Many designers are their own worst clients when it comes to their homes. Not Autumn Oser.

The Haldon House founder sketched out a complete renovation plan within three hours of touring her future home for the first time. Two years later, the 8,500 square-foot property in the Philadelphia suburbs looks almost exactly like those initial drawings—a testament to the decisive vision she shares with her husband and business partner, Andre Golsorkhi.

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Procrastination is clearly not the couple’s vibe. “Everything stayed consistent,” explains Autumn, who formally trained in interior design and was Design Lead at Google for a decade. “We both come from tech backgrounds where everything was due yesterday. Her confidence and agility are compounded by Andre’s unflappable nature and serial entrepreneur mindset. “My favorite thing is complicated problems,” he notes. “Autumn and I are quick, decisive, and efficient.”

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The pair launched Haldon House four years ago after renovating a string of homes together—flipping was never their intention, but people knocking on their door and making offers they couldn’t refuse made them realize that design and development could be their calling. But this house—their ‘forever home’—is unique because of its location on a sought-after street that Andre had admired since he was a teenager.

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Once they got their hands on it, they rebuilt from the ground up. They wanted it to look historically ambiguous and feel like an experiential retreat: “a place that makes you feel different depending on the room,” explains Autumn. A stay at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds influenced their brief: “It felt like such a nice mix of old-world English countryside that’s also sultry and chic,” says Autumn.

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With seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a gym, plunge pool, and movie theater, the result certainly rivals a luxury boutique hotel. The crown jewel is an indulgent primary suite that features a bedroom, closet, bathroom, and an adjoining lounge that Autumn describes as “swanky”.

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Decked out with an espresso machine and bar, “it’s an intimate sanctuary to start the day off with coffee, or wind down at the end of the day together,” she says. As indulgent as it sounds on paper, it actually gets good use in real life: “I often go up there to make calls, and since it’s a place I haven't walked by all day, it offers a whole new experience,” says Andre.

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As parents to boys aged five and three, ensuring that nowhere felt precious was key. Autumn chose fabrics from Perennials to make the sofas bulletproof, and when conceiving the floor plans, she constantly asked herself: “Is this spot wide enough for the kids to scoot around in?”

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To inject the space with a sense of timelessness, she embraced her inner eclectic. Exposed beams, honed stone, warm oak, and a blend of modern and vintage finds make it impossible to pinpoint exactly when the house was built. The designer enjoyed trips to source “homely and soulful” antiques from nearby Lancaster County, home to America’s oldest Amish settlement (“the woodworking and the craftsmanship there is insane,” she says). One of her favorite finds is a wooden hutch from the 1800s that provides extra storage in the pantry, while Andre’s is the charming library step found on eBay. It also happens to be the kids’ choice: “Since it’s on wheels, they ride it around the house and use it to climb up everything,” chuckles Autumn.

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Frames are her favorite things to collect and are an easy way to add character to a new build: “They just don’t make them like they used to—I gravitate toward the chunky and detailed ones.” Some feature Autumn’s own abstract artworks, while others are casually perched on top of sideboards and shelves, as if awaiting a more permanent home. “It just feels effortless, like we never got around to hanging them,” she says.

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Autumn’s approach to color was to skew neutral for the core areas, “and then tuck into a room that's aubergine or a fire engine red for more of a saturated punch.” Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray is the closest thing to white; walls feel alive thanks to plaster, lime wash, and Roman clay finishes, with the latter being Autumn’s new favorite. “It’s so silky,” she vouches. She even rolled up her sleeves for some DIY, lime-washing the range hood and having a go at the Roman clay in the guestroom, “it turns out that takes more muscles than I have!” she admits.

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When it came to the budget, the couple explored where it’s important to spend versus where corners could be cut. “Not everything in a room can be a main character, and it's just choosing what those main pieces are,” says Autumn. A case in point: the walnut scallop banquette in the breakfast nook was custom-made to look like it had sat in that spot forever, but the bistro chairs are from a big-box retailer, and the inexpensive pillows are from Etsy—though you’d never know it. “That balance feels so relaxed and lovely,” she says.

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Not only do the couple relish a deadline, but they also have an appetite for a challenge. In a mission to make the sloped ceilings in son Jack’s bathroom more beautiful, Autumn drew a dramatic bell shape to soften the dormer lines. Masterfully rendered in tadelakt, a waterproof plaster, it shows that “when you have to work around something, it forces you to be a lot more creative and inventive,” says Autumn.

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A year into calling the house home, the couple insists that this time, they’re staying put. A meticulously designed haven, it’s the place their kids will form their earliest memories. Says Autumn: “I love seeing how lived-in and how much fun they're having in this playground of a house. Not that we let them color on the walls… but they’ll stand on the back of our headboard and hold hands and jump onto our bed, and we're cool with that!”

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