A photo sent to me during recent civic association meeting…
I spy with my little eye a new Inquirer article on the 19035. No not about the grifters currently visiting Club Fed or wherever that the civic association didn’t want mussing up their “vibe” but the article is about the equivalent of the hypothetical company town owners.
(Inquirer article has a pay wall and you have to subscribe to read it, unless they are still allowing people a few free reads a month?)
What do I say company town owners? Easy. In part this reminds me of our history when it come to factory / mining / mill towns when they were first settled (think 19th century.)
These company towns were controlled by the owners of the factory / mining / mill towns. They built the houses, school, local store, etc. etc. (Related aside: Gladwyne already once was a mill etc. town once upon a time, so is that the rich man poor man vibe the developers are going for again?)
Anyway these company towns had the ability to control every single person. They had literally a monopoly on everything. Workers and their families were dependent upon the owners of factory / mills / mines for their survival, which was a great way to control these people yes? Of course, history refers to boom and bust cycles with these towns which is why tourists visit ghost towns out west to this day, yes?
If you are interested in learning more about these types of towns see:
Yeah I know you think I am off on a tangent but the origin of the Gladwyne Village is HELLO a MILL TOWN. Do the upwardly mobile of nouveau 19035 really want to be owned again in a sense? Sociologically it’s a fascinating point to ponder.
So the article also talks about the mythical green space that is so fake sounding I can practically feel the sickly sweet taste.
Here is a link to what they presented to HARB at the beginning of May, which is what they presented to the 19035 gated community errr I mean Gladwyne Civic:
(I will tell you that Lower Merion Township’s website sucks, it’s as if it was designed to hide things, but I digress.)
So once again they are with the green space and fakakta gazebo with parking butting up against existing residents’ homes like it’s a city and WHY? Do they not see the big assed park that is 14.8 acres DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET?
I mean I am told that developer guy Andre worked in the village as a kid before he became an Andre? Does he have selective male Alzheimer’s or something? Are they literally BLIND as to the amount of green space, open space, natural water features, etc etc that ALREADY FREAKING EXIST IN GLADWYNE FOR ALL TO ENJOY? Are the residents also green blind?
Literally WTF in Gladwyne?
They don’t need a developer manufactured pocket park in essence….there is one across the street that is HUGE. Then there is Rolling Hill, Saunders Woods, Flat Rock Park, need I go on?
So these people and Lower Merion Township are either not listening hard enough, not caring enough to hear, or are just freaking green blind aren’t they?
Do the historic preservation and adaptive reuse. Rebuild the Gladwyne Pharmacy etc building, as that was probably just a favor for some pal that Walter Durham designed it in the first place because he designed houses, not mini malls. But leave the zoning alone which will threaten a well established historic district that is recognized on a local, county, state, and federal level. (Unless of course they plan to add a Trump Arch like planned for Washington DC?)
Listen harder and hear developers.
Don’t tart up the village. Do better, be better.
If these developers want their legacy in the 19035, they need to respect the legacy that already exists. Right now they are merely paying it lip service in my opinion.
For anyone interested in the bougie nightmare that they’re trying to create in the 19035 there is a meeting tonight. It is a PUBLIC civic association meeting.
The regular business of the Civic starts at 6:45 PM and I have been told the location this time is Gladwyne Elementary School. I am told the Haldon House stuff starts around 7:15pm?
The only reason I’m bothering with this is because the Civic doesn’t update their website anymore and there’s nothing on any of their meetings found easily- which of course speaks volumes. I doubt very much they are recording or zooming it so you need to show up if you’re interested.
The address of Gladwyne Elementary is 230 Righters Mill Road, Gladwyne, PA
I also have to ask is it wise to have the potential developer of the village as a business sponsor of the Gladwyne Civic Association? Is it just me or does it make you wonder about the people in charge of the civic? (I mean any more than their secretiveness in general about Gladwyne like it’s a gated community?)
Anyway, if you are so inclined, please show up. If they allow a zoning change, that historic village is DOA. Adaptive reuse and historic preservation aren’t the problems. A potential zoning change and nouveau development circus are. And yes, I can have that opinion because if you know Gladwyne, that is simply the truth.
Went to White Horse Farm in Willistown yesterday to pick up an order. We are part of their Butcher & Cream Club and have been for about a year now.
It’s nice to know your farmer and literally know where everything is coming from. This is a spectacular property in Willistown. You can’t just wander up the driveway, we were invited as we were picking up an order.
Gladwyne is a wonderful place with a historic village. The nouveau and uninformed see it as this money-laden Main Line place to be conquered. Yeah, so they have done that enough in general to the Main Line, but there are some places that they should just leave alone. That includes the literally historic village in Gladwyne.
Yesterday was Azalea Day at St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne. It was the 73rd year.
I went to Azalea Day from the time I was 12 pretty much until I moved to Chester County. It was and is a perfect example of the magic of the village and surrounding environs which just don’t need tarting/messing up.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Gladwyne doesn’t need to be other than it is. Maybe people can’t stop Lower Merion from approving horrible out of place LEGO infill development McMansions, nor keep predatory development out of Ardmore with BS plans every few years for Schauffele Plaza, etc., but Lower Merion needs to be proactive with stopping the madness in the 19035.
It’s like Groundhog Day in Gladwyne every few years when a bad plan arises. The only thing now is that they neither have a civic association with people willing to protect the historic village, nor elected officials who are willing to do so and did you ever think Gladwyne would be in this predicament? Honestly, I did not because all of my observing prior to this was admiration for Gladwyne sticking up for Gladwyne.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Now there are still some people on Gladwyne Civic who were part of the magnificent years where they STOOD UP and fought for Gladwyne and the historic village. But they are the minority and probably tired. And my so much civic “leadership” yet where IS the leading? Oh I am sure they don’t care for my opinions and they even tossed me out of the closed Facebook group started by a friend. They have social climbers from Chester County in the group, but I am a threat. They tried once before this to remove me unsuccessfully.
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So I am out of the group now, which is no great loss as it is quite the insipid government ass kissing shadow of the group it once was….and civic it once was.
They will say that I am talking about this because it is merely sour grapes and no it’s not. If they kept such close tabs on my activity there before the co-prez removed me, they would see that I really did not visit much as the involvement of my friends lessened. That and knowing that I could not keep my mouth shut over the insipid nothingness that was being posted. Gold foil stars for all, and the nerve of that horse for not picking up its poop!
I had posted about what was happening in the historic village district because THEY WERE NOT. And it was and IS important. But now I realize WHY they aren’t and it’s sad that I realized it’s in my opinion a combination of a lack of spine and it would mean actually working for the community, right? For these people it’s easier to have a “greenspace” and gazebo that is not needed and for the historic village district to lose protections with a zoning change and an overlord they can bow and scrape to isn’t it? And if this goes through like this, history in my opinion, will not remember them fondly.
Again, for the cheap people in the expensive seats: historic preservation and continued adaptative reuse is a GREAT thing. Creating a fake narrative and a Peddlers Village/Disneyesque landscape is NOT. Potentially changing the zoning, tearing down houses and undoubtedly trees is also a BIG MISTAKE.
I can indeed have these opinions. My opinion remains the same: yes to historic preservation, tree preservation, and adaptive reuse. No to zoning changes and the ensuing circus. It’s still supposed to be a historic 18th/19th century crossroads village and THAT is ok.
The Gladwyne Civic needs to recover where they left their collective balls.
Lower Merion Commissioners need to not sit on their hands.
Residents can’t depend on either the commissioners or civic association here and they should go to every single meeting possible to save the village.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Vanity projects can be useful, this project has many problems. The developers here should use their big money for good….if they are really listening, that is?
The “greenspace” and then shoving parking next to private homes of residents who were there first. Quite disrespectful at a minimum if it matters to these people.
Greenspace is great, but have these people also actually paid attention to Gladwyne?
Right across Youngs Ford Road is a most marvelous park, and some of the best trails and open space anywhere are already existing in Gladwyne and have for many, many years. That “greenspace” is lipstick on the proverbial pig and a vanity thing along with the “water feature” and most of this project. And yes I can have that opinion. (Creeks and a big river are apparently not enough of a NATURAL water feature?)
A lot of people were not around to remember the “water feature” that worked for like ten minutes in Ardmore at the “gateway” on Ardmore Ave by Bryn Mawr Trust (don’t know what it is now). And the water feature was crooked, as in not level.
Today it is an oversized flowerpot that whomever owns the property should care for, but not sure who does?
Gladwyne is a beautiful area with natural water features, not an urban center that needs the calming influence of the sound of water so you don’t hear buses and taxis etc etc.
I am all for historic preservation and adaptive reuse, not Disney.
Gladwyne does not have to be Peddlers Village, there already is one.
Gladwyne does not have to be anything other than the sweet village it already is.
Reading and reciting history to (in part) appease HARB and the public doesn’t mean you get it, and part of the whole they aren’t there yet, is they do not get Gladwyne any more than a lot of the nouveaux who have moved in over the recent past.
What I have sadly observed is I do not think that the commissioner who now serves this ward including Gladwyne gets it, nor do most of the 14 member board of commissioners. The current leadership of Gladwyne Civic either doesn’t get it or they in my opinion have personal agendas and yes, I can offer that opinion. One co-president in particular is a problem and he treats Gladwyne as a gated community, which oh my means he won’t like it in the end if the village turns Disneyesque. The other co-president is nice (and his wife is fabulous.) The civic today seems to not have the same spirit past iterations have had, and a lot of the people willing to get up and fight for Gladwyne have moved and even passed away. Can we send up a prayer that Gladwyne Civic finds it’s lost spine?
BUT (and it’s important) If the commissioners allow that zoning change it will mean eventual disaster for a little, VERY historic crossroads village, which historically is supposed to be just that. Nothing more, nothing less, it doesn’t have to be.
The other thing is this: there are other areas the “developers” AKA new village owners could pour their energies into. Like Narberth, which is no longer a magical small town that I used to call Main Line Glocca Mora, it’s a hot mess with local borough government that acts like they all have had lobotomies or something. (Cue trying to sell Sabine Park for development, right? Or the disgraceful condition of parts of “Main Street” near the old market.)
Look, the bottom line is these people see a PROJECT in Gladwyne, and IMHO it is still a vanity project because I still feel they don’t SEE Gladwyne for who she really is and can remain. Again, I don’t object to restoration and adaptive reuse AT ALL, but as for some of the rest of it, there was something one of my grandmothers said once upon a time: just because you CAN do something, it doesn’t mean you should.
Enjoy the screenshots courtesy of the Lower Merion Historical Society and my photos with many happy memories of the village of Gladwyne.
Here’s hoping they figure it out. Here’s hoping they realize that some places can retain their historical and beloved character and it’s ok just the way it is.
(Also, I had heard that there MIGHT be some kind of a meeting possibly at Waverly Heights on May 19? Is that just a regular civic meeting or a special meeting? And ummm on Election Day? That’s kind of shady isn’t it? And if it is happening, where is it posted so people can verify it? Or can’t the public attend?)
I am also including in the post, proposed changes to historic preservation stuff in Lower Merion and Class I and Class II resources. (It is a draft of a historic preservation plan.) As I know longer live there, doesn’t affect me, but it bears reviewing by the public before the commissioners act upon it in the future. I will note that the LMT employee head of HARB, Greg Pritchard, is a really good dude and incredibly knowledgeable. I came to know him years ago when he was with the Radnor Historical Society. He helped me research the Wayne Natatorium when I was submitting it to the state for the historical marker.
Back to Villa Blue Tarp in Mt. Pleasant (Tredyffrin.)
When is enough enough out of off campus student party houses?
I have been keeping tabs on Villanova off campus student housing for probably 20 years or better in Mount Pleasant. I discovered the issues years ago completely by accident when I was in Mount Pleasant photographing the history of the place because it is a very historic black area in Chester County. It was the home of Miss Mazie Hall, for example. (As a related aside, I watch them tear down her house for predatory development years ago.)
This area for those not from Chester County or familiar with the history is in what is known as the “panhandle of Tredyffrin.” In recent years, it has been truly plagued by off-campus student rentals and wanton development from both the Upper Merion side of this area and the Tredyffrin side. It’s just far enough away from campus and the Tredyffrin township building etc. that they think no one ever pays attention, so if they have not been paying attention, maybe they all should be?
Not all off-campus student rentals are bad. And that can be said of any student rental in any location, but you never hear about the nice kids, it’s these others who stand out.
When I lived in Lower Merion Township for a bunch of years I lived next to one of these animal houses until it burnt to the ground two days before Thanksgiving one year. That was the early 2000s. November 22, 2000 to be precise, and the fire was covered in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Main Line Life (now Main Line Media News) at the time.
This house on Booth Lane was gorgeous at one time. I was in it when friends of mine and I snuck into a party when it was the rugby house around 1981. I actually didn’t stay very long because it literally was like animal house inside (I was like 16 or 17 and had never quite ever at that point seen a party like that so it was more than a little intimidating), but I will never forget what the inside of that house looked like even with a bunch of college students destroying it more and more every day.
10:04 PM 4/12/26
At that point, it was still a single-family home. It had this magnificent staircase with a carved dark wood newel post. the fireplaces were still intact although I think long since boarded up, but the surrounds were this amazing tile and there were stained glass windows and pocket doors. There were also a couple of really old chandeliers and lights that survived in the ceilings somehow and sconces on the walls.
This house had been the home of a banker or financier type of person named Henry B. Reinhart until he died in 1948. He had a son who died in World War II, who was remembered in local papers as being one of the victims of World War II, who died with the fifth army in Italy on Anzio Beach. When it went up for sale in 1954 you could have bought it for $19,500. And eventually it became this off-campus party house.
I knew from a very elderly neighbor when I first moved to the neighborhood that at one point in time, it had wonderful gardens, a beautiful lawn, which was planted with crocuses that still came up every spring, even when I was there. At one point in time, there was actually a small orchard behind it. The crocuses in the lawn, actually survived the fire and when it became an empty lot, we used to dig some of them up for our own gardens.
After that fire it was an empty lot for gosh, easily almost 15 years after that fire. I always wondered if they built on the old foundation because the foundation wasn’t dug up when they demolished the house after the fire it was just covered over. We didn’t mind it as an empty lot. It gave us some open space for a while.
The house made quite an impression because it had been a party house since I had been of high school age. It had been this huge yellow Victorian and up until the time of the fire had these great stained glass windows still intact in parts of the house, and this amazing wraparound porch.
This house, which was once located at 20 Booth Lane in Lower Merion, was just one of the wonderful houses that used to exist in a row from Old Lancaster Road to Lancaster Avenue.
At that time of the fire (November 22, 2000 and reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer as being started by a roofer’s torch doing repairs), the house had been split into two duplexes (previously, I believe it had served I think as the rugby house when I was of high school and college age and was not split in to more than one unit until 1985.)
Until the fire which made us all fear for our own roof lines because it was a windy day as the firefighters were trying to fight the fire in a small neighborhood, we had been held hostage by this house.
It didn’t matter how many times we called the police or the township, or Villanova. No one was interested atall in the plight of the neighbors trying to coexist with off campus students who were horrible. And for years, the neighbors did try to ask the students who were renting to just please keep it to a dull roar but no, every weekend it was party central complete with more cars than you want to know parked on their lawn and some of ours sometimes, kids vomiting in the street, peeing on neighbors properties, and so on. I remember at the time neighbors who complained about the house woke up one morning to find their cars keyed. I remember they were just a young married couple or maybe they weren’t even married yet but we’re saving for their wedding and the car repairs were expensive to fix the paint.
At that time, I believed the university official we were dealing with was a Father John Stack. As a matter of fact, it was his office we phoned as the fire was happening then so the university could find these kids places to live, etc. These off campus students (girls at this point) never did the right thing by any of us but we knew they were losing all of their college memories and school work, and also practically speaking needed a safe place to land after a day like that fire created. We also knew how scary that fire was for us watching it and those students were living it watching everything they owned from college burn.
Because of this experience in my past, I completely understand how the residents of Mount Pleasant in Tredyffrin feel today and have felt for years as my (then) neighborhood lived it until the house burned to the ground . As a blogger, I have written about this topic over the years in Mount Pleasant because it is thatbad. This is why Villanova had so many people from this area of Tredyffrin Township and even folks from bordering Radnor Township show up at their community meeting after they acquired Cabrini. These people fear that it will only get worse.
For some reason this year, the students seem more aggressive than before, which I didn’t think was possible. They think they are invincible and untouchable, and the lack of consistent attention to this on the part of Tredyffrin and Villanova University officials does make you wonder if this is the case, doesn’t it? I mean, if even the rental housing inspector/zoning officer did her job half of the time in that township would there be so many people all of the time in that house or other student rentals back there? I remember it came up not that long ago that another student rental has occurred and by Tredyffrin’s student rental housing ordinance should that even be allowed?
And I have to ask in the video I’m sharing from this weekend, are they referring to me because I’ve written about this problem house before or are they referring to a supervisor of Tredyffrin Township whose first name is Carlotta?
That’s not the name of any resident in Mount Pleasant that I know of, but I think you will agree that constitutes harassment of the neighbors and others and is that the message that Villanova University wants to send to the public at large out here?
Why should any full time resident be subjected to this behavior constantly in Mount Pleasant? Why does Villanova and Tredyffrin turn a blind eye?
This is wrong, and they all know it’s wrong. And again, I don’t live in that area, but if that’s my name in their mouth because I write occasionally on this topic, that is also harassing me personally. I will note I have been harassed before. A couple of years ago give or take, I was able to track messages back to I believe a computer at Bartley Hall.
These kids are young and dumb, but life is not without consequences, and they just need to behave better. Their behavior is something I doubt would be allowed at home in their parents’ houses and where they grew up and where they live when they’re not at school, correct?
Again, students living off campus in other areas don’t all act this way. But I don’t know what it is about this house year in and year out that it attracts the sametype of off campus student. And in my mind, they are not representative of the university community as an entirety.
This problem is not unique to this university. As we’ve heard the spring, there are also problems currently in West Chester Borough with students there.
These people who are full-time residents of this neighborhood, deserve respect, and a good night’s sleep once in a while. They accept that kids are going to be kids, but do they have to be so awful and does this have to be the continuing pattern of behavior?
Properties with same P.O. Box and business entities:
I was sent photos this morning. Look at that claw reach into the house? She’ll be dust in no time. Or it might take them a while, because these historic stone houses were so well built.
I remember standing there with tears running down my face in front of the gates of La Ronda in Bryn Mawr as that was torn down years ago taking photos. Through the tears that day I had some amusement because her stone walls were so well built, it took time to tear them down.
This is so sad and heartbreaking. I am also told they are in that little field around back on this property and there’s a little spring house or something and there’s some kind of fencing there. Who knows if they’re putting the fencing up around the perimeter and who knows if the little springhouse will survive in the end, shall we start the odds on the tree out front?
RIP “Breeze Hill” at 400 Leopard Road. This house was constructed by Joseph W. Sharp for his younger sister, Rachel.
By 1857, Joseph was so successful in business that he had a imposing Victorian house built and thus the country estate “Hawthorne,” which has been restored and is located today at 521 Leopard Road in Berwyn, just down the street from Breeze Hill.
He was the first gentleman to commute from Berwyn into Philadelphia each day utilizing the newly-constructed “Main Line” train, and was a partner in what eventually became Hajoca Corporation, an early leader in the nascent indoor plumbing industry.
In 1865, Joseph married Sidney Serrill Bunting. Oral family history indicates that Sidney and Rachel did not get along well, so Joseph commenced the construction of Breeze Hill (so named for its location and the presence of a refreshing breeze during this non-air conditioned era) for Rachel some time before his wedding. As the home was on the Sharp family property, it didn’t receive its own separate deed when built, but was shown on Pennsylvania Railroad maps dating to 1873.
Rachel Sharp and other family members lived at Breeze Hill until 1888, when Joseph Sharp’s eldest daughter, Mary Bunting Sharp, married William Morris of Villanova in 1888, the young couple moved into Breeze Hill, where they lived until 1942.
Joseph Sharp and his wife subdivided Breeze Hill from their larger property and deeded it to their daughter for “$1 and her natural love and affection” in 1901, when it became legal for a married woman to own property in her own name in PA
To be fair, someone who has seen the plans for the new house I guess on Easttown’s website said that the little spring house will survive, but the garage which had been a stable will not. Now, if I was doing a new build on this site, I would actually see if an architect could incorporate the old stable section somehow into the new design- it could be accomplished.
I will also note again that I didn’t think the place was salvageable after the second fire. Especially with all of the time she stood open to the elements. Which couldn’t be helped because of the ensuing investigation. And that’s not pointing a finger at anyone. If you know anything about insurance work when it comes to arson, it takes a long time. If people add a public adjuster, it can take longer because that person is yet an additional layer.
I was a little surprised that the fencing came down yesterday and yet this started a little while ago. It’s a good thing no one tried to go in it while the fence was down overnight. I will also mention a certain wanna-be influencer posted about this house like they actually know from historic preservation with their McMansion mindset, which I found endlessly amusing, don’t you? But hey, for people like that it’s all about the clicks isn’t it? But oddly, I am told they did not allow comments on this post about an old house being torn down, which doesn’t even make any sense does it?
I hope the fire bug is happy. Yeah I know that’s a little obnoxious, but what happened here didn’t need to happen, did it? This was a historic asset and it was quirky and cool and it had lots of local history and now it’s just dust.
Today the bulldozers have arrived at 400 S. Leopard Road in Berwyn, Chester County and Easttown Township. We have been living this since the first fire in 2024. Charged with arson in one fire here is still Kathryn Calmus Frankel. She was charged in the new year with a dangerous fire in York County, PA. She was also charged with some sort of fire in Delaware County (Radnor Township.) I am uncertain as to which prison she is located in – I presume York County which is county of latest arson.
Frankel has not been tried in any of these cases as of yet, although I did notice this on the Delaware County, PA docket:
Is there a chance she pleads on all of these cases? Who knows. The media down here has not followed up and we haven’t heard anything out of the various District Attorneys’ offices about that have we?
I am so sad that this quirky old house is becoming something we will maybe remember for a while and then forget as ashes to ashes dust to dust…and we know a McMansion shall replace part of our Chester County history, but two brutal fires have killed this piece of history.
This is yet another reason why this country needs better mental health services.
Here is one more photo and then to follow current dockets from 3 counties and a couple of prior posts.
Bye house. You were once beautiful, quirky, and loved even by strangers driving by.
This whole billionaire is buying up a Main Line area village is disturbing, yet expected at the same time, isn’t it? Is it as simple as nothing says I’ve arrived like “I own you and all of this?”
Ok yes, slightly generalized and sarcastic but that is how this feels, doesn’t it?
Why Gladwyne village? Some might say “why not” but I honestly want to know why don’t you? To me, in my opinion, this doesn’t feel altruistic or having a love of historic structures. I can have that opinion, unless of course in this process the first amendment was purchased as well?
Doesn’t this feel more personal to you? I mean look, Jeff Yass, who is very much part of this is a self-made man of an extraordinary level? An impressive career and financial trajectory is undeniable. After all when you look up his Wikipedia page you see he was a guy from Queens, NY. Described as growing up in an average middle class family and now he’s the Sheriff of Yasswyne, err Gladwyne?
All snark aside, on its face it is impressive. BUT. And this is a big BUT. But why Gladwyne? Is it to be able to look out from what we grew up with as The Guard House, now part of the Union League Club to be able to wave and arm and declare ownership? I don’t have that answer only the little voice inside me says this is still not just about sprucing up a historically listed village, but most billionaires play things close to the vest don’t they? (Not actually a dig, it just makes sense.)
I don’t know that I like the idea of this all being bought up by a new entity who doesn’t seem to truly understand the history of Gladwyne or Gladwyne village. Or maybe it’s just I truly wonder do they care? Is this a passion project or an enormous exhibition of ego meets narcissism?
Things I really don’t like are the word of mouth and direct conversations with people who have been having land agents or realtors or whomever showing up unannounced and uninvited. Whomever these people or this person is, they are trying to chat people up to sell their property and why? They don’t seem to wish to disclose who they are representing and why? Is this deliberate vagueness? A question I have NOT heard asked is DO THEY HAVE SOLICITATION PERMITS FROM LOWER MERION?
What these smiley doorknockers are doing is door to door soliciting, so has the commissioner now representing Gladwyne actually looked into that matter? Shouldn’t he and shouldn’t Lower Merion? They aren’t exactly peddling Girl Scout cookies, after all.
In my opinion (again allowed to have) the more properties acquired means the project gets bigger. I found the house bought at the end of 2025 close to other acquired properties:
So this house is zoned residential, right? I guess then it has to be moved to like some kind of commercial zoning in order for it to be a viable part of the revamped village concept or whatever the hell they’re calling it?
When it comes to bending over for developers, the current director of building and planning at Lower Merion Township is an expert isn’t he? I mean, we all remember or some of us remember the days of eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore don’t worry?
I don’t trust Lower Merion Township. When Bob Duncan was head of Building and Planning you could always count on him doing the right thing, or at least giving you an honest answer, even if it was hard to hear. In my opinion, those days are long gone at far away. And then you look at the manager’s office – the guy formerly from West Chester Borough. He was at that job for 27 years until 2014. He is super development loving manager, look no further than the path he set for West Chester Borough, yes? So in my opinion, is he going to actually care about preserving the historic village center of Gladwyne, PA?
I don’t know enough about the composition of the current Board of Commissioners in Lower Merion to know if any of them really give a good goddamn about the Historic Village of Gladwyne being preserved and not turned into Peddlers Village do you? What I doknow is Lower Merion is prone to historically bad decisions. Look at the failed attempt at eminent domain for private gain years ago?
And for those who think houses can’t be torn down by subsequent owners? Remember La Ronda.
I grew up in Lower Merion and enjoyed it and loved the quirkiness of old Gladwyne. I laughed when with the presentation for the Yasswyne of it all people were ooohing over picnic tables. Why? Had they never visited the Gladwyne Lunch? Not new.
Again, adaptive reuse and restoration? Not a bad idea. But wobbly plans that seem too good to be true? Shall we contemplate they probably are? I’ve been looking at their plans and again no problem with restoration and adaptive reuse but there’s big question marks over the Walter Durham building that houses the pharmacy, etc. and it’s always been an awkward building.
That’s nothing new. I actually don’t think it’s worth saving as it doesn’t work. BUT what replaces it? This is listed historic district, correct? It can’t be too huge and average retail looking it has to be special. It has to fit with the historic district. Size and scale matters. Design matters and this is a historic village, it’s not a beige beige world with loads of stucco.
When you look at the back of the parking lot, which actually isn’t that expensive now you can’t help but wonder are those townhouses over that wall an eventual target of this “reimagining”?
And no matter what happens who protects the residential residents around this “reimagining” ? Why do I feel like the Civic Association isn’t doing much here? Are they afraid? Are they unsure? Are they ignoring it hoping it’ll all go away? And what about the commissioners, including the new guy in Gladwyne?
A wonderful piece of art on a building not owned by the current buyer uppers of the village
And other than the legal wrangling and wondering about commercial and residential deeds and commercial and residential zoning of it all, what about traffic and practical things? Like current traffic? The car rider lines for the Montessori school are no joke and even I have seen those over the years. And then there’s the car rider lines for the elementary school.
And parking. I think it’s a no secret that the Guard House doesn’t have sufficient parking right? So how do we know there will be sufficient parking for this proposed Shangri-La of a Main Line Peddlers Village?
I mean, come on wouldn’t that be better to start smaller and see how this all works? Restore and work with what they have and not tear down houses? or did they buy that house in December to put a business there? If so, what kind and where will the people park for that?
Should we ponder that this is about the soul, moral values of a community and what people want it to be in the future? Do these village purchasers actually want meaningful input from the community or are they paying the community lip service just to get what they want? Come on now, don’t act surprised that I said that because developers do that all of the time, don’t they?
I have written before that there’s a whole history here. That history should neither be ignored nor denied. One of the problems overall on the Main Line in general as newcomers have moved in is they’re there for the lore not the reality. You have all the funny bullshit of what the Main Line is supposed to represent and a lot of. It’s just realtor marketing, take Malvern, which isn’t actually the Main Line but every time you turn around somebody is saying it is.
The village of Gladwyne I first saw as a kid wasn’t perfect. It was quirky, it was old, it was historic, and it was kind of awesome. It still is kind of awesome and it doesn’t need to be tarted up, just spruced up and restored a little bit better.
But nothing is going to happen if concerned residents don’t get off of their behinds and start going to commissioners meetings. Every resident in that municipality has a right to public privilege of the floor as they call it. There is a section set aside for that for non-agenda items at every commissioners meeting. There is also public comment on agenda items, should any of these things about the village of Gladwyne come up on the agendas.
I have noticed that the Township of Lower Merion offers Zoom. I don’t know that they offer comment on Zoom but residents can ask. People can keep up with the agendas and things that have been filed that are loaded on the website as well.
Years ago, the then director of building and planning also often used to have specific mailing list for specific issues within the township. I don’t know if they still do that. But again, I do know that residents can’t depend on the civic or going to those civic association meetings alone. People have to go to the township meetings, when they can in person, an alternatively on Zoom. The residents need to speak for themselves.
But people should be polite. And I know it can be difficult when you’re dealing with a municipality and you don’t feel like you’re being heard. But taxes pay for those bureaucrats, etc., remember that.
It’s not hard to organize, but the people of Gladwyne have to want this for themselves. Because if they roll over now, no matter what happens they’re going to end up with stuff they’re not happy with because they did not participate.
These are just my opinions and observations. In my opinion on the specialist of Gladwyne, as in the village has lived in me since I was a kid. It does not have to be super expensive and overpriced. It just has to be nice. Gladwyne used to be a bit more inclusive.
At the end of the day, I’m also concerned because I have seen what random development does and I’ve seen it in Gladwyne in other parts of the 19035.
Historical Gladwyne Photo belonging to Lower Merion Historical Society.
Yasswyne? Really?
Gladwyne, is kind of a special to me. Circa 1975 was my introduction, and it was magical. Sledding on crazy hills off of Monk Road and Rose Glen. Free range kid wandering from the historic village through to the haunted feeling sanatorium buildings of the once “Gladwyne Colony”. Halloween and sleepovers and birthday parties with my friend whose dad went to high school together. The Gladwyne Library and its wonderful stacks and things like the plant sale. (And the cookbook fundraiser- I still have a copy!)
And the horses. Gladwyne then was still an equestrian hub. Sledding and carriaging with Mr. Gwinn. Leaning how to ride. Watching pony club. I didn’t belong to that I was not good enough.
The old village. It was just so nice. One of my friends was related literally to founding fathers of the village. Tree lined streets and marvelous old houses from so many eras. Whimsical Victorians. Charming Bungalows. And even 18th and early 19th century houses, mostly frame.
I realized this morning that the Gladwyne I stumbled upon as a kid was actually reminiscent of parts of Chester County I love so much. And to that end, sprucing up the village is not a bad idea, but this mass appropriation of buildings in the center as well as talks of tearing things down including one of the houses near the library I guess that was purchased? My opinion is a HELL NO.
It’s hell no to Peddlers Village-lite complete with all those absurd picnic tables scattered about the village that will not in my opinion be maintained long term. It’s hell no to making it a faux tourist attraction bringing lots of traffic to little streets with barely enough parking for residents.
Look I felt something was up in the fall, when I went digging into who supposedly was doing this, and that was not when any of us knew a big contributor to the destruction of the White House and the East Wing and the McMansioning of the people’s house.
I remember when I first started nosing around about this Gladwyne thing people on the Main Line were really odd with their reactions and I even had my comments taken down in places. And literally what I was sharing was who bought the place and was on the deed records with Montgomery County. That was before anyone even knew Yass was involved. But now I wonder what Gladwyne’s new commissioner knew and when?
And I remember when I figured out who these Bryn Mawr people were without knowing that anyone else was involved, I had reservations. Mostly because they just seemed like they were about themselves.
So they live over on Rock Creek Road and I knew a lot of people growing up and into adulthood that lived on that winding road and it had cool houses and beautiful trees and gardens, still does. So they restored their house and reinvented it and that’s their right but I remember looking at it thinking it’s really brown and it’s not quite here but I could appreciate some of the design elements.
But the Historic Village of Gladwyne, and it is a historic district, turned into some odd thing that it’s not? That’s not worth the renovation of the older buildings in my humble opinion thank goodness I don’t live there. 
But I had no idea the scope of this project until I saw the website and some of what the people who want to do this were posting:
To follow are four screenshots from their public website below. Go onto their website and read every word.
It’s Gladwyne Village as in the Village of because literally that’s what it is. Then I noticed that they magically weren’t doing a zoom of the meeting and when you don’t want to record a meeting that always set up red flags in my head. If you’ve got nothing to hide on a project, you put it out there for the world to see, including the meetings don’t you?
And now, it seems, historic Gladwyne has Jeff Yass.
The richest man in Pennsylvania, and his wife, Janine, have partnered with a younger husband-and-wife development/design team to both turn back the clock on Gladwyne village AND propel it into the next century.
The partnership spent millions over the last several months to buy or lease key properties in the heart of historic Gladwyne: the former Gladwyne Market, Gladwyne Village Shoppes (which house the beloved pharmacy and Homeroom luncheonette), Gladwyne Post Office, the former longtime OMG Salon building and, as of Dec. 31, a private home in the Village….The designated face of the partnership, Andre Golsorkhi revealed the quartet’s vision….At the outset, Golsorkhi (below) emphasized that his investor/development group is 100-percent local and, believe it or not, was NOT doing this to make money….The first resident who spoke felt blindsided….Another speaker feared the conformity of a Gladwyne Square. “It’s going to end up looking like Nantucket, she said. “This presentation makes me even more nervous about what you guys are doing …You’re saying Gladwyne needs branding… it’s gonna be a certain architecture that you think is important when you’re destroying a quirky Walter Durham house… I like communities that are organic and grow up in different ways. We have other buildings in Gladwyne that are just as important for the community that are not owned by Mr. Yass. I just wonder what the end game is. There’s always a price for this.”….Architect Ed Lewis (below), a 60-year Gladwyne resident told Golsorkhi that he “started the historic district in my living room with a meeting of neighbors concerned about overdevelopment.”
My photo
Read the entire Savvy article. It is very long and gives a lot of detail and thank you Caroline for what you do.
OK, I’m going to be 62 years old this year so why mince words? I think this plan is bullshit. This is about someone’s sanitizing and reinventing a place that first and foremost is a historic district.
I have no problems with people restoring things, but this isn’t about restoring. This is about changing history. And it’s not really the history of the people who bought the buildings.
To these four individuals, this is about making money. It’s not necessarily so all realistic, and I am allowed to have that opinion.
Again, I have no problem with someone fixing up old buildings and creating an adaptive reuses. But when you start to want to add parking lots and a random nouveau village green with lots of picnic tables that never existed within the history or framework of this village, it stops being about preservation and switches to just being about profit, doesn’t it?
Now I will agree the Walter Durham buildings that comprise the pharmacy, etc. are awkward. I’m really familiar with them. My mother was a realtor with a real estate office that was in the lower level years ago and for all the years that I banked at PNC, my branch was Gladwyne because they were the nicest people. And Gladwyne Pharmacy was our first pharmacy out here when we moved here and I still used to use them here and there until I moved to Chester county because I wanted to support them because they were independent like Parvins in Bryn Mawr.
I also have to admit when the Union League club took over the Guard House, I wondered what the future held for Gladwyne because that was a big change. But I didn’t anticipate this. And I have to say that The Union League respects the village. They have done a fine job with the place, although I do miss the ability to just go in there on a Friday or Saturday because I don’t belong to the Union League. I have been there for dinner several times since it reopened as part of the club and I love it and why do I love it because it’s still retains what we knew as its history. Even down to some of the dishes that were signature to Albert Breuers.
Found this on Wikipedia and I can’t find my photos and I have tons of The Guard House somewhere 
I know change will happen, but the change doesn’t have to be this drastic and it shouldn’t be. These people have the money to restore what they bought in the village of Gladwyne without making it look like Disney or a more expensive Peddler’s Village with insufficient parking.
I did dig out some of my photos of Gladwyne and why is still so special to me. And a lot of that includes things like the Memorial Day Parade. or walking down the little streets in the village and hearing the ghosts of my childhood passed and it’s a simple as knowing who lived where and things we explored St. John Vianney was our parish. Our first vet was Gladwyne vet. And the library. That library is still my favorite library anywhere. I won a Martha Stewart cookbook years ago as an adult in a raffle, I used to bury myself in corners as a kid and read, and I loved the plant sale. And I have a copy of their cookbook they used as a fundraiser. They could’ve had more than one cookbook over time, but I have the original one. and at one point in time, one of their librarians was actually a princess.
Yes a princess. She died in 2005 and her name was Maria de Pasquale. She was a friend of my parents along with her husband, Joe, who was one of the famous DePasquale brothers of the Philadelphia Orchestra and my friend’s aunt. She was a descendent of Napoleon‘s first wife, Josephine and Czar Nicholas I. She was born Maria Madgelena, Duchess von Leuchtenberg in Nice, France, daughter of Duke Serge Nicolaievitch and Duchess Anna. She renounced her title somewhere around 1949 to marry Joe.
So yes, my childhood librarian was once a princess. And she was tough. You didn’t have your books over to you returned them on time. but she always had books to recommend, even to kids. She also spoke five languages. and I remember being in the library one time when her inner princess came out because she was annoyed with someone on the phone.
I found her fascinating. So these are the little things that make up the history of Gladwyne that creating some artificial version of a Nouveau Gladwyne will never capture.
Of course, I bet they don’t know about things like in the early 2000s when the pharmacist went to jail.
Or all the contretemps over the years with a now deceased member of a founding family of Gladwyne who at one time owned a lot of the things in the village. He’s long deceased now and could be so cranky.
Or the whole controversy over the Gladwyne lunch years ago or Barker Mill or Oddfellows.
Now, of course, the 19035 has become known in recent years as being the home of shall we say Main Line grifters, correct ? And the McMansion ridiculousness?
And we can’t forget about all of the controversy surrounding what will be the redevelopment I guess eventually of the Dorrance estate on Monk Road. Course I was also on that property as a kid and it’s nothing sort of spectacular even if the old apple orchard no longer exists.
And I remember when the estate on Waverley Road was sold to become Waverly Heights. And there were other surrounding properties that got fed into it and when I was a kid, there were lots of horses with swishy tails hoping for a pat at the fence or maybe an apple. The Junkin Estate.
The Gladwyne I grew up with was always a mixed bag originally it had been like mills and farmers and people with grand estates who owned lots of horses. It was very much like parts of Chester County, including Willistown.
Or my one friend‘s house across the street from St. John Vianney which was sold and bulldozed and it had the nicest pool. It was the best house. In its place? A McMansion so big I don’t even say you can. I don’t even know how you can say they have green space or a garden. Of course Lower Merion planning really didn’t say much about that. Did they? and that will be a definite hurdle here because that planning department is so pro-development, along with the fact that the new commissioners, including the one for Gladwyne have not been there long enough to understand the place. And that even includes River Road.
Again, I know, change happens, but here it shouldn’t be so drastic. It should truly be keeping the history in mind and the current plans in my opinion do not.
