Saturday
July 27, 2024 
Like many couples whose children have grown, Steven Grabowski and Cheryl Olsten, of Solebury, are downsizing.
What’s amazing about this lifestyle change is the handsome home the couple is leaving behind. They’ve just listed Four Chimneys, their 44-acre estate on Meetinghouse Road in Solebury for $14.5 million.
Put another way, that’s $14,500,000, a record-breaker for Bucks County where the highest estate sales generally peak at about $8 million, according to Cary Simons of Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty, who is marketing the property. Simons said, “Its location, acreage and design justify the asking price.”
She noted, “There’s been movement in the higher range recently,” mentioning Bucks County’s advantageous position in the Northeast megalopolis. “It’s in the middle of New York and Philadelphia, Princeton and Washington. Bucks County is so beautiful. People have come to appreciate that.”
The estate is owned by the financial adviser and his wife, a children’s book author, who raised their three children there. The couple could not be reached but told the Wall Street Journal they plan to stay in the area.
The 14,800-square-foot main house at the estate is said to offer breathtaking views and privacy. It has seven bedrooms, nine full and two partial baths.
Classic details include coffered ceilings, columns and barrel-vaulted ceilings. Infused with natural lighting, it was designed by Allan Greenberg, a Virginia-based architect who has masterminded luxury homes across the country as well as designed buildings for Princeton University, the University of Virginia and the University of Delaware.
The house features a two-story main staircase, a first-floor main bedroom with a sitting room, two fireplaces, two baths and dressing areas, plus and five en suite bedrooms upstairs.
A casual dining area and hearth room leads to a gourmet kitchen, two powder rooms, laundry, and pantry. There is an indoor, saltwater, heated lap pool, a wine cellar, media room, billiards room, exercise room and a private suite above the garage.
The Orangerie with its vaulted cathedral ceiling occupies a detached 3,330-square-foot building along the courtyard. It also contains a studio space with an island kitchen, a powder room and living room with glass walls.
The grounds feature formal English gardens and a pond, a saltwater, heated pool, spa and tea house. There is parking for eight-to-nine cars between the attached three-car heated garage and additional parking for five-to-six cars.
Grabowski and Olsten own the Stockton Market and are currently renovating the Stockton Inn. She is the author of “Big Wishes for Little Feat” and the daughter of the founder of Olsten Corp., an employment company.
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