa of Compass Real Estate for $900,000.