An Upper Gwynedd 18.5-acre farmland estate at 404 South Swedesford Road that has 10 buildings on it dating back to the 17th Century, including a former schoolhouse and a log cabin guesthouse, has hit the market with a $4.99 million price tag, according to Philadelphia Business Journal.
The two-story, 5,300-square-foot stone-walled farmhouse on the site was built in 1800 and remodeled in 2016, and contains five bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, a full basement, and in-ground pool, according to Montgomery County property records. It is served by natural gas, a well for water, an on-site septic system, and updated with central air.
According to the PBJ article, the historic home was once a school and the current buildings on the property have been updated to modern times: A stable was transformed into a gym, a barn and silo were turned into a duplex, and bank barn was turned into event space. There is a commercial-grade greenhouse, a conservatory, and a soap-making area. According to the report, there are four livable spaces on the property ranging from one to three bedrooms.
According to the listing, there are exposed beams throughout the house and reclaimed wood floors. Cattle and chickens are also raised on the property, according to the report.
The property has a U.S. Department of Agriculture Clean & Green Act 319 Preferential Assessment, per county records. According to the report, there are hundreds of acres of forest, open space, and agricultural land. The driveway spans a quarter mile and is lined with trees, and all in all there are 190 ornamental trees, most of which were grown in the commercial-grade greenhouse, per the report.
According to county records, the property is appraised at $865,240 and assessed at $504,160. The land itself, due to Act 319, is appraised at $375,080, but assessed at $14,000. Clean and Green is a preferential tax assessment program, that bases property taxes on use values rather than fair market values. To be a part of the program, a property must be at least 10 acres in size, and in Agricultural Use, Agricultural Reserve, or Forest Reserve, according to the Department of Agriculture.
While county records show buildings dating back to 1800, the home has “elements that date back to 1698,” per the listing. The original bell from the schoolhouse is still in place and can be rung from a rope in the kitchen.
According to property records, the owners are Christopher and Kristina McCausland, of Flourtown Road in Lafayette Hill. They purchased the property in 2015 for $2.5 million, records show.
The property once belonged to John Drew Betz and Claire Smith in the 1980s. Prior to ownership by the McCauslands, Mark Davies and Comcast executive Cindi Hook purchased it for $2.4 million in 2014.
The McCauslands are part of the namesake of McCausland Lower School & Commons at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia. The McCauslands also run the McCausland Foundation, which had $208 million in assets in 2020.
Compass Real Estate’s Lavinia Smerconish is the broker on the sale, who has experience in selling similar farmland estates, such as the 210-acre Chester County Kirkwood Farms that was bought by M. Knight Shyamalan.
Read more on the listing here. Click here for more interior and exterior photos.
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