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By Beth S. Buxbaum
With a history as intriguing as the property itself, The Solebury House has occupied this parcel of land since the 1790s. Being a hub of activity throughout its years, this property began with a modest residence, and in the 1830s added the post office, general store, tack shop and filling station. Over time this historic homestead has been bought and sold, modified, expanded and upgraded. Several owners, proprietors and postmasters have lived and worked here.
In 2020, this centuries-old landmark became the property of Dan and Liz Jones. As longtime residents of Greenwich, Connecticut, Dan and Liz were preparing for retirement. “We did not want to stay in Greenwich,” Liz explains, “and wanted a location centrally located to our children and grandkids.” After traveling up and down the Delaware River, from Easton to Philadelphia, exploring all the towns, they landed in Bucks County. Liz admits she knew little of the area and Dan was only somewhat familiar. They discovered that Bucks County reminded them of Greenwich. “We liked that it is countrified, but still easy to get to a Philadelphia or New York,” Dan adds.
After an extensive online search for homes, Liz and Dan took another trip to the area. They drove through many towns and neighborhoods to familiarize themselves with all that Bucks County has to offer. With their realtor they began looking at houses. Nothing caught their eye. Then their realtor suggested one more property and they went to look at The Solebury House. On the market for more than 2 years, The Solebury House consists of a main residence, a third floor apartment and the post office. The interior was in need of some attention, a fact that did present some issues as Dan and Liz considered purchasing the property. “It had been decades since there were any major upgrades to the property,” Liz adds. A second drawback was the attached post office. Liz’s reaction was, “I’m not going to live in a house with a post office.”
As they weighed the disadvantages, they also considered the benefits. Having a shared appreciation for old stone houses is what drew them in. “We rented an old farmhouse for five years in Greenwich before moving here,” Liz says,” we called it Greenwich Farmhouse. That living experience inspired us to see the potential of refurbishing an older home,” Liz explains. She is also addicted to HGTV’s Stone House Revival, hosted by Jeff Devlin, who works with experts to restore historic houses in and around Bucks County PA. Maybe purchasing this property fulfilled Liz’s unspoken dream of owning and restoring a historic Bucks County house.
Liz remembers that it was a rainy day in January 2020. “We walked in and it was dark and cluttered,” she continues. They both tried to have an open mind. “We realized this house had potential,” Dan adds, “with a lot of great space and a nice flow for an old house.” Lots of space was a plus to accommodate visiting family and friends. Liz liked that the grandkids would each have their own bedroom and plenty of space to play. “What was also attractive was that two-thirds of the building was a residence and one-third was income producing,” she adds, “including the post office as a lease.” Potential also presented itself to convert the third floor apartment, over the post office, into an Airbnb. Weighing the pros and cons, they decided to take the plunge. They closed on April 15, 2020 and Dan and Liz moved into the house in May.
The original structure, the middle portion of the house, was built in the 1790s with two rooms downstairs, a basement space functioning as the summer kitchen and two bedrooms upstairs. In the 1870s a stone addition was added creating a living room and family room. A 1910 clapboard addition expanded the footprint to add the dining room, new kitchen, center hall and second floor primary bedroom. The owners at the time embellished the house to make it look Victorian. “They added a peaked roof, Gothic dormers and a wrap-around porch and they sealed up the main fireplace,” Liz explains. Like puzzle pieces snapped in place, the interior footprint of the house shifts from one century to the next, winding in and out of time. At its core this house represents several periods in history. Appreciating and respecting that history, while updating and infusing the house with more modern lifestyle features, was their goal.
In the main residence all of its original features have been maintained, including millwork deep-silled French doors, timber framed beams and fireplaces. When Dan and Liz moved in, they updated the living space with new wiring and plumbing, added central air and heat and had floors replaced. The entire house was repainted by John Fisher, of John Fisher Painting. During the repaint John noted that there were layers of wall paper under the surface. Liz found out that the owners who lived here in the 1970s wall papered many of the rooms in the house. All the wall paper was painted over by the next owners. Other than aesthetic changes, Liz notes that there have been few changes done to the original footprint of each section of the house. Second and third level rooms include the living and dining room, foyer, den, bathrooms and bedrooms. When they moved in they did a mini redo of the kitchen. “We moved the cabinets and repainted, added new appliances, new tile work and recessed lighting,” Liz adds. On the third level is the apartment located above the historic post office. They converted this apartment into an Airbnb. With a private entrance, this space has two bedrooms, full bathroom, kitchen, sitting and dining areas. Other than aesthetics, the apartment remains as it was originally from the 1870s addition.
“We are renovating the house in three phases,” Dan explains. “The lower level and backyard have been completed, the front window and porch we are working on currently and lastly we will tackle a kitchen and primary bedroom renovation,” he continues. A rustically appointed 1790s original section of the house, the lower level and original summer kitchen, is wrapped in Bucks County fieldstone, bolstered with weathered wood beams. Full of history worth preserving, they had no intention of changing this space’s original character. “When we first saw the house, this was functioning as a furnace room with a primitive dirt and cement floor,” Liz adds. This space had the original fireplace and chimney that were covered up. In one corner is a steep set of steps to the original spring cellar. All the fieldstone walls were repointed by Scott Kolyar, a local stone mason. Rewiring was done by Tony Gonsalves, of Wes Electric. While redoing the wiring, Tony found rotting beams and door frames. Dan noted that “the bones of the house were excellent but once we opened things up we saw problems.” Tony dug up the floor, ran all the wires under the floor and laid a new concrete floor. He replaced the rotted ceiling and structural beams with mushroom wood. Dan explained that this is the actual wood from the containers where the mushrooms are grown. The acidity eats at the wood and creates a weathered, distressed look and was a perfect solution to replace the rotted out beams.
Woodsy and naturally appointed, the former summer kitchen was totally redone, redefined to be several functional and comfortable spaces. As you enter the lower level from the backyard, this untouched area begins with one large space. While capturing the essence of this space, Tony converted the rear section into a den-like area, which has been identified as Dan’s Bourbon Room. “This room came out beyond our expectations,” Liz exclaims. At this point they enlisted Tony as their project manager and contractor. In a small space, just steps in front of this space, is another raw space. Tony redesigned this area to function as a mud room. He added a wood floor , as well as a bench and hooks for outdoor gear and storage, and a handcrafted cabinet, made by Dan’s son, Alex Jones, of Chatham Table Company. To the left of the original summer kitchen is more space, fully appointed with the original Bucks County fieldstone. The stone walls became the architectural feature that defined the space. Transforming all this unused, raw space became the focus.
What began as a small project morphed into a major renovation. “Initially we just wanted to have a half bath on this lower level,” explains Liz. One conversion led to the next. Tony created a play room for the four grandchildren, with lots of shelves and storage for toys and books. Next to this space was an unfinished area with a dirt floor and no windows. Tony designed and built a new laundry room and added the bathroom. He used beams, wood and doors from the property to build this area. “We salvaged and repurposed as much as we could during all the renovations,” Dan adds, “with old wood and doors we found buried in the basement and old post office doors.” While maintaining the original features of the 1790s section of the house they were able to update and reconfigure the space to fit their lifestyle requirements.
Lifestyle requirements also included a transformation of the backyard. “We love to be outside,” Dan states. A feature of the property they appreciated and enhanced was the privacy of the backyard. Even though the property is on a busy street, the back of the house offers a lot of privacy. Working with ELA Outdoor Living, the entire backyard was designed with an outdoor kitchen, flagstone patio, seating area and fire pit all, embellished with tiers of gardens. Now they have a private outdoor oasis to enjoy. An entirely new lower level and a new outdoor living space complete the first phase of their renovation wish list.
Next on the renovation list is the refurbishing the front of the house. “We have enlisted Scott Kolyar to repoint all the exterior stone. We are reducing the expanse of the front porch after French drains go in along the front and then we are adding new gutters, roof and windows,” Liz explains. Liz and Dan share that the third phase will be to expand and renovate the kitchen and the primary bedroom suite, and to redo the garage and the side shed, which is Liz’s she-shed and studio. Even though the projects are endless, Liz and Dan are enjoying their new life here.
“We have invested a lot in things you don’t see,” says Dan. These were necessary to updating and refurbishing an older property. What is so satisfying for them is finally having the experience of owning an old stone house. “We transformed the house while keeping it in its bones,” explains Dan. Living in Bucks County history has also transformed their lives. Dan and Liz are now part of a community as the owners of the historic Solebury House.
Beth S. Buxbaum is a freelance writer from the Philadelphia area.