Luxe Listing: A 1900s mansion in Glenside with historic details for $1.8 million

The spirit of U.S. Navy Capt. William Chattin Wetherill must be delighted with how well Sylvie and Jacques Paul Saltre have cared for the home that Wetherill had built in 1915 for his growing family.

The Saltres have brightened the once-dim 8,645 square feet with creamy white paint to better showcase magnificent crown moldings, exposed beams, wainscoting, and the entry hall’s grand, chandeliered staircase.

They banished its draftiness, replacing the home’s ancient boiler with two powerful furnaces, installing radiant heat on upper floors, and adding zoned air-conditioning to keep things comfortable year-round.

They even restored the charming cast-iron floor grills that vent the home throughout.

But they’ve left intact the dining room’s original wallpaper, which depicts scenes of early America, produced in France by Jean Zuber & Co. It’s the same pattern later selected by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy when she redecorated the Diplomat Reception Room in the White House.

The home’s dumbwaiter and the remains of the original pipe organ are untouched as well.

Wetherill allegedly had the home designed around the massive instrument, made by Austin Organs Inc., in Connecticut, which is still in operation today. Its pipes ran from the basement to the third floor, and the organ itself sat on wheels inside a deep closet in the living room, from which it was wheeled out for use.

A former owner sold the organ, but the basement still holds the wind-chest (the apparatus used to generate sound from pipes). The now-empty organ closet and some hidden pipes remain, too.

“I can’t imagine what it was like when that instrument was played,” said Francoise Saltre, son of the current owners. “The entire house must have reverberated!”

The Saltres didn’t think much about the house’s history when they moved from Minnesota to be closer to their daughter and family. They were more enamored with the home’s size and elegance, picturing additional grandchildren scampering its halls, entertaining friends in the renovated second floor of the home’s former barn (now a two-car garage), and gathering around the in-ground pool.

Sadly, the paint had barely dried on the Saltres’ renovations to the home when their daughter and family had to relocate to Boston because of career changes.

“The house is too big for two people,” said Francoise Saltre. “Sometimes, even the dog” — a tiny Yorkie — “can get lost in it.”

The couple is eager to hand off the estate to someone who will fully use its cozy rooms and dens, big bedrooms, updated bathrooms, and cook’s kitchen — and appreciate its quirky arches, nooks, and history.

“It’s a special place,” said Francoise. “We’ve loved it.”

The seven-bed, six-bath home is listed by Michael Kelczewski at Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty.