6 well-thought-out homes with libraries

Houston, Texas

The library in this 2006 Tudor Revival has richly carved dark wood book coves, a cornice, a fireplace and diamond-paned leaded windows. The four-bedroom house features period-appropriate pocket doors, coffered ceilings, and inlaid-wood floors; a grand staircase and window seats; a primary suite with fireplace, balcony, and spa bath; and a chef's kitchen, wine room, and butler's pantry. 

The lot is landscaped with a patio, lawn, shrubs, and mature trees; Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo are a 10-minute drive. $3,695,000. Gordana Vickers, Compass, (713) 703-6299.

Pipersville, Pennsylvania

The library at Wolf Hall, a five-bedroom converted 1875 stone barn, features walls of bookcases, two seating areas, one with a wood stove, and a vaulted central space with a massive Palladian window. The historic home also has a beamed great room, chef's kitchen, second kitchen, and downstairs hot tub, resistance pool, and sauna. 

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The 6.28-acre estate on the Delaware River has patios, a greenhouse, a pool and pool house, a cottage, a studio, and a three-car EV garage. $2,850,000. Lisa Frushone, Kurfiss Sotheby's International Realty, (908) 413-0156.

New Canaan, Connecticut

The two wings of the library at Celanese House lie at either end of the living room, brightened by white shelving, floor-to-ceiling windows, and bleached-oak floors. The 1959 four-bedroom home designed by Edward Durell Stone features a lattice façade, 12 pyramidal skylights, and an updated, high-end kitchen opening to the backyard patio. 

The 2-acre landscaped lot on Oenoke Ridge is 70 minutes by car from midtown Manhattan. $4,700,000. Hannelore Kaplan, William Raveis Real Estate–New Canaan/ Luxury Portfolio International, (914) 450-3880.

Chicago, Illinois

This two-bedroom condo in a Magnificent Mile high-rise includes a wood-paneled library with floor-to-ceiling carved, illuminated bookshelves. The home has reclaimed barnwood floors, oversize windows framing Lake Michigan and the city, a chef's kitchen and pantry, generous living and dining rooms, and two studies. 

The building's boutique-residence group has access to a private green roof with patio and amenities both in-house and at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago next door, and Oak Street Beach is just a short walk. $3,775,000. Katherine Malkin, Compass, (312) 576-5200.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

The library in this one-bedroom Pueblo-style home features a kiva fireplace, viga-and-latilla ceiling, skylight, oversize windows, and walls of tall bookcases. The house also has a living room with a central fireplace, a breakfast room, and a roof deck with mountain views. 

The 2.65-acre lush property on the Old Santa Fe Trail includes a one-bedroom guesthouse, fruit trees, cottonwoods, and a stream with waterfall and aquatic wildlife; Santa Fe Plaza is 5 minutes' drive. $4,750,000. Chris Webster, Sotheby's International Realty–Santa Fe, (505) 780-9500.

Guilford, Maine

The 1902 Guilford Bed and Breakfast, on the National Register of Historic Places, includes a library with carved bookshelves, mahogany-clad walls, a bay window with a window seat, and a fireplace. The eight-bedroom Victorian house, which can be used as a single residence, features ornate stairs, murals, stained glass, a chef's kitchen and pantry, and formal dining and sitting rooms; the antique furnishings are also for sale. 

Outside are a screened porch, gardens, lawns, a carriage house, parking, and the Piscataquis River, a short walk. $499,900. Dorothea Perkins, Realty of Maine–Dover Foxcroft, (207) 279-0571.

This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.