The Gilded Age Estates of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania : a history and preservation plan...

8/9/2019 The Gilded Age Estates of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania : a history and preservation plan (1987) by Steph

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UNIVERSITYyPENNSYLVANIA.UBKARIE5


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THE GILDED AGE ESTATESOF LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA:A HISTORY AND PRESERVATION PLAN

Stephanie Hetos Cocke

A THESISin

The Graduate Program in Historic Preservation

Presented to the faculties of the University of Pennsylvaniain Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

1987

George Eti Thomas , Lecturecturer, Historic Preservation, Advisor

n C. Keene, Professor, City and Regional Planning, Reader

F^NE ARTs/AJ/^/:);i/if^7/c 6^6


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UNIVERSITYOFPENNSYLVANIALIBRARIES


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii

INTRODUCTION 1

ChapterI. THE GILDED AGE IN AMERICA 5

II. THE COUNTRY ESTATES OF LOWER MERIONTOWNSHIP 14III. SUBURBANIZATION ENCROACHES: THE BREAK-UP OFTHE ESTATES IN LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP .... 32IV. DEALING WITH CHANGE: INSTITUTIONS ANDSUBDIVISIONS 45V. PRESERVATION POLICY IN LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP. . 57

CONCLUSION: PRESERVATION STRATEGIES TO GUIDE FUTUREDEVELOPMENT 66

ILLUSTRATIONS 74

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 93

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Map of Lower Merion Township, 1851 752. Pennsylvania Railroad Officials, 1901 753. "Cheswold," Haverford, PA., 1901 764. "Dolobran," Haverford, PA., 1901 765. "Tyn-y-coed," Ardmore, PA., 1901 776. "Restrover," Haverford, PA., 1886 777. "Ingeborg," Wynnewood, PA., 1886 788. "Redstone," Rosemont, PA., 1901 789. "La Ronda," Gladwyne, PA., 1987 7910. "Waverly Heights," Gladwyne, PA., 1987 7911. "Maybrook," Wynnewood, PA., 1886 8012. Atlas View of "Maybrook," Wynnewood, PA., 1946 . . 8013. "Briar Crest," Villanova, PA., 1901 8114. "Rathalla," Rosemont, PA., 1987 8115. "Woodmont," Gladwyne, PA., 1987 8216. Atlas View of "Penshurst," Penn Valley, PA., 1946. 8217. "Pencoyd," Bala Cynwyd, PA., 1878 8318. "Pencoyd," 1915 8319. "Clairemont Farm," Rosemont, PA., 1987 8420. "Ballytore," Wynnewood, PA., 1886 8421. "Ballytore," 1987 8522. William Joyce residence, Rosemont, PA., 1987 ... 8523. Subdivision in Villanova, PA., 1987 86

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, continued

24. "La Ronda," Gladwyne, PA., Franklin's Atlasof 1946 86

25. "The Hermitage" Planned Residential Development,1987 8726. "Framar," Gladwyne, PA., 1987 8727. "Wrenfield" Planned Residential Development,1987 8828. "Wrenfield" Planned Residential Development,

1987 8829. "Waverly Heights" Life-care Community, 1987 ... 8930. "Waverly Heights" Life-care Community, 1987 ... 8931. "Beauinont ," Bryn Mawr, PA., Franklin'Atlas of 1948 9032. Model of "Beauinont" Life-care Community,1987 9033. "Beaumont" Life-care Community, 1987 9134. Aerial View of "Beaumont" Before Development ... 9135. "Harriton," Bryn Mawr, PA., 1987 92


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LIST OF TABLES

1. Lower Merion Township Residential Projectsof Five Philadelphia Architects Between1880 and 1915 li

2. Patterns of Change in Estates of 100 Acresor More in 1908 35

3. Location and Number of Privately-owned Tractsin Lower Merion Township of Five Acres orMore in 1984 36

4. Privately-owned Estates of Five Acres or Morein Lower Merion Township in 1984 37


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am most grateful to David G. De Long, Graduate GroupChairman, for his enthusiastic and continuing support of mywork. Many thanks to Jean Wolf for her vital suggestionsand assistance. George Thomas and John Keene offered care-ful guidance in helping me reach my goals for this paper.

Robert De Silets and Sandra Handford graciously pro-vided time to answer my many questions and share theirmaterials with me. I also thank the staff of the LowerMerion Historical Society, which was always helpful andencouraging. Robert Schwartz generously allowed me toreproduce many of his historic photographs for this paper.

I thank my grandmother, Chrysanthe Galanos, my parents,Nicholas and Maria Hetos, and my sister, Catherine Skefos,for their love of learning that they have instilled in me.

This paper is for my husband, Reagan, whose constantsuggestions, patience, and support were invaluable. I lookforward to a lifetime of architectural discovery with him.

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INTRODUCTION

As he strolled along Newport's Cliff Walk in 1905, theauthor Henry James was shocked at the opulence of themansions that had been built since his last visit to Ameri-ca several years before. He described the country houseshe saw as "white elephants," pitying "their averted owners[who], roused from a witless dream, [would] wonder what inthe world is to be done with them."-^ James' remarks wereprophetic, for a major problem facing preservation profes-sionals today is the ultimate fate of the large estatesbuilt throughout the country during the exuberant, confi-dent, period in American civilization between 1865 and1905. It was a time first referred to by Mark Twain as "theGilded Age. "2

According to a paper released in 1982 by the NationalTrust for Historic Preservation,

The large estates built throughout Americaduring the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies are an important part of thecultural legacy of their communities. .. [They]reflect an era of prosperity as well as theskill of local craftsmen and builders. Inaddition, many properties cover large areasof land, which have an environmental andeconomic importance to communities.-^As William C. Shopsin has pointed out in Saving LargeEstates , the properties amassed during America's Gilded Ageshould no longer be viewed as merely anachronistic classsymbols of an aristocratic lifestyle unworthy of acknowledg-


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rnent or preservation.'^ Instead, these estates are oftenextensive tracts of unspoiled open space having importantland use implications, while at the same time serving asexamples of the work of important local architects andlandscape designers.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the plight ofthe estates in one township. Lower Merion, which will in1988 celebrate the 275th anniversary of its founding. Thiscommunity, a part of a string of suburbs just west ofPhiladelphia commonly referred to as the "Main Line," wasthe subject of Philip Berry's play The Philadelphia Story .My intent is to consider the rise of the great estates inLower Merion Township, to analyze the increasing suburbani-zation in this century that greatly reduced their numbers,to identify those estates that still remain, and finally,to analyze existing planning and preservation controls inthe township and propose solutions that should be implemen-ted to ensure their future preservation.

Preservation of these properties involves many com-plexities, including zoning, subdivision controls, preser-vation-enabling legislation, taxation, and communityresponse. These elements interact in crucial ways and, ifnot coordinated, can cause considerable uncertainty inefforts to preserve the character of estates. To helpreduce some of these uncertainties, careful long range


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consideration of land use policies and comprehensive plan-ning policies is essential. First, however, the periodknown as the Gilded Age must be examined so that the es-tates' great cultural significance may be understood in itsproper context.


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NOTES TO INTRODUCTION

1. Henry James, The American Scene (New York, 1967),224-25, 161-62.

2. Twain used this term as the title of a satiricalnovel written with Charles Dudley Warner in 1873.3. Christopher W. Closs, "Preserving Large Estates,"Information Series, National Trust for HistoricPreservation (Washington, D.C., 1982), 1.4. William C. Shopsin and Crania Bolton Marcus, SavingLarge Estates: Conservation, Historic Preservation ,Adaptive Reuse (Setauket, NY, 1977), 3.


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CHAPTER ITHE GILDED AGE IN AMERICA

In 1853, landscape architect A. J. Downing--whose wri-tings and designs dominated mid-century attitudes towardAmerican domestic architecture--cautioned in his Architec -ture of Country Houses that great estates were appropriateto a monarchy rather than to a republic like the UnitedStates. Scarcely a generation later, however, it was clearthat his warnings would not be heeded.-^ The four decadesfollowing the Civil War were years of astounding economicgrowth. Vast empires in oil, shipping, mining, banking,lumber, transportation, and related industries formed betweenapproximately 1865 and 1905. ^ C. Wright Mills explains inThe Power Elite ;

Before the Civil War, only a handful ofwealthy men, notably Astor and Vanderbilt,were multimillionaires on a truly Americanscale.... The word "millionaire," in fact,was coined only in 1843, when, upon thedeath of Peter Lorillard [snuff, banking,real estate], the newspapers needed a termto denote great affluence.-^The Civil War dramatically altered the composition and

characteristics of the upper class. Throughout the North,the war brought about a period of substantial money-makingand lavish spending. As in all wars, military supplieswere in great demand and the small industrial enterprisesof the North were in an excellent position to expand and


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supply them; many small industrialists grew exceedinglywealthy before the war's end.'^ Stimulated by war produc-tion, after the war, the American industrial revolutionlaunched even greater fortunes in railroads, banking, oil,mining, and other fields. In this era, fortunes were madeand lost quickly, almost easily. In 1865, there were onlythree millionaires--William Vanderbilt, William Astor, andmerchant A. T. Stewart--but by 1900, there were suddenlymore than four thousand millionaires, twenty of whom wereworth more than seventy-five million dollars each.^

The new value system encouraged--nearly demanded--thepublic display of this newly acquired wealth, power andprestige. The established upper class of the period rea-lized that their ranks were being infiltrated by the new

rich. One upper-class member wrote that "all at onceSociety [was] being assailed from every side by persons whoseek to climb boldly over the walls of social exclusive-ness. "

It was during these turbulent years that a new varia-tion on an old type of domestic architecture first appearedon the American landscape. Called the "country estate,"these houses and surrounding grounds were grandiose inscale. Most estates were originally established as part ofa fashion for life as a "country gentleman," derived fromBritish models and fostered by considerable contact with


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the British and European aristocracies,"^ As Barr Fereeexplained in 1904:

Country houses we have always had, andlarge ones too; but the great countryhouse as it is now understood is anew type of dwelling, a sumptuous housebuilt at large expense, often palatialin its dimensions, furnished in therichest manner, and placed on an estate,perhaps large enough to admit ofindependent farming operations, and inmost cases with a garden which is anintegral part of the architectural scheme.

Here Feree provides us with a useful definition of theGilded Age country estate: the scale of its main house washuge, its furnishings, sumptuous, and the surrounding landholdings were substantial, usually formally landscaped, anddotted with various outbuildings to serve the needs ofestate living.

Historian Kenneth Jackson has written that the men whobuilt these homes were acutely aware of the tenuous natureof their achievements and of the rapid intellectual, eth-nic, social, and political changes that were underminingprevious beliefs and values. Therefore, in order to justi-fy the risks, the long hours at the office, the sacrificesfor family and posterity, and in order to gain a largermeasure of social acceptance, "the robber baron soughtsecurity in a country estate, an impressive physical edi-face that would represent more stability than any urbanresidence . "


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In Philadelphia, especially, often the houses wereanachronistic in mode, resembling medieval castles. In hisnew text which accompanies George William Sheldon's Artistic Country-Seats of 1886, Arnold Lewis writes:

New wealth did not mind old containers, atruism demonstrated on European soil centuriesbefore the idea crossed the Atlantic. On theother hand, they were not old containers, forrepeating the past would have been impractical, acriticism a successful businessman would nothave appreciated. [These houses] were unusuallycreative marriages of forms inspired by the pastwith materials and purposes conditioned by thepresent. ^^

The country houses generally bore imposing facades comple-mented by manicured gardens, with exceptionally large recep-tion rooms, halls, parlors, dining rooms, and other publicareas.

The mansion itself was usually placed in the center ofthe property. The extended setback served two purposes.First, it allowed for an impressively long driveway to bebuilt from the estate entrance to the main dwelling. Se-cond, the setback minimized the possibility of unwantedcontact with outsiders. The other structures on the estatewere centrally located around the main entrance to theproperty; having all facilities in one section of an estatewas considered the most convenient arrangement. Among thevarious buildings that were commonly included on the es-tates were servants' cottages, guest houses, greenhouses,and garages. -^^


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These country seats were the product of the optimismand self-confidence of both clients and architects, ofavailable land usually obtainable at reasonable rates, ofthe possibility and desire for leisure time, of the growingreaction to the city as a place for raising families and,above all, of an expanding economy that made quick fortuneseasy and their public demonstrations irresistible. '^

What was the intended message of this kind of domesticarchitecture? Possibly its scale expressed the abundantresources within, its skyline conveyed pride and vigor, andits historical references demonstrated knowledge, goodtaste, and a desired association with the proven pastrather than the unpredictable present--even though thepresent made the house possible in the first place. -'^

In the Theory of the Leisure Class , the oftensatirical social critique of 1899, Thorstein Veblen citessuch residences as examples of "conspicuous consumption," aphrase he invented. As he explains of the phenomenon, "Inorder to gain and to hold the esteem of men it is notsufficient merely to possess wealth or power. The wealthor power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awardedonly on evidence. "^'^

Dwellings on this scale prompted the Senate Committeeon Education and Labor, in 1885, to consider legislationputting a cap on the amount a millionaire could spend on


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his house. -'-^ In the 1890s, a period of severe economichardship and social turmoil, a torrent of condemnationfound its way into the periodicals. E. L. Godkin's 1896article "The Expenditure of Rich Men" held that affluentAmericans faced a problem unknown to their European counter-parts: how to spend their money. Here the wealthy had todecide for themselves what abroad was dictated largely bytradition and descent. ' Godkin writes.

That, under these circumstances, they should,in somewhat slavish imitation of Europe, choosethe most conspicuous European mode of assertingsocial supremacy, the building of great houses,is not surprising. They want the principlereasons for European houses. One is that greathouses are in Europe either signs of greatterritorial possessions or the practice ofhospitality on a scale unknown among us.-^'

The other reason, said Godkin, and the most serious argu-ment against the building of great houses in America, wasthat dwellings "should be in some sort of accord withnational manners and palatial residences were not."-'-^

Until recently, a critical view toward the greathouses of this period persisted. As David Chase writes ofRichard Morris Hunt, a favorite society architect ofGilded Age New York and Newport, "[His later houses] are sogrand, so palatial, that they are judged to be alien toAmerican culture, and for this they are condemned. Fewcritics since Montgomery Schuyler's day have been ableto overcome this bias and evaluate these dwellings dispas-

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sionately "^^In this decade, fortunately, a new appreciation of the

Gilded Age has begun to emerge. Instead of a source ofembarrassment, today this era is increasingly viewed as aperiod of profound cultural significance to the history ofAmerican civilization. It was a time of selfish pleasure,to be sure, but also a time in which prosperity and valuesenabled a few to build magnificent structures as symbols oftheir achievement. Though often not architecturally inno-vative, these mansions were usually laden with rich perso-nal detail and of the finest craftsmanship and technologyavailable at the time. One hundred years later, and pre-cisely 275 years after the founding of Lower Merion Town-ship, it is appropriate to study with renewed interest therise and fall of the grand houses of this region so thatour local achievement can be understood, and in appropriateinstances, be preserved.

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NOTES TO CHAPTER I

1. Andrew Jackson Downing, The Architecture of CountryHouses (New York, 1853).

2. Arnold Lewis, American Country Houses of the Gilded(Mineola, NY, 1982)3. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (New York, 1956),

101.4. Dennis P. Sobin, Dynamics of Community Change: theCase of Long Island's Declining "Gold Coast" (New York,1968), 10.5. Mary Cable, Top Drawer: American High Society fromthe Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties (New York, 1984).6. Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer, The Social Ladder(New York, 1924), p. 5, quoted in David Chase, "SuperbPrivacies" in Architecture of Richard Morris Hunt . Susan

R, Stein, ed. (Chicago, 1986).7. William C. Shopsin and Grania Bolton Marcus, SavingLarge Estates: Conservation, Historic Preservation,Adaptive Reuse (Setauket, NY), 6.8. Barr Feree, American Estates and Gardens (New York,1904)9. Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: TheSuburbanization of the United States (New York, 1985).10. Arnold Lewis, Amercan Country Houses of the GildedAge (Mineola, NY, 1982), 20. Reprint of pictorial materialfrom Artistic Country-Seats: Types of Recent American Villaand Cottage Architecture with Instances of Country Club-

Houses, by George William Sheldon (New York, 1886-87).11. Sobin 45.12. Lewis, X.13. Ibid, 20.

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NOTES TO CHAPTER I, continued

14. Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class(1899), reprint ed. (New York, 1967).

15. David Chase, "Superb Privacies" in Architecture ofRichard Morris Hunt . Susan R. Stein, ed. (Chicago, 1986), 16716. E. L. Godkin, "The Expenditure of Rich Men,"Scribners Magazine 20, no. 4 (October 1896), 497-500, asquoted in Chase.17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

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CHAPTER IITHE COUNTRY ESTATES OF LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP

The Pennsylvania township of Lower Merion, originallypart of William Penn's "Liberty Lands" in his 1682 plan forPhiladelphia, is bounded by the Schuylkill River, the bo-rough of West Conshohocken, Upper Merion, Radnor, and Haver-ford Townships, and the city of Philadelphia. (Illustration1). The present size is 23.34 square miles, having beenslightly reduced twice, when West Conshohocken and thenNarberth became separate boroughs in the last quarter ofthe nineteenth century. '

The history of Lower Merion, like that of many of thesurrounding townships, began in England in the late seven-teenth century. It was there that a number of Welshmen,with hopes of founding a settlement for their countrymen inthe new world, purchased land, sight unseen, from WilliamPenn. Among the early settlers in Lower Merion, RowlandEllis, Edward Jones, Robert Owen, Hugh Roberts, and JohnThomas were all from Merioneth, a county in Wales laterremembered in the choice of the new settlement's name.^

The popular term "Main Line" arose in the 1860s whenthe Pennsylvania Railroad decided to straighten the meander-ing track along the primary route to Pittsburgh. Ratherthan fight the farmers along the way, the Railroad boughtthem out. After shifting the right-of-way, it then went

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the land having been absorbed into the property of theMerion Cricket Club."^

Another prominent Philadelphian who settled in Haver-ford was Clement A. Griscom, a shipbuilder who becamepresident of the International Navigation Company. Griscombought sixty-two acres across Gray's Lane from Evans andCassatt and named his estate "Dolobran," the name of afamily seat in Wales. ^ "Dolobran" began as an old farmhouse which Furness and Evans altered and extended in 1881and again in 1894. (Illustration 4). It featured thewidely-varied wall surfaces and floral ornament for whichFurness is known. ^ The estate, which is still located on asmall tract on Laurel Lane, comprised nearly 150 acres in1908.

These three houses , though large and surrounded bygreat tracts of land, were only precursors to the moreopulent Gilded Age estates which came in the 1880s and1890s. As with the Gold Coast of Long Island and suchtowns as Brookline, Massachusetts, wealthy Lower MerionTownship founders gradually chose to build increasinglyformal, sumptious country estates that gave the area a newflavor. Philadelphia's most talented and prominent archi-tects rose to the occasion. Between 1880 and 1915, dozensof estates were amassed, dotting the Lower Merion landscapewith a degree of scale and expenditure that has never

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existed before or since. Table 1 shows the residentialcommissions of five prominent Philadelphia architects whom

Main Line Philadelphia gentlemen often sought to designtheir country houses.

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TABLE l--Lower Merion Township Residential Projects ofFive Philadelphia Architects Between 1880 and 1915

THEOPHILUS PARSONS CHANDLER, JR. (1845-1928)YEAR CLIENT LOCATION

1881


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TABLE 1- -continued

YEAR18781881

188618871889189018971906

FRANK FURNESS (1839-1912)CLIENT

Allan EvansRowland EvansClement GriscomWilliam P. HenszleyI. Layton RegisterHenry C. RegisterWilliam WinsorFrank ThompsonGeorge GerhardR. C. GriscomJ. Ogden HoffmanMarriott Smith

LOCATIONHaverfordHaverfordHaverfordWynnewoodArdmore

ArdmoreBala CynwydArdmoreHaverfordVillanovaWynnewood

YEARGEORGE HEWITT (1841-1916)

CLIENT LOCATION1877


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TABLE l--continued


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It is important to emphasize that despite the new,conspiciously-consumptive values of this period, the levelof opulence reflected in the local estates was stronglyinfluenced by Quaker roots firmly established by the found-ing fathers of the township. Generally, therefore, thehouses designed by these and other architects were of alesser scale and extravagance than the estates built bysuch architects as Richard Morris Hunt and George W. Postin Newport and New York. The local estates are often tamedby both the Quaker-influenced tendency toward the lesspretentious, and the more modest fortunes of, the Main LinePhiladelphia gentry.

Nevertheless, these local estates are highly signifi-cant cultural resources, serving as important local exam-ples of a new type of architecture, the country estate, andof the work of Philadelphia's most prominent architects ofthis era. Furthermore, the most important local mansionshave certain common characteristics that create a distinc-tive regional expression of Gilded Age architecturaltastes. For example, many of the estates in the Townshipwere built of gray stone, as the schist from the nearbyWissahickon area was a readily available building material.(Illustration 5). In addition, many of the residences arecastle-like and nearly brutalistic in appearance, with

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thick stone walls and a profusion of towers. (Illustra-tions 6, 7, 8). There are notable exceptions to thesecharacteristics, such as hacienda-like "La Ronda" and Geor-gian-inspired "Waverly Heights," two Gladwyne mansions,(illustrations 9, 10) but the medieval-castle mode was byfar the most popular choice.

Three of the most significant surviving estates mostgreatly typify those built during this period. One ofthose that employs crenelated towers and bartizans is "May-brook." (Illustration 11). A part of the seventeenth-century tract of Edward Jones, "Maybrook" still comprisestwenty-six acres near the present Wynnewood train stationon Penn Road. (Illustration 12).

It was built in 1881 by Henry C. Gibson, a prominentwhiskey distiller and real estate developer, whose home atthe time was a five-story mansion at 1612 Walnut Street.As his daughter Mary explained in an interview in 1956, "Myfather wanted to have a summer house in the country and mymother agreed to it, providing it was a very simple littlecottage. One of my father's intimate friends was Mr.George W. Hewitt... and he and my father started makingplans for the country house. My father had always admiredthe castles in Normandy and to my mother's dismay, shediscovered that the little cottage was turning into acastle. 10

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The "castle" was actually designed by George W. Hewittwith his brother, W. D. Hewitt. George Hewitt studied inthe office of John Notman, and later worked in partnershipwith Frank Furness. By 1884, George Hewitt would completeother residences for Gibson in the 3200 block of PoweltonAvenue and on St. Marks Square in West Philadelphia. In1886, Gibson again called upon Hewitt to design threestores at the corner of Thirteenth and Market Streets incentral Philadelphia. ^'

George Hewitt's other country house commissions in-cluded the William Henry Maule residence, "Briar Crest," anearly Shingle-Style residence built in 1877 at the cornerof Spring Mill and Old Gulph Roads in Villanova, (illustra-tion 13) and the H. H. Houston house, "Drum Moir," designedin 1886 in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.

Architectural historian Arnold Lewis describes "May-brook" as "expensive, large, high [its tower rising seven-ty-two feet], asymmetrical and picturesque in skyline, andartistically inspired by earlier periods that were oftenhighly romanticized. ... "^2 xn this house, like so manyothers of the period, the architects chose to emulate suchBritish architects as William Burges, who in turn derivedtheir inspiration from the original medieval castles.Thus, the purposefully eclectic, unauthentic interpretationcreated by local architects for such Lower Merion mansions


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as "Maybrook" can be attributed to the fact that the finalproducts were a full two steps removed from their originalsource.

"Maybrook" is constructed of buff sandstone and coveredwith red Vermont slate. It is a long house, as even itsstable is covered by the main roof. At one time thegrounds at "Maybrook" were magnif icantly landscaped; twotrees of every variety that would grow in the Philadelphiaclimate were planted. '^ Six gardeners in the winter and asmany as twenty-five in the summer maintained the grounds.Inside the main house, the quality of the finish is excep-tional. All of the floors are oak except that of the hall,which is laid in German tile. The woodwork of the hall isoak, of the parlor, walnut, the library, butternut, and thedining room, mahogany. Lejambre, a fashionable Philadel-phia craftsman, hand-carved the furniture throughout. Toadd to these richly-finished rooms, "Maybrook" was deco-rated with many works from Henry Gibson's noted art collec-tion.

Its major rooms are not exceptionally large when com-pared with some of the other country estates which will bediscussed later. Yet, overall, the scale is grand, as thearchitects later designed a number of additions to thehouse, including a library in 1889 that reportedly cost$125,000.-'-'^ The house also contains a music room, added in

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1906 by then-owner Mary Gibson. When the house firstopened, the basement contained two hot-air furnaces and theattic two lead water tanks, filled by steam pumps to con-trol the sanitary system of the house.

A second of the finest estates which still stands, offMontgomery Avenue in Rosemont, is "Rathalla," a thirty-tworoom medieval chateau designed in 1889 for Joseph FrancesSinnott, another Philadelphia distiller. (Illustration 14).In that year he took full control of the Moore & SinnottDistillers, leaving behind his once-fashionable West Phila-delphia address for a more prestigious Main Line loca-tion. '^

Designed by the Philadelphia firm of Hazelhurst andHuckel, "Rathalla" is an excellent example of the estatesof the period in its evocation of the chateaux of the LoireValley of France. Edmund Hazelhurst and Samuel Huckel, Jr.had established their Philadelphia firm in 1881, soon afterfocusing their practice on residential design. On a smal-ler scale, it is reminiscent of the houses Richard MorrisHunt was building for his wealthy New York and Newportclients, the Vanderbilts and the Astors, in the same de-cade. Like "Biltmore," the George Washington Vanderbiltmansion in North Carolina and "Ochre Court" in Newport,"Rathalla" draws from features of several Loire Valleychateaux in an eclectic, non-specific manner.

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"Rathalla" possesses similar detailing to that seen inlocal architect T. P. Chandler's designs. Like several ofChandler's works, "Rathalla" features a battlementedentrance porch flanked by paired towers with conical roofs.The interior contains a three-story light well directlyabove the central hall fireplace that provides both lightfor the lower stories and a sense of extravagant spacious-ness above. '-

A third estate still in existence in Gladwyne, wherethe steel-making Wood family once owned over four hundredacres, is Alan Wood, Jr.'s "Woodmont," which comprisedninety-five acres. (Illustration 15). Frank and William L.Price, two architect brothers, designed the French Gothicmansion house, which was built in 1891 on high land over-looking the Schuylkill River and Conshohocken. ' ' WilliamPrice had entered the office of Quaker architect AddisonHutton in 1878, but left three years later to form a part-nership with brother Frank, who had been working with FrankFurness. "Woodmont" is one of the brothers' greatestachievements

Wood was a steel baron, possessing a huge fortune andmore than 500 acres on the Schuylkill River. As George E.Thomas explained in his Ph.D. dissertation on WilliamPrice, Wood's house "was to be built at the very highestpoint, of the local granite, on foundations blasted out of

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the hill, a direct statement of wealth, power, influence,control, and ownership. The result was a lordly and impo-sing mansion directed towards the public. .. "' "Woodmont"features a giant porte cochere, which projects out from thefront of the house and opens into a vestibule connected toa living hall. To the side are parlors, and behind, acarved wood-panelled dining room and study opening into aconservatory with a view to the Wood steel mills. (Thisview was not accidental--it was achieved through the care-ful trimming of the forests below)

The massive living hall centers on an immense carvedlimestone fireplace with a chimney breast which rises tointersect a balcony encircling the inner half of the hall.This room rises more than fifty feet, creating a pyramidalvolume on the houses 's roof that dominates the exterior ofthe house. Additionally, a 1908 atlas indicates that thegrounds included two lakes, a stream, formal and terracedgardens, aviaries, greenhouses, a pool, a power station,and even an "Indian cave."-^^

Of the countless estates that have been demolished, onein particular warrants mention. "Penshurst", the 539-acreestate of Percival Roberts, Jr., was the largest privately-owned property in Lower Merion in its time. Located onboth sides of the present Hagy's Ford Road, it extended to

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the Schuylkill River. (Illustration 16). Roberts, presi-dent of the Pencoyd Iron Works, built "Penshurst" in1903. 2*^ The estate included a seventy-five room mansion,in the Jacobean mode, and a chapel. There were typicalEnglish gardens, and a special rock garden on ConshohockenState Road was a show place with its ornamented fountains,fish pond, balustrades, and terraced stairways. Specimensof every variety of tree that survives in the climatesurrounded the main house. ^-'-

"Penshurst Farm" had a prize herd of imported Ayrshirecattle, as well as pedigreed Berkshire hogs, chickens, andsheep. The barns and dairy were immaculate, and the natu-ral milk was bottled and sold through local distributors.The farmers were considered pioneers in growing fine alfal-fa for their cattle. A pump carried water from nearbysprings to a water tower near the main house from which thewater flowed through the estate's pumping system. A pri-vate electrical system lighted the mansion. ^^

In 1939, the township made plans to build a trashdisposal plant adjacent to his property. Roberts himselfthen applied for a permit to demolish the mansion, whichwas sold to a wrecking crew for $1,000. The contents ofthe house were sold at auction. When Roberts died in 194 3at the age of eighty-six, the Home Life Insurance Companybought the property and subdivided it for the building of

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private homes. ^3 sadly, this scenario became the rulerather than the exception during this century.

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NOTES TO CHAPTER II

1. Phyllis C. Maier, Montgomery County: The SecondHundred Years , volume 7 (Norristown, PA, 1983), 306.

2. Carl E. Doebley, Lower Merlon: A Portrait(Montgomery County, 1976), 1.3. Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: TheSuburbanization of the United States (New York, 1985).4. Maier, 309.5. E. Digby Baltzell, Philadelphia Gentlemen: TheMaking of a National Upper Class (New York, 1958), 203.6. Maier, 320.7. Ibid.8. Ibid.9. Doebley, 6.10. Betty Floyd, "Story of Maybrook Part 1" in MainLine Chronicle . 23 February 1956.

11. Sandra L. Tatman and Roger W. Moss, BiographicalDictionary of Philadelphia Architects (Boston, 1985).12. Arnold Lewis, American Country Houses of the GildedAge (Mineola, NY, 1982), 20.13.


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NOTES TO CHAPTER 2, continued

20. Maier, 308.21. Ibid., 323.22. Ibid.23. Ibid.

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CHAPTER IIISUBURBANIZATION ENCROACHES:

THE BREAK-UP OF THE ESTATES IN LOWER MERION

After World War I, estate-building slowed althoughmany properties were still assembled in the 1920s. Theimposition of an income tax in 1916 and the onset of theDepression combined to end effectively the age of the greatestate, and the process of abandoning, selling or demolish-ing the houses and developing their former grounds commenced.^Meanwhile, as local train and trolley systems increasedtheir services and roads improved, the middle class exodusfrom Philadelphia to the suburbs began. This, of course,created a demand for new housing.

The variety of choices available to prospective home-buyers in Lower Merion is seen in the Main Line Residentialand Business Directory for 1911-1912 in which a real estatedevelopment near the Bala Cynwyd train station offeredthirty new houses ranging in price from $10,000 to$80,000.2 jn 1908 and again in 1911, the Lower MerionRealty Company commissioned Walter Mellor and Arthur Meigsto design several modest homes in Bala Cynwyd.

The growing suburbanization and waning exclusiveness ofthe township is reflected in the fact that in 1936, eventhe Lower Merion Planning Commission issued a booklet enti-tled "The Development of Real Estate in Lower Merion Town-

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ship" to acquaint those interested in land subdivision withprinciples that were proving successful at the tirae.^In Wynnewood, for example, by 1920, developers such asMcllvain and Company owned many lots and built and soldhomes in the $10,000 range to middle class buyers. Thistrend in home building persisted, slackening only duringthe Depression and World War II, when labor and materialswere lacking.'^ Just before the Second War, one of the lastopen areas in Wynnewood was the Shortridge tract, a 160-acre property. When the war ended there was a buildingexplosion occured; for instance, 360 single homes werebuilt on the Shortridge tract in the span of a few years.

According to Charles G. Roach, Jr., managing partner ofRoach Brothers Realtors, a firm active in residential deve-lopment in Lower Merion, the sale and development of estateshave happened "in a rather steady fashion since World WarII, and there may have been more of it going on in the lasttwenty years. "^ Former Montgomery County planner JeroldineHallberg agrees. Today, "very few [residents] fall intothe category of what you would call landed gentry." Mostof the large tracts were split in the 1950s and 1960s, andnow, according to Hallberg, "we're seeing the subdivisionof parcels divided then."'

Indeed, by 1970, less than four percent of the town-ship's land was unused or in agricultural use. Neverthe-

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less, there were still major undeveloped land holdings inthe northeastern portion comprising Villanova, Gladwyne,and Bryn Mawr.^ In 1880, 5,287 people lived in the town-ship; in 1980 about nine times that number. The populationdensity in 1884 was 266 persons per square mile; by 1980,it was 2 , 556 .

Table 2 shows quite clearly that while twenty-two estatescomprised 100 or more acres in 1908, the peak of the estate-building era, only six remained by 1937, and only three by1948. Today, there are no 100-acre estates in Lower MerionTownship and only three estates (those of Anna Shinn Maierof Bryn Mawr, and John Dorrance Jr. and Walter C. Pew ofGladwyne) of more than fifty acres.


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TABLE 2. --Patterns of Change in Estatesof 100 Acres or More in 1908 ^^

Number of Acres by Year


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Today, houses and lots still remain large in Gladwyne,Bryn Mawr, and Villanova, although estates are constantlybeing subdivided. A study of a 1984 atlas reveals thatonly twenty-seven properties of ten or more acres andtwenty-nine properties between five and ten acres survive.Table 3 shows the location of these Lower Merion proper-ties 11

TABLE 3. --Location and Number of Privately Owned Tractsin Lower Merion Township of Five Acres or More in 1984 -^^

Gladwyne


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TABLE 4--Privately Owned Estates of Five Acresor More in Lower Merion Township in 1984 ^^

OWNER ESTATE

1.


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TABLE 4--continued

OWNER ESTATE ACREAGE22. Vanderbilt, 0. De Gray23. Pew, Alberta24. Goodfarb, Louis25. Tredennick, William26. Macintosh, W. J.27. Elliott, William28. Rosengarten, A. H.29. Fuller, Mae30. Henry, Josephine31. Annenberg, Walter32. Denison, J. Morga33. Satinsky, Robin34. Ott, J. R.35. Lewis, S. H.36. Wood, John37. Pew, Walter38. Butcher, Howard39. Mcllvain, E. L.40. Tartarian, Araxy41. Fitler, William42. Harper, J. M.43. Reuss, Katherine

"Rockycrest"

"Deanewood"

"Inwood""Briar Hill""Donglomur"

"Woodley""Meadowbank"

"Dove Mill House"

"Peny Bryn"

1413131312121111109

888877777666


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TABLE 4continuedOWNER ESTATE ACREAGE

44. Kuback, Richard45. Rauch, F. B.46. Spiesraan, Marjorie47. Lownsbury, Elizabeth48. Clarke, Rhoda49. Reichel, Frank50. Mitchell, J. Kearsley51. Sharpies, Lawrence52. De Sherbinin, Albert53. Dimson, Irving54. Scheetz, William55. Archer, John Hoffman56. Smoger, B. and M.

"Wooded Hill"

"Windswept""Framar"

"Hampton House""Kimberlea"

66

. 555

55555555

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Thus, of the dozens of estates that existed at the peakof the estate-building era at the turn of the century, only56 remain, more than half of which comprise less than tenacres. These estates total 857 acres, have an average sizeof 17,14 acres and a median size of thirteen acres.

There are several reasons for this dramatic transforma-tion in land use in the township. First, most estates werelabor-intensive with large indoor and outdoor staffs de-voted to the care and maintenance of the main house, con-tents, grounds, and outbuildings. With the sharp declinein immigration after World War II, the changing attitudesof American labor toward service employment and the increa-sing unionization of labor have risen while willingness towork on estates in paternalistic relationships has diminishedSecond, rising costs of maintenance have matched risinglabor costs. Residences meant to be expensive even in aday of inexpensive materials have become almost prohibitiveto operate and repair. -^^

Third, taxes--income, estate and inheritance, and pro-perty--have also caused financial drains on the estateowner. It is increasingly difficult to pay inheritancetaxes, satisfy the demands of growing numbers of heirs andsimultaneously maintain a large property intact. The landis often taxed on its best use--its potential for residen-tial subdivision under local zoning ordinances--raising its


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value to unsupportable levels and forcing the owner todivide and sell, especially after a death. ^^

Finally, lifestyles and social attitudes have alsochanged. The large upper class family unit with severalgenerations living together has become the exception, andthe retinue of servants and retainers that accompany it hasalmost passed. Family members in recent generations oftenscatter across the country, rejecting the patrician surroun-dings of their grandparents and resenting the time andresponsibility it takes to administer an estate onwhich they have no desire to reside. '''' Huyler C. Held,President of the Society for the Preservation of LongIsland Antiquities, explains:

The owners are often old and yearn for asmaller and more compact establishment.The children are dispersed, have their ownplaces and for one reason or another rejectthe whole concept of maintaining a monumentto an out-of-date lifestyle, particularlywhere this causes problems in meeting familyneeds . ^Charles Roach emphasizes, "It is the ability to main-

tain a 100-acre property that's more and more difficultwhen combined with its increasing value over the lasttwenty years." Roach said that the area, long a popularresidential retreat, has made gains in recent years becauseof the arrival of "world-class office space" to the nearbyboom areas of King of Prussia and Great Valley.-'-^ Partlybecause of this, local government planners and real estate

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officials estimate that vacant land in Lower Merion isworth between $200,000 and $250,000 an acre, depending onimprovements.^*^ Obviously, there is great incentive tosell. 21

The gradual but steady progression of change can beseen in the history of "Pencoyd," a Bala Cynwyd estate of150 acres first settled by John Roberts in 1683 but exten-sively altered and expanded by Frank Furness. (Illustra-tions 17, 18). Pencoyd remained a working farm until 1929and retained its rural setting through World War II. Butby the close of the 1950s, all of the land descended toheirs or was sold, leaving only about twenty acres, bor-dered by City Line Avenue, actually belonging to the es-tate. The mansion was finally demolished in 1967 to makeway for the Decker Square shopping center. ^

Continued use of a building for its original purpose isfrequently the most desirable and successful means of pre-servation, but it is obvious that this is becoming increa-singly unfeasible with large estates because of economicpressures and societal changes. As a result of the inabi-lity of their owners to maintain them in light of steadilyrising costs and development pressures, the role of theestates of Lower Merion has been forced to change out ofnecessity.

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NOTES TO CHAPTER III

1. Phyllis C. Maier, Montgomery County: The SecondHundred Years (Montgomery County, PA, 1976), 308.2. Ibid.3. Plan for Lower Merion Township (Montgomery County,PA, 1937).4. Maier, 327.5. Ibid.6. Ibid.7. "Fading Glory: Fewer Great Estates Able to Pay Priceof Greatness," Philadelphia Inquirer , 23 January 1986,Neighbors Section, 3.8. Ibid, 2.9. Guidelines for Residential Development: An Elementof the Montgomery Comprehensive Plan (Montgomery County,PA, 1978), A-52.10. Ibid.11. These figures were compiled from Franklin's Atlasof 1984 .12. Ibid.13. Ibid.14. William C. Shopsin and Grania Bolton Marcus,Saving Large Estates: Conservation, Historic Preservation,Adaptive Reuse (Setauket, NY, 1977), 6.15. Ibid.16. Ibid.17. Ibid., 6-7.

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NOTES TO CHAPTER III, continued19. Huyler Held in William C. Shopsin and GraniaBolton Marcus, Saving Large Estates: Conservation, HistoricPreservation, Adaptive Reuse (Setauket, NY, 1977).20. "Fading Glory: Fewer Great Estates Able to PayPrice of Greatness," Philadelphia Inguirer . 23 January1986, Neighbors Section, 4.21. Ibid.22. Interview with Sandra Handford, Director of theLower Merion Planning Department, 1 October 1986.

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CHAPTER IVDEALING WITH CHANGE: INSTITUTIONS AND SUBDIVISION

"Maybrook," the Wynnewood estate described in ChapterII, is one of the most significant Lower Merion estates tohave survived to this day as a single-family home. Even at"Maybrook," however, adaptations have been made. Whenowner Henry Gibson died, it was left to his daughter whowas then only twenty-two. In the 1930s, part of the landsurrounding the house was given to the township to create aparking lot for the nearby Wynnewood train station.

During the housing shortage of World War II, MaryGibson moved into the estate's carriage house and allowedsix GIs and their families to live in the main house. Tenacres, and then another seventeen, were sold to JackMerriam, who then built the adjacent Thomas Wynne Apart-ments. Miss Gibson, who continued to live in the carriagehouse, finally sold "Maybrook" to Merriam in 1956 when shewas eighty-one. Merriam still owns the mansion and twenty-six acres that remain, but has closed off the first floorand resides above.

The situation at "Maybrook," in which the mansion re-mains in private hands, well-preserved and still surroundedby a large tract of land, is very unusual. More tradition-ally, owners have solved the problem of how to dispose oftheir estates in two different ways. One approach has been

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to donate the estate to a worthy institution such as areligious or private school, usually with an endowment forsupport. This method serves to remove the property fromthe tax rolls. ' The Lower Main Line YMCA, for instance, iscurrently investigating the possibility of relocating to"Maybrook" because of its shortage of space and the obviousdesirability the estate's twenty-six acres provide.

The Northeastern Christian Junior College in Rosemontuses a mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer as its centralbuilding, Boone Hall. "Clairemont Farm," once surroundedby 250 acres, was designed by Trumbauer in 1910 for JosephGillingham, (Illustration 19). Morris L. Clothier, head ofthe Strawbridge and Clothier department store chain, ownedthe estate from 1922 to 1947. ^ Now on a twenty-four acretract, "Clairemont Farm" was purchased in 1957 by membersof the Churches of Christ, a group which maintains itadequately and has made few changes, except adding a rampfor the handicapped, to its exterior.

Isaac Clothier, a member of the same family, built"Ballytore" in Wynnewood in 1881. (Illustration 20). Itremained his home until 1933, when it was sold to the AgnesIrwin School for Girls. -^ In 1962, the building became theArmenian Church of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob and a poorly-designed annex was added. Most recently, the house's ori-ginal porte cochere was demolished. (Illustration 21).

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The examples of institutional conversions in LowerMerion Township are numerous. The Wistar Morris mansion,"Green Hills," was adapted to serve as the campus of theFriends Central School. A hotel. Green Hill Farms, now theEastern Baptist Theological Seminary, occupied a portion ofthe land. "Rathalla," the Joseph Sinnott house discussedpreviously, since 1924 has thrived as the centerpiece ofthe Rosemont College campus. Two neighboring mansions areused for the school and convent of the Sisters of the HolyChild Jesus. One of these, on Montgomery Avenue, wasformerly the William Joyce residence, designed in 1891 byT. P. Chandler. (Illustration 22).

"Woodmont, " the William Price-designed estate in Glad-wyne, was purchased in 1929 by J. Hector McNeal, a corpora-tion lawyer and noted horseman, who modernized it. By1953, the house was vacant and the land reduced to seventy-three acres. It was sold for $75,000 to Father Divine'sPalace Mission Movement, renamed "Mount of the House of theLord," and designated world headguarters of the movement.'*Mother Divine, who lives at "Woodmont," and a small numberof followers of her late husband anticipate that the "Se-cond Coming" will take place at the estate. Happily, thehouse is superbly maintained and appears much as it didduring McNeal 's ownership.

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However, difficulties with the conversion from privatehome to institutional headquarters can arise. First, thestructure may undergo changes to both the interior andexterior which allow it to adapt to the institution's needsbut threaten its architectural integrity. Second, theconcept of appropriate use is nebulous. For example, eventhough a proposed institutional adaptation may require nomajor structural changes and may best preserve the archi-tectural character of the property and its landscaped sur-roundings, the neighbors may find it totally unacceptable--a potential threat to their property values and an unfortu-nate precedent in the community.^

This conflict occurred on the ninety-acre Foerderertract in Gladwyne, part of the former 250-acre estate ofleather tycoon Percival Foerderer, who in the 1920s builthis hacienda-like mansion, "La Ronda." It was left tonearby Villanova University with the intention that thehouse be used as a conference center. The plans wereabandoned, however, because of overwhelming neighborhoodobjection to the increased traffic and activity that wouldhave resulted. In this situation, what may have beenappropriate in preservation terms was not appropriate in asocial sense.

More problematic is the fact that institutional use isclearly not a feasible solution for every remaining estate;

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there are more estates than there are institutions able toassume the exorbitant cost of their upkeep. Local govern-ments can no longer rely on schools, religious groups, andother institutions to assume the burden of sustaining theseproperties. Furthermore, the institutionalization of anestate is only a temporary solution. The Palace Missionmovement which uses "Woodmont" as its headquarters, forinstance, faces a steady decline in its membership. Whatplans now exist for the inevitable vacancy of this houseand grounds? The answer, alarmingly, is none.

The second common method of breaking up estates involvesselling off the acreage surrounding the house for residen-tial subdivision or commercial use, while retaining themain residence on a reduced plot. (Illustration 23). Theconventional subdivision into parcels suitable for single-family homes, described in the previous chapter, was, inthe past, the only option to those interested in thismethod.

Selling the land for subdivision, however, oftenthreatens the character of both the community and the houseitself. As William Shopsin explains, "succumbing to thetemptation to consider the mansion a white elephant andcarving out the surrounding acreage often leaves the mainhouse stranded on a plot of land too small to do its sizeany justice."' Piecemeal subdivision without adequate

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consideration given to design controls, site placement,choice of materials and quality of construction can oftenresult in exploitive tract housing or an odd assortment ofnew structures encroaching on the original mansion to thedetriment of the entire ensemble.

In 1973, Lower Merion Township enacted a Planned Resi-dential Development (P.R.D) amendment to its zoning code inan effort to prevent the sprawl that can result from con-ventional subdivision and instead encourage well-planneddevelopments on tracts of fifty acres or more. In 1980,the township approved plans by the Realty Engineering Com-pany to build the first P.R.D. , a cluster of 107 town-houses, each to cost about $275,000, adjacent to "La Ron-da," the Foerderer house off Mount Pleasant Road in Glad-wyne. (Illustration 24).

Though in principle, planned development is preferableto conventional, haphazard subdivision, serious problemsstill arose. Because the condominiums are clustered toge-ther, large portions of the land remain as open space. Yetthe development that resulted, the "Hermitage," is disap-pointing in its integration of the new townhouses with theexisting Foerderer house. Architecturally, no attempt ismade to create either a successful cohesion or dialoguebetween old and new. The new homes are stylisticallynondescript where they might have referred--through mate-

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rials, scale, and architectural details--to "La Ronda."More alarming, however, was the disregard for the exis-

ting landscape which allowed virtually all of the estate'strees to be cut down. In their place, giant boulders weresubstituted, and the essential character of the estate'snatural landscape was lost. (Illustration 25). When dri-ving through this area, one has the curious sensation ofbeing in a misplaced suburban neighborhood in the Southwestrather than in Main Line Philadelphia. Somewhat ironical-ly, Hal Davis of Realty Engineering Company describes theHermitage as offering "the quality, amenities and privacyof a Main Line mansion on a smaller scale. "^

Another recently completed P.R.D. is "Wrenfield" onSpring Mill Road in Bryn Mawr . The site is one on whichDr. and Mrs. Frank Ryckel reside in "Framar," a Jacobean-mode home which was originally the estate of the Luden(cough drop) family. (Illustration 26). Here, the overallscheme, again with clustered luxury houses, is far moreeffective in its integration of new construction adjacentto the existing mansion. There are several reasons for itssuccess

First, the Ryckel family took an active role in preser-ving the integrity of their property by collaberating withthe architect, landscape architect and developer, the Li-shon Construction Company. The Ryckels' arrangement in-

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eluded provisions that they would retain "Framar" on afive-acre tract and that few trees and other natural fea-tures of the landscape would be destroyed to construct thenew homes. ''^ (Illustration 27).

Additionally, the homes closest to the Ryckel house areattached so that their overall scale is consistent with thegreat scale of the house; the smaller, single-family de-tached homes are further removed from "Framar." Finally,the homes, which are priced at $500,000 and up, are designedwith materials and a general form which complement theRyckel home. The roof pitch, fenestration and other archi-tectural treatments allow the new homes to coexist in anarrangement that flatters both the old and the new. (Illus-tration 28 ) .

An alternate provision that Lower Merion Township hasadded to its zoning code is the option for developers toconstruct what is known as a life-care community. Life-care communities for the elderly, which require substantialentry fees and additional monthly fees, provide housing,meals, activities, and, if the resident becomes ill, long-term nursing care at no extra charge. There are about 7 00such communities around the country, but the largest con-centration--thirty-six--is in the Philadelphia region. ^^

Two of these facilities are located in Lower MerionTownship and both utilize estates as their development

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site. The older of the two, "Waver ly Heights," takes itsname from the estate on which it was built, the 103-acreGladwyne property of Pennsylvania Railroad president SamuelRea. In 1982, then-owner Ruth Junkin sold the entireestate to the developers of the life-care facility.

The developers of "Waverly Heights" have very effec-tively used the mansion as a community center for theresidents. Because of the placement of the new buildings,to the side and rear of the house, and the house's loca-tion--the first building one encounters when arriving bycar--the house maintains a prominent role by serving as acenter and a symbolic home for the facility as a whole.(Illustration 29). Further, the house remains essentiallyunchanged on the exterior with the new facilities discreet-ly attached, using similar materials and scale. Like"Wrenfield," the new buildings were designed in a mannersympathetic to the house with many of the existing treesretained. (Illustration 30).

Another life-care complex currently under construction,on the other hand, exploits unnecessarily the estate onwhich it is located. "Beaumont" in Bryn Mawr was the 1912mansion of another Pennsylvania Railroad president, WilliamL. Austin. (Illustration 31). Conveying stability andmasssiveness in its stony exterior, it is a quintessentialGilded Age mansion. The magnificent interior still fea-

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tures built-in carved furniture, original light fixtures,and frescoed walls and ceilings which are in dire need of

restoration. The music room contains a pipe organ.Inexplicably, the developer, Arthur Wheeler, has en-

dorsed a design for his complex which will irrevocablydestroy rather than enhance the Austin mansion. Where hecould have created a meaningful center for the facility bycapitalizing on the existing house, as achieved at "WaverlyHeights," the Austin house is instead surrounded on allsides by new construction, and all but invisible from theexterior. (Illustration 32). Unsympathetic additions and anon-hierarchical layout of the new housing units have obli-terated the original integrity and siting of the once-grandhome. {Illustration 33).

Construction at the site, which was heavily wooded,(illustration 34) began in 1986 and is scheduled for com-pletion in the fall of 1987. The thick forest that oncecovered the property has been almost completely cut down;according to Wheeler, thirty acres of trees were removed toclear the site for construction. ^^ Li]^e "WaverlyHeights," the house itself will become a community centerfor the residents. What remains to be seen is to whatextent the interior spaces will be restored. Currently,many of the rooms are serving as storage areas for theconstruction supplies, a use which has seriously damaged

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many of the wood floors. Clearly, this development is notbeing executed with sensitivity and respect to the Austinestate.

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NOTES FOR CHAPTER IV

1. William C. Shopsin and Grania Bolton Marcus, SavingLarge Estates; Conservation, Historic Preservation,Adaptive Reuse (Setauket, NY, 1977), 7.2. Phyllis C. Maier, Montgomery County: The Next TwoHundred Years (Montgomery County, PA, 1977), 327.3. Ibid., 328.4. Ibid., 318.5. Shopsin and Marcus, 32.6. Maier, 319.7. Shopsin and Marcus, 7.8. Ibid.9. Philadelphia Inquirer , 17 October 1986, 15.

10. Interview with Sandra Handford, Director of theLower Merion Township Planning Department, 1 October 1986.11. "A Growing Role for Life-care Communities,"Philadelphia Inquirer , 15 January 1987, 2.12. Interview with Arthur Wheeler, October 1986.

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CHAPTER VPRESERVATION POLICY IN LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP

In 1939, the Lower Merion Planning Conunission wrote,"The charm of the township is in its open character. Wiseplanning will help to retain this charm even though thedensity of population is considerably increased."-^ Thesolutions described in the preceding chapter indicate thatthe land use planning and preservation techniques currentlyavailable do not adequately protect the few propertieswhich remain. An analysis of the solutions which have beenemployed in the past--institutionalization as with "Wood-mont", allowing the free marketplace to control develop-ment, as with "Pencoyd" , or imposing limited restrictionson development, as at "Beaumont"--can only lead to theconclusion that they are not consistently adequate inensuring the welfare of the estates.

What is needed is the implementation by the townshipof creative but focused solutions which relieve the ownersof the burden of the estate while simultaneously preservingthe character, architectural integrity and local traditionsof their properties. It is important to examine the toolscurrently available to Lower Merion Township in greaterdetail in order to understand their inadequacy in protec-ting the local Gilded Age estates.

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In general, local government's role in historic pre-servation takes one of two forms. It can be a directexercise of the government's police powers, as with anhistoric district ordinance, or it can provide incentivesfor historic preservation, such as through special zoningprovisions. Historic district laws have been the mostvisible form of local regulation in recent years. ^ Penn-sylvania enacted a statewide historic district enabling actin 1961. Act 167 authorizes all municipalities to createhistoric districts within their boundaries and to appointboards of historical architectural review to oversee "theerection, reconstruction, alteration, restoration, demoli-tion, or razing" of buildings within the districts.^

Lower Merion currently has three historic districts--Harriton in Bryn Mawr and Mill Creek and Merion Square inGladwyne. Its Board of Historical Architectural Review(BOHAR) , a seven-member board appointed in 19 8 by thetownship's Board of Commissioners, is responsible for re-viewing exterior change, signage, and new construction tostructures within the districts. Recommendations of theBoard are considered by the township's Building and Plan-ning Commission.

The Board of Historical Architectural Review ispresently compiling an inventory of historic structureswithin the township, using the same criteria adopted by the

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National Register of Historic Places.'^ Surveys such as thiscan act as a crucial historic preservation tool by dis-covering and promoting public awareness of overlooked estatesand by aiding the Planning Commission in establishing itscomprehensive planning and zoning. A community that hasboth surveyed and established priorities for its resourcesis better equipped to make intelligent decisions aboutpublic expenditures to preserve these resources. Yet LowerMerion Review Board Chairman Robert De Silets admits thatbecause of a lack of manpower, the township's resources arenot yet exhaustively surveyed.^ The result is that many ofthe Gilded Age estates are not listed, although clearly,many would qualify based on the National Register criteria.

The estates listed on neither the local nor NationalRegisters include "Afterall," the Arthur Edwards housesurrounded by thirty-two acres in Rosemont, "La Ronda," theFoerderer mansion in Gladwyne, "Framar," the Reichel housein Bryn Mawr , and "Bryntydden, " a house near "Woodmont" inGladwyne built by another member of the Wood family. Theomission of these and other mansions allows them to existunrecognized both by the public and by legislators.

Another serious shortcoming with the existing legisla-tion is that most architecturally significant buildings donot lie within geographically-defined historic districts.Gilded Age estates are scattered throughout Lower Merion,


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yet enabling legislation does not allow the municipality toprotect individual landmarks. Until the necessary legisla-tion is enacted, no township agency has the authorizationto designate individual landmarks to control their preser-vation.

Furthermore, the establishment of historic districtcontrols allows a municipality like Lower Merion to over-look a fundamental item: the appropriateness of its under-lying zoning code to the achievement of historic preserva-tion objectives. As stated in the Brandywine Conservancy'sProtecting Historic Properties ,

Historic preservation has rarely been addressedin suburban areas in the zoning code revisionprocess. As a consequence, municipal officialsare often reluctant to allow changes to accomodatea particular property owner when there isinadequate time to consider long-termramifications .

If a thorough historic survey were reviewed during theupdating of comprehensive plans and of zoning codes, appro-priate zoning regulations could then be drafted.

Zoning, of course, is the tool most widely used insuburban communities to regulate land use. Lower Merion'zoning ordinance, originally written in 1927, was compre-hensively revised in 1979. It provides for ten residentialzones, ranging in density from .4 units per acre (R-AA) to17.4 units per acre (R-7). Nearly all of the remainingestates of five acres or more are in zones of R-A or R-AA,

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the two highest categories.Lower Merion planners restrict development through

zoning ordinances which confine commercial buildings toLancaster Avenue and City Line Avenue, while devoting Mont-gomery Avenue west of Narberth to apartment houses andtownhouses. To allow for the reuse of mansions which aretoo large for single-family use, the township does allow,by special exception, division of a dwelling into more thanone dwelling unit--even in an area that only permits con-struction of single-family detached dwellings. For thesame reason, institutions are also permitted by specialexception in residential areas.

But because this provision is allowed by specialexception, rather than by right, the burden of proof is onthe developer to prove that the conversion is not contraryto public interest.^ Obviously, developers are dissuadedfrom attempting such a conversion if each time they areforced to challenge the neighbors, often hostile and ingreat numbers, who fear that the conversion will lowertheir property values, create traffic problems, and encou-rage habitation by college students from nearby universi-ties.

Planned residential development, discussed in the lastchapter, allows for cluster development on parcels of landwith a minimum of twenty-five acres. It usually serves as

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a means of preserving more open space and natural amenitiesthan would single-family developments. In February of1987, however, a special ad hoc zoning committee of theLower Merion Township Board of Commissioners approved chan-ges to the zoning codes that will reduce the density forplanned residential developments.

Under prior density rules, developers who built mul-tifamily projects were permitted 1.25 units per acre inboth the R-A and R-AA zones. For single-family houses, theR-A zones allowed one unit per acre; in the R-AA zone twoacres per house were required. It was felt that as aresult, developers were encouraged to build pockets ofdense multifamily housing in areas, particularly in Glad-wyne, characterized by single-family houses on largetracts.-'-'^ Under the new regulations, the density willremain the same in the R-A district, but will be reduced bynearly half in the R-AA zones. In adopting a new formulato determine the density of multifamily developments, theboard reduced the number of units permitted in the largeopen areas of the township. The new formula does, however,include a twenty-five percent density bonus for multifamilyconstruction over what would be permitted for single-familyhomes

Those on the Board cited stopping the development ofestates in ways consistent with the zoning, but uncharac-

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teristic of the neighborhood, as a motivating factor inchanging the ordinance, -^^ but curiously, the Board of His-torical Architectural Review played no part, even in anadvisory capacity, in the zoning change process. At notime was its historic structures inventory ever eva-luated. '-^ Additionally, several developers say that thenew density reductions will only serve to discouragedevelopers from creating multifamily houses.

Peter Simone, a land planner representing Walter Pew,whose 104-acre Gladwyne estate is the township's largestprivately-owned undeveloped tract, said that the multifami-ly provisions are now overly restrictive. '^ Overly re-strictive zoning may prevent the creative reuse of largeestates or the innovative development of the property. Aone-acre subdivision designed without regard to the origi-nal landscaping features and the natural contours of theproperty may be

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The Gilded Age Estates of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania : a history and preservation plan...

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