Gothic Revival home featured in house tour

“With our huge family, we needed a really big house,” said Tia Burke, explaining the home choice for her blended family of six. Burke had lived in several Chestnut Hill homes before finding the perfect fit in a large Gothic Revival on East Chestnut Hill Avenue. She lives there with her husband, Jeremy Heep, and their four children ranging in age from 10 years to 10 months.

One of the five houses featured on the 2009 Chestnut Hill Holiday House Tour on Saturday, Dec. 5, the Burke-Heep home will surely surprise tour guests.           

Beyond its wrought-iron gate and imposing front-gabled stone structure, visitors may expect grand staircases and elaborate décor. Instead, they will find a very simply decorated house whose architectural details are subtle, yet significant.

One of these noteworthy attributes is the dental-trimmed bookcase, which wraps around the living room. This bright, large room hosts the home’s most stunning features: a tall, ground bay window and inviting window seat. Material Culture of Germantown and Sandy Selke from Diane Bryman Accents will add furniture and accessories to the room’s understated décor, creating a festive and contemporary mood.

The square dining room, adjacent to this first of two living rooms, is a small space, which serves as the gathering place for family dinners. Its large leaded glass windows are breathtaking, bringing the natural light of the gardens into the dining area. On tour day, this little nook will be enhanced with the fragrance and beauty of seasonal floral arrangements from Rose in Bloom of Hatboro. Guests should look carefully for the small village they will create on the sideboard.

New built-in dining room glass cabinets provide Burke an opportunity to showcase her heirloom family china, along with numerous photos of the children and family vacations. These cabinets are one of the minor improvements Burke and Heep have made to the home since moving in this past June. The Gothic Revival was built in 1864 and has been rehabilitated by previous owners, including a significant addition in the early 1920s.

“We are neophytes to the house,” said Burke, who describes her new home as “beautiful and gracious with many wonderful details.” Another improvement project she undertook was the renovation of the sunroom in the rear of the home, behind the kitchen. Modernized louvered windows and additional storage space are the new features of this wide, sunny space.

The project, which changed the sunroom into a huge mudroom, brought along its own surprises. In removing the wood-burning stove, the contractors found a business card taped to its back. Burke assumes this was the business card of the individual who performed the stove’s installation, as it stated on the back of the card, “1984. That’s what I did.”

This note was not the only documentation of the home’s past activity. Burke’s daughter found a note stuck inside the keyhole of one of the home’s seven bedrooms. Folded into a tiny document, the note was written by a child who lived there in the 1940s, clearly reveling in its storybook play space.

Burke hopes that she and Heep’s children enjoy the home as well. Her daughter Talia recently hosted a slumber party to celebrate her birthday. Together with 12 classmates from Springside School, they spent the night in the “Kid Zone.” Named by the couple’s children, this is the house’s third floor where each of their four children has their own bedroom and bath.

Although the Kid Zone will not be included on the tour, other rooms are sure to capture the attention of tour guests. There is a second, more casual living room and breakfast area converted to an office. The partially updated large kitchen will be decorated with seasonal settings from Cobblestones.

Having resigned her law position, Burke is focused on caring for the couple’s ten-month old child, Evelina, and exercising her love of decorating.

“I am very, very domestic,” she said.

Her exuberance extends to ardor for the outside gardens.

“I love, love, love to garden and want to create an herb garden along the side of the house,” she added.

Burke recognizes, however, that this is a project for which she will need professional help.

For the Holiday House Tour, many design and floral professionals will donate their time and materials to create a festive holiday atmosphere. ML Willcox will decorate the entire banister of the home’s main staircase. Colors of chocolate, gold, chartreuse, and pheasant feathers with splashes of red amaryllis will greet guests at the front door. The foyer will be filled with a holiday mix of silk florals, flowers, glass and sparkle.

All tour guests will receive a keepsake guidebook with map and details of the homes and the decorating efforts of the designers, florists and volunteers.

While in Chestnut Hill, enjoy lunch, stroll the extraordinary shops along Germantown Avenue and stay for dinner. Many of the fine restaurants and cafes within walking distance of the tour offer a 10 percent discount with your Holiday House Tour ticket.

Enjoy walking through the tour or take the trolley car that will be available along the tour route this year. Tickets for the tour are $30 for CHCA members and $35 for non-members. All proceeds benefit the programs sponsored and supported by the Chestnut Hill Community Association.

Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling Noreen at 215-248-8810, by mail, via the Chestnut Hill Community Association, 8434 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, 19118, or on the web at www.chestnuthillorg. Groups of 10 or more will receive a 10 percent ticket discount. Gift certificates are also available.

Designers and florists featured will include The Hill Company, ML Willcox; Haven; Material Culture/Diane Bryman; Rose in Bloom; Cobblestones/Bredenbecks; Marie Lachat, and Carol Michaels & Phil.