September 23, 2003

Taking Medical Leave

The Wall Street Journal : House of the Week -- September, 2003 | (excerpt)

“Now that he’s heading to Florida to be chief executive of Diversified Health Consultants, Robert Lee is selling his estate on about eight acres in one of Philadelphia’s woodsy suburbs. The asking price: $1.595 million.

Mr. Lee, formerly CEO of GeriMed’s UnitedHealth division, and his wife, Donna, built the 7,000-square-foot fieldstone-and-cedar farmhouse-style residence in Thornbury Township with help from Main Line architect Michael Visich in 1996. Inside, there’s a professional-grade kitchen, gym, media room, library, a large sunroom and a separate guest wing. There are also a pool and spa with a waterfall.

The Delaware County estate has something of an eclectic history, too. Aside from being near the Revolutionary War’s Brandywine battlefield, the Lee’s property was once owned by actress Jill Clayburgh (“An Unmarried Woman”). And thanks to the lay of the land, a buyer could subdivide two lots that would be invisible from the main residence, which is high on a knoll. Each could be developed, or placed under a conservation easement for tax advantages, says listing broker Steve DiFrancesco of Hunter Reed & Company, which specializes in selling luxury homes … “