House
Doylestown French Country
by Beth Buxbaum
Reminiscent of a French country home in the south of France, this architecturally unique masterpiece has been was built in 2013 as a reproduction French country manor as a shared vision of the owners and their architect. The owners, who prefer to not be named, will be referred to as Joan and Gary. They were relocating from San Diego to be closer to their family and since Bucks County was one of Joan and Gary’s favorite places, they decided to mover there. Joan explains, “I haven't lived in the northeast since college, so it has been many years since I have been close to my family.”
Once the decision was made to move back to the East coast, their challenge was to find a home in their preferred location, with the amenities and features they wanted. Appreciating architectural diversity, Joan and Gary’s prior homes each had a distinctive style. In San Diego their home was very contemporary, with lots of windows. Joan explains that this style home was not her favorite, but they loved the landscape dotted with fruit trees and palms. Prior to San Diego they lived just outside of Boston, Gary’s childhood home. Here they bought an 1890 Victorian that they completely refurbished.
They lived in the house while they were renovating. “We hired the artisans to do the renovation and we directed the project,” Joan adds. “We enjoy home design and renovation,” she adds. They didn't have the opportunity to design their living space again until they moved back East.
During the search for their new home they had some very specific requirements. Joan explains that they wanted to be close to Doylestown Borough. “We love the town, it is small, but with a lot of life and buzz,” Joan adds. Focusing on houses within a two-mile radius of Doylestown, they eliminated many older properties that had the potential for them to renovate. “Most of the stone houses we liked were right on the road, with little privacy and no land,” she remarks. Additionally, they wanted land because Gary loves gardening. Not finding anything that matched their wish list, they considered building, but were concerned because they really didn’t like new houses. They enlisted the guidance of Bela Rossman, founder and principal of Polo Design Build, who found the ideal property. A beautiful landscape, dotting a four-acre area, is filled with a variety of specimen trees including Stellaris Magnolia, holly and tulip trees. “We knew right away that it was going to be a tear down,” Joan says. As Bela describes, there was a non-descript 47-year-old ranch house on the property. “We razed the ranch, leaving a portion of the foundation and expanding on it,” Bela explains, “and utilized the footprint that was there.” He explains that it was more economical, and made more sense architecturally to start from scratch. Joan and Gary now had the best of both worlds.
To continue reading about this beautiful house, turn to page 88 in the Spring 2016 issue of Bucks County Magazine.