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On The Market: Historic farmhouse on the outside, modern luxury on the inside

In addition to upgrading and modernizing the interior of the four-bedroom home, the construction also involved an addition that included a new gourmet kitchen on the ground floor and a master suite on the second floor.

In addition to upgrading and modernizing the interior of the four-bedroom home, the construction also involved an addition that included a new gourmet kitchen on the ground floor and a master suite on the second floor.
In addition to upgrading and modernizing the interior of the four-bedroom home, the construction also involved an addition that included a new gourmet kitchen on the ground floor and a master suite on the second floor.Read moreNatalie Fleischacker

Arthur and Tricia Thurm had been living with their family in Cherry Hill for 25 years when they decided it was time to find a home with a little more land.

"Things became more developed," Arthur said. "Farm after farm went by the wayside and became housing developments. We just felt the crunch of traffic."

After a little research, he found an online posting describing an 1841 farmhouse in Upper Makefield that the Heritage Conservancy in Bucks County had purchased.

"I went to see the property pretty much in the middle of winter," Thurm said. "I envisioned what wasn't there."

The Thums bought the original farmhouse in 2006. What wasn't there took three years of construction and renovation to materialize.

"Because we came from a really nice home in Cherry Hill that we had also built ourselves in the mid-80s, I didn't want to move into a home where things wouldn't work," Thurm said. In 2006, that still included windows, doors and parts of the roof.

Working through 2009 with builder Richard Zaveta, the family eventually reconstructed the entire interior of the home, leaving the original stonework exterior in place.

"It's sort of like a brand-new house with the old charm of the original farmhouse," Thurm said. "It's got European charm with all the modern technology."

In addition to upgrading and modernizing the interior of the four-bedroom home, the construction also involved an addition that included a new gourmet kitchen on the ground floor and a master suite on the second floor.

The kitchen features custom Wood Mode cabinetry along with reclaimed wood floors and luxury finishes like a wood-burning pizza oven. An original walk-in stone fireplace in the kitchen has been converted to gas along with the five other fireplaces on the estate.

The new master suite boasts a spa-like en-suite bath with radiant heated marble floors, a soaking tub and a steam shower.

"We took all the things we knew from the previous houses we built and put it into [the new house]," Thurm said.

The renovation project also involved converting an old basement milk vault or spring cellar into a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

"It's not a McMansion. It's our little piece of heaven," he said.

While they left the shell of the home intact, renovations included extensive landscaping work and other projects on the four-and-a-half-acre grounds of the home. The family added a detached two-car garage that now also houses a personal gym.

Outside, they added a pool and hot tub.

"When we have people over, we just live outside," Thurm said. "We don't see any neighbors."

The entertaining space is ringed by mature Sycamore trees, Thurm said. And the property backs onto 160 acres of preserved private land. "Our back yard is all wooded, and I don't have to take care of it because I don't own it," he said.

Thurm said the outdoor space is among his favorite parts of the home.

"All we hear is birds chirping and waterfalls."

With his children and grandchildren getting older, and after a decade in the suburbs, Thurm said the couple is preparing to sell the home and move to Philadelphia. The new location will put them closer to Thurm's dental office and to friends who live downtown.

"Time to downsize and make life a little simpler," Thurm said. "We'll be a little closer to culture and restaurants."

The home is listed by Addison Wolfe's Jay Spaziano for $2,395,000.

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