Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but that old saw is an oxymoron if ever there was one. After all, flattery is anything but sincere. And nothing beats the genuine article. While plenty of today’s product designers and architects have kept the midcentury modern aesthetic alive with their creative renditions of a style that first captured the public when Harry Truman was in the White House, this home outside Philadelphia is the real deal.
Built in 1959, the 4300-square-foot residence was designed for artist Carolyn Blish by Chicago-based architect Arnold Schaffner. Situated on several acres alongside a creek, the house is oriented to the outdoors with amply scaled windows and linked to nature by an abundant use of wood and stone. It was showing its age when current owners George Marrone and Michael Nocera acquired it, but entranced by its period charm, they didn’t hesitate to invest a little effort and give the property a sympathetic refresh. “Our initial changes were essentially cosmetic, removing wall-to-wall shag carpeting and wallpaper, and repainting,” recalls Marrone, who credits the TV series “Mad Men” for fueling his interest in midcentury design. “Later, we tackled larger renovations in the kitchen and baths once we really knew how we wanted to live in the home.”
Over time, the couple – avid collectors of vintage and modern furniture and art – added to their holdings to outfit the house. A Hans Wegner settee, George Nakashima coffee table, and Frank Gehry Wiggle Stool are all at home in the living room, where the pitched ceiling is strung with beams of Douglas fir and the wall-filling fireplace is clad in Pennsylvania flagstone. “I definitely don’t like clutter,” shares Marrone, whose go-to sources include 1stDibs, Artnet and Chairish. “But I do enjoy collecting, so am now at a point where if something is coming in, something else is going out.”
Although the couple’s furnishings are significant, there’s nothing showroom-like about the way they inhabit the space. For all the qualities they have in common, the pieces that populate the living room project an almost disparate air, a sort of lazily comfortable, serendipitous ease.
This goes double in the den, where the original walnut paneling now keeps company with a Jonathan Adler Desmond screen divider, and one can kick back on an Emmy sofa from Design Within Reach and set a drink down on a classic Richard Schultz Petal Table from Knoll. A casualness pervades the dining room, too. Framed at one end by a mirrored wall and built-in sideboard made of walnut, the table is surrounded by two Norman Cherner chairs, two George Nakashima grass-seat chairs and a pair of anonymous walnut chairs.
The relatively compact, open-plan kitchen, which the homeowners spruced up with the addition of a built-in pantry, new quartz counters, custom cabinets and wide-plank European oak floors, still sports such Space Age features as a wall clock attached to the brick that surrounds the wall-mounted ovens.
Pursuing a subtly studied approach, the homeowners have created an environment that speaks clearly to their taste and lifestyle. And as much as they love the rooms they’ve fashioned, they are perhaps even more taken with what lies beyond four walls. “Over time,” shares Marrone, “I really came to appreciate the vision of the landscape artist who built this home. Each room has a dialogue with its surroundings, and no matter the time of day or the season, the views are beautiful. It really has made me take the time to relax and slow down.”
Photography by Jason Varney.
Styling by Gabrielle Langdon.
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