Designed in 1910, Portledge is one of a number of significant Main Line estates designed by Horace Trumbauer, also known for his design of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Kass & Associates assisted in the renovation of the house for the current Owner, as well as the design of a new Pool House and gardens sequence.

The main sequence of public rooms on the main floor of the house was restored and enhanced by the creation of a new Kitchen and adjacent Breakfast Room and Family Room. The Master Bedroom Suite has been expanded to link the bedroom to a large Master Bathroom and series of Dressing Rooms. The lower level of the house, once devoted to unfinished mechanical and storage rooms, has been reconfigured to provide new, informal recreation space along with a Home Theatre and Wine Cellar, Tasting Room, and Bar.

Although the estate once commanded over 20 acres, due to the sale of land to surrounding development over many years, the site had been reduced to just over 3 acres. Kass & Associates, in conjunction with Landscape Architect Charles Hess, created a new Belgian block motor court and internalized garden sequence and shielded from neighboring properties by new plantings of trees and bushes. The existing rear terrace on the south side of the house connects to a new swimming pool that is completely lined in shimmering glass mosaic tile. Extending the axis of the pool is a “Secret Garden” that is glimpsed through the loggia of the new Pool House, which is divided into two sides enclosing a kitchen and changing rooms.