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Trimble Worth A CHESTER COUNTY FARMHOUSE WITH INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES Laurel Anderson
W
HEN YOU FINALLY GET TO BUY PROPERTY along your favorite stretch of a river, it makes sense to build your dream home there. And even if it takes two years of Tuesday afternoon discussions with your architect before breaking ground, the result should be worth the wait. Trimble Worth clearly is. “I’d canoed down the Brandywine for years and always loved this spot. Three times I tried to buy it,” says the owner, a championship marathon canoe racer. Over the next 20-some years he accumulated more than 61 acres of land, protecting the viewshed around his unique home. And so Trimble Worth was built, translating the owner’s vision into his home of over 25 years. Oriented on a hill to capture sunset views, the home was designed to evoke the sense of a Chester County farmhouse, with a contemporary twist and details from the owner’s international travels. The pool area— worthy of an Architectural Digest photo spread—is defined by a striking white brise soleil type structure the owner saw years ago in Hong Kong. 46
County Lines | May 2020 | CountyLinesMagazine.com
On our tour outside, the owner points to what appear to be remains of two towering local fieldstone walls from a historic barn—but these were built in 1994. “There’s also board and batten siding on the exterior, part painted classic barn red, and a cedar-shake roof on the home and the stone perimeter walls,” he says. Conical supports outside and inside are more examples of the barn feature architect Cee Jay Frederick helped create for the home. A subtle homage to barns that casual observers may miss: a steel structure is attached to a west wall, evoking an Amish barn raising—a feature that’s amazingly both sculptural and structural. INTERIOR The home’s interior is no less intriguing. Enter though Spanish cedar double doors, with antique lockbox and strap hinges, to the bright foyer with a 37-foot cathedral ceiling with skylight and stunning views of the countryside. The diagonal slate floors lead you to the two-story sunken living room with walls of windows overlooking a private garden.
