The Jenny Lind House, former home of Yellow Springs Inn looking forlorn May, 2018
A few years ago I remarked on what I thought would be the demise of the Yellow Springs Inn. It resulted in a flurry of breast beating (which can still be found on their old/existing website.)
I was off by a couple/few years but above is the Jenny Lind House as of this week. I went out to the Yellow Springs Art Show (truly amazing this year by the way, and runs through May 13th), and was honestly sad to see the sad down trodden Jenny Lind House. It was a far cry from this photo I took a few short years ago:
What happened? I guess the restaurant left given the deed/document thing I found on Chester County’s real estate site (2017 Deed Transfer).
But that is not ALL happening there. Whomever owns it now seems to have had a stop work order issued on them. I kid you not:
Sorry, not the best photos. A lot of sun glare when photos were taken. So who is REO Acquisitions, LLC and what are they up to? The letter sent out by West Pikeland in April was sent to these REO Acquisitions c/o FCI Lender Services of Anaheim, CA.
PT Barnum Poster off of Wikipedia Commons
So what the heck were they doing to Jenny Lind house???
Now according to Historic Yellow Springs “Mrs. Holman, the retiring owner of the Yellow Springs Spa property, built the Jenny Lind House in the early 1840’s as a boarding house – it has eight bedrooms!”
How it go the nickname Jenny Lind House is history has it that she stayed in Yellow Springs during the Philadelphia portion of her P. T. Barnum-sponsored concert tour in 1850. (Yellow Springs Catering Website)
Historic Yellow Springs Inc., is on the National Register of Historic Places. They can’t just do anything random to the Jenny Lind House! And this place deserves preservation!!
So here are a bunch of my photos from Jenny Lind’s Yellow Springs Inn days:
Here are some sad photos taken this week:
So look, anyone interested in giving the old gal some help? I have absolutely NO idea who these REO Acquisitions people are mentioned in the legal letter plastered to the door. But my guess is whomever they are, they are across the country and this is just some thing they own the paper on, right? So my guess is West Pikeland Township and Historic Yellow Springs and the residents of the village would love to see this building in use. I know I would. It is a lovely restaurant space, so it could be once again. Or a cafe. Or a cafe and Air B and B (it still has a slew of bedrooms, right??)
Now it can be done because the house next door was quite derelict until the Halys bought it, and now it is a totally charming rental house for vacations, etc (Wm Haly House see VRBO). This is how Haly house looked in 2012 or 2013 when I took this photo (before they purchased the property):
Compare with this CURRENT photo courtesy of W.M. Haly House Facebook page:
So how about that??? It IS possible!! W.M. Haly House is proof positive that people do want to restore historic homes! It’s awesome!
So how about it Chester County? Know anyone who would be perfect for the Jenny Lind House? Wouldn’t it be great to have a little cafe of something with Air B and B above? Or a complete renovation into a Bed and Breakfast Inn complete with dining that would hearken back to the days of when it was a boarding house?
Check out what Schuylkill River Greenways has to say about the village:
The history of Yellow Springs Village spans nearly 300 years. The Native Lenape first attributed the name, “Yellow Springs” because of the natural mineral springs that flow through the area into Pickering Creek.
In the 18th century, Yellow Springs was a fashionable spa village that attracted visitors who sought healing waters and social interaction. During the American Revolution, George Washington commissioned a hospital to be built in the village, the first military hospital in the nation’s history. Washington himself visited on numerous occasions.
Following the war, the village returned to a spa town during the early 19th century.
From 1868 to 1912, Yellow Springs was home to the Chester Springs Soldiers’ Orphans School for children of Civil War Soldiers. From 1916 to 1952, the village served as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Country School.
From 1952 until 1974 the village was the headquarters of Good News Productions, a film studio in Yellow Springs that created over 400 films including the sci-fi original The Blob. From 1974 on, Historic Yellow Springs, Inc. has preserved many of these original structures and educates visitors about our unique past.
For greater depth into the village history, visit the Historic Yellow Springs/Chester Springs Studio website. They have all sorts of cool stuff to check out.
If you are interested in Jenny Lind House, I would say a safe place to start your inquiries would be West Pikeland Township. Their phone number is (610) 590-5300.
Here is how to reach all of their Supervisors:
Charlie Humphreys, Chair
chumphreys@westpikeland.com
Pamela Conti, Vice Chair
pconti@westpikeland.com
Noreen Vigilante, Supervisor
nvigilante@westpikeland.com
Richard Bright, Jr., Supervisor
rbright@westpikeland.com
Ernie Holling, Supervisor
eholling@westpikeland.com
Hi, my name is Tom Dodge, and I just saw this article. I grew up in Chester Springs, and I always loved Yellow Springs. I was just there in July, and one of the places I wanted to see was Yellow Springs. There is so much history there. Yellow Springs should be maintained. I lived in Chester Springs until I was around 10 years old, and it is a very special place to me. I lived next to Vincent Baptist Church up the long driveway. Please let me know how I can help with the preservation effort. My number is 626-733-3911. My email is tdodge2404@gmail.com. I want to be part of this. Thank you.
Thomas I would say contact historic Yellow Springs http://yellowsprings.org