Readers keep sending me photos of Lloyd Farm and I am grateful. A little dose of vertigo has kept me grounded.
Lloyd Farm. What can I say that hasn’t been said already? This is insanity that this farm house is coming down. Much like La Ronda in Bryn Mawr around 2009, it is a place that doesn’t have to come down, it’s a choice isn’t it?
La Ronda was in Lower Merion Township, which like Caln is a First Class Township. A big distinction is however, that Lower Merion agreed with residents that La Ronda should have been saved. Can we just say plainly that it seems like Caln doesn’t give a crap?
Other things about this site I wonder about is have they checked for graves? I have also heard people say that given the 200 + years of people living on the property there may be burial grounds and is this true?
I think it’s the wrong choice to tear down Lloyd Farm’s farmhouse. I am a defender of private property rights but this is NOT just about private property and somebody exercising their rights. This is about development superseding history.
And I’m sure that Caln’s commissioners and lovely solicitor really would prefer none of us were talking about Lloyd Farm, but how can we not? The Lloyd family gave and did much where they called home didn’t they?
How can we not wonder what it will take to slow the pace of development in Chester County?
Our county is being destroyed. Not all developments are bad but when is the last time we saw one that was thoughtful? They mostly seem like they are all about just cramming as many structures on the property as humanly possible and developers wherever moving onto their next projects.
And this property which as I’ve written before is part of a Penn land grant, has an 18th-century farmhouse that’s historically important with an equally important 1910 addition completed and designed by a noted Philadelphia architect also with ties to Chester County. The history is undeniable.
In 1982 it could have become historically recognized but it never happened. Why?
Lloyd Farm via the familial history is linked to yet another local treasure, Glen Isle.
I am told this developer whom I do not know and was never really aware of before is a local guy. I don’t understand why as a local guy he can’t see what a good thing it would be to save the farmhouse and a little bit of the land around it? I will go back to my point that even Toll Brothers saves the occasional farmhouse in their developments.
Now let’s talk about Caln Township for a hot minute. Time for the residents to change the faces of who govern them every election until they are gone. I don’t know who those commissioners in Caln are working for but it’s certainly not the residents is it? And what about the appointed officials there? Who are they working for? Maybe it’s time to change them up as well, huh? But you have to flip the board of commissioners in order to be able to do that don’t you?
Anyway these are photos that have been sent to me over the past couple of days which are in this post.
I urge residents to keep cool heads. You have every right to be angry about what is happening in Caln. Keep the faith, Caln residents.
I keep saying it but will say it again: our history should not always belong to the wrecking ball and bulldozer.
#SaveLloydFarm
#ThisPlaceMatters
Yes, it should be checked for graves. The Gunkles (Michael and Catherina) are buried someplace on the land that surrounds the Gunkle Mill in E Whiteland. Michael Gunkle’s gravestone was being used as a “bridge” over the creek, it was rescued by a local archt and then returned to the township. The actual location of the graves is a mystery. Doubtful they would have been buried on the “working” side of the farm and the house on the opposite side is long gone.
I am a calm resident newly i.might add after being a dtown resident for 21 years and caln is appaling. The police are AWFUL and lazy as all heck. We need real solutions to these problems. Tell us what we can do!