House of the Week, October 2004
'Moore's Stately Mansion'

" Steven and Rori Minissale are selling this 1750's stone manor, named the 'James Moore House', after its original owner and the founder of Glenmoore, Chester County , PA (once called ' Moorestown ').  Mr. Moore supplied the Continental Army with grain and other necessities during the American Revolution.  Prior to the 1980's - when much of the property's farmland was sold, leaving the current 18 acre parcel, the estate had been owned by only two families : the Moores, who grew winter wheat, and the Howsons, who were dairy farmers.

The estate sits on a wooded ridge overlooking the Brandywine River . Mr. Minissale, vice-president of a telecommunications firm, bought the property with his wife in 1998 for $840,000.  The couple continued restoration work which had been begun by the former owners - including rebuilding the guest cottage and inground pool, among other things. The Minissales also restored the 1890's tenant house, installed a new septic system, and finished plastering in the main residence, all for about $80,000, Mr. Minissale says.  The Minissales have hired Steve DiFrancesco of Hunter, Reed and Company, Inc of Haverford , PA to find a buyer for the estate. Hunter, Reed specializes in marketing luxury real estate to high net worth buyers. "                                                                                         

    Business, August 2005                                                                                                    'Housing Stays Hot'

" ... The slowing in the high-end market is beginning to show up in the data. "The market at $1 million and above is still very active throughout the Philadelphia Region, particularly in the western suburbs, but we're beginning to see the first signs of weakening demand" said Steve DiFrancesco, president of Hunter, Reed and Company Inc, a firm which markets luxury homes and estates and has offices in Philadelphia and Nantucket, Mass.

" Inventory in the $1 million to $4 million range, and especially resales which are being brought to the market now, are being priced so aggressively that properties are sitting unsold for longer periods of time", DiFrancesco said. In addition, "we're beginning to see some modest price reductions in high end new construction", DiFrancesco noted.  

House of The Week, September 2003
'Taking Medical Leave'

"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 ... "                     

'A Manor of Time'

"A 1740 manor house on 63 acres in bucolic Chester County, PA is on the market for $7.8 million. The property has 18 rooms, including six bedrooms, six baths, a library, game room, and a catering kitchen. Properties in the area have increased in value an average of 10-15% a year over the past five years, says Steve DiFrancesco, president of Hunter, Reed and Company in Haverford, PA."

A Philadelphia Story

"The Fairmount Park estate in Philadelphia is one of the only privately-owned historic mansions in the 8700-acre Park, and is known locally as 'Divertimento', named after the piece written by its former owner, the late classical composer Vincent Persichetti, according to broker Steve DiFrancesco of Hunter, Reed and Company in Unionville, PA, which specializes in marketing million dollar homes and estates. The property is currently owned by Dr. Frederick Simeone, a prominent Philadelphia neurosurgeon."