Even in a neighborhood where monumental, custom-built stone houses are a common denominator, this particular residence has a singular and commanding presence. Sheltered by a gated entrance, a deep setback and a wooded, four-acre setting, the house has solid dignity. Its classic Brandywine Valley architecture is merely the departure point for variation on a traditional theme.

The interior employs extensive decorative millwork and unusual detail, elements that lend graciousness to every room. Other architectural gestures make the house a home by tempering its inherent elegance: the hand-wrought hinges and hardware, the built-in drawers along a dormered hallway that recall the Colonial Revival houses of R. Brognard Okie. The luxury and substance this home offers are defined by deeply ingrained character and custom features beyond measure. Elements of character are everywhere, sometimes revealed as grace notes: the rugged patina of random-width pegged floors and the delicacy of leaded-glass windows; eight working fireplaces framed by 18^th and 19^th-century mantels; matching curved bay windows in the library and the study; solid paneled pocket doors and flights of French doors opening onto a vast rear terrace. The terrace, in turn, descends to an in-ground pool and rises to meet a lawn framed by woodlands.

An over-scaled, front-to-back entry hall entices visitors into a series of expansive common living areas plus two smaller rooms, all radiating from this central core. Far from symmetrical, the floor plan offers an invitation to explore rooms that telescope left and right, with the fitness room and the great room at either end of a very long footprint. Moving from room to room, one feels the transition from exaggerated public space to intimate private space. The house provides a rhythm and a balance, a movement from opulent to intimate, from formal to utilitarian. Yet it never loses its intrinsic elegance, conveyed through the scale and proportion of the rooms, the richness of the fittings and finishes, the extent of the amenities, and the scope of the history.

This is indeed a rare property—one that has seen only four owners since it was built in 1939; it combines the substance of vintage construction with a top-to-bottom, no-limitations renovation that introduced extensive modern improvements while preserving all the original character and restoring much of the detail. Every finish is an expression of exquisite taste, and every design introduced is timeless. The enormous kitchen is a case in point, luxurious enough for informal entertaining and comfortable enough for family living. The great room, constructed in 1997, is a seamless addition to the exterior architecture and an interior space that arguably upstages the formal living areas. The room employs a shift in scale; it redefines grand with a 16-foot coffered ceiling and a curved bay window of matching height.

Words and images are no substitute for experiencing this pristine residence. Even the location is ideal, convenient to urban amenities and services and close to commuter routes, the Amtrak line and the Philadelphia airport.