Delaware County home with two in-law suites has been reconfigured for a family of three

Brian Niles had already gone through building a house in Havertown and asked himself, “Do we really want to go through that again?”

Even now, as he leads a mini-guided tour through his all-but-completed 10,000-square-foot house in Chadds Ford, a part of him says, smiling, that “for the three of us, it’s kind of ridiculous.”

The “three of us” are Brian, who owns a Havertown-based coffee roasting business; wife Adrienne, enrollment director at Malvern Prep; and their 5-year-old son.

The project started innocently enough a couple of years ago when Brian and Adrienne decided they wanted to live in a rural area, preferably in Chester County.

But it ended with the architectural equivalent of turning an SUV into a high-performance racing car.

The first part was easy: A Havertown neighbor offered to buy their house there, and they assumed they would buy an existing house or an undeveloped lot to build something new.

They soon found an excellent prospect in Kennett Square, but when that deal fell through, alternatives weren’t forthcoming.

None of the houses they looked at was quite right, and although they were willing to build from scratch, none of the available locations suited them, either.

Finally, they found the perfect location, but the six-bedroom, 3½-bath house that was on the lot wasn’t suitable. The house had been designed for multigenerational use, including two separate in-law suites. The Nileses wanted a home that would fit their love of entertaining.

The previous owners’ entertainment “was to go to auctions and buy antiques,” Brian said. “The whole basement was full of antiques. … I wanted to make the basement part of the house.”

Also, he has a very large extended family, and they’d never had a house big enough to host everyone.

So they dove into a remodel.

The conversion changed the house to seven bedrooms and 4½ baths and won an award from the Home Builders Association of Chester/Delaware/Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

Architect John Marshall, who along with fellow architect Julie Bruner and others at Marshall Sabatini Architecture, did the makeover, describes it this way: The entire right wing of the home was opened up to create a multipurpose great room nearly 50 feet long that adjoins the kitchen and breakfast room.

A long, window-lined space on the left side of the house — previously an open breezeway — serves as the mudroom and connects to the three-car garage.

“At the front facade,” Marshall said, “symmetry and balance are greatly improved with the addition of a new porch, wider dormers, and a more prominent entry with stone arch. Exterior materials, colors, and details such as a cupola and arch top window give the home a … modern farmhouse appeal.”

The finished basement with 10-foot ceiling has gaming and media areas, a bunk room, kitchenette, and wine cellar. At the main foyer, the updated semicircular stair winds upstairs to the five second-floor bedrooms, including the primary suite with a private coffee bar.

To cite two examples that convert use, an attic has become Adrienne’s yoga studio, and an in-law suite has become an expansive entertainment area.

Plus, the kitchen and pantry were expanded to allow more entertaining to take place there.

To enhance the house’s rustic appeal, Brian commissioned four furniture pieces by Chris Zumpano of CZ Woodworking in West Chester. These include a white oak dining room table from Ohio that was originally part of a covered bridge.

“It’s 10,000-square-foot house,” Brian says, jokingly. “You’ve got to fill it with something.”

Have you solved a decorating, remodeling, or renovation challenge in your home? Tell us your story by email (and send a few digital photographs) to [email protected].