A family-style villa in Schwenksville

Sharon and Armen DiFilippo's spacious stone Colonial features a center hall and an elegant staircase.

On the wall of the second-floor landing are large framed photos of the three DiFilippo children in First Holy Communion finery - the girls in white dresses and veils, the boy in a white suit.

Memories of yesterday installed in the house the family live in today.

They took up residence here in 2008, a few years after the photos were taken, when Sharon and Armen and the children moved from Collegeville to Ashbourne Estates in Schwenksville.

They purchased the then-new development's well-appointed model house on close to two acres. The 7,500-square-foot dwelling came complete with a kitchen and a full bath in the finished basement, a built-in aquarium in the family room, and a backyard big enough for playing sports.

By the time of the move, the younger DiFilippos - daughter Kaileigh and twins Armen and Alexa - were approaching their teens. The finished basement - with the addition of pool and ping pong tables, a foosball game, and two penny arcades, - "became the kids' haven," Sharon says.

Photo collages of her daughters participating in volleyball and cheerleading and her son playing football line the basement's walls.

These days, the kids are 20 and 19, attending college. When they bring home friends for overnight visits, they head downstairs.

"We spread out air mattresses," Sharon says.

Upstairs, the home's builders installed a stone fireplace in the family room and a coved ceiling and a fireplace with a carved Federal-style mantel in the living room.

French doors lead to an office and to a music room. Two wet bars, an open kitchen and two powder rooms on the first floor make for easy entertaining.

"Armen loves planning and throwing parties," Sharon says.

The living areas of the house have hardwood floors. Originally, the center hall was covered in an antiseptic white marble that Sharon disliked. After it was damaged a few years ago, she replaced it with greige tile with a taupe circular design from the Tile Place in King of Prussia.

The front entrance is flanked by two chartreuse ceramic urns purchased at Via Bellissima in Bryn Mawr. The tile blends with high ceilings and a color scheme of pale gold, mocha and antique white to give the home the look of an Italian villa.

In the formal parlor, an olive-green velvet sofa sits piled with pillows in cream, gold and olive satin and velvet.

Though Sharon replaced most of the model-home furniture, she kept a table stenciled with a checkerboard in the family room and lattice-backed stools in the kitchen.

In the dining room, a graceful crystal chandelier that belonged to Armen's family replaced the mundane model-home fixture.

The family room's oak-cabinet aquarium is still stocked with orange and yellow cichlids. This room, Sharon says, is Armen's retreat, a place to relax while watching the fish.

Up another level, on the second floor, are five bedrooms and four baths, including a master bedroom with a sitting room. There is also a laundry room lined with cabinets.

Outside, beyond the stone-columned gate, lush plantings set off a two-tiered flagstone patio with a grill, a fireplace, a TV, sitting and dining areas, and a swimming pool with a hot tub.

Sharon has filled pots with begonias, impatiens, marigolds and other annuals and furnished the space with cushioned wicker chairs and wrought-iron and tile-topped tables ordered from Frontgate, the online catalog company.

Sharon credits Bob Manchester, of McMan Nursery & Landscaping in Skippack, with helping her to design the outdoor space five years ago.

The lawn behind the pool is still big enough for volleyball games and touch football.

"The kids love hanging out here," she says, but "this is my haven."