chester county is eternally curious isn’t it?

Posted on March 3, 2026 by carla

Screenshot of a screenshot I
received yesterday,

Politics is often very interesting. And I’m not talking about what political persuasion someone is, but literally the political history of an area.

So like a year ago, we were all herded with the news that David Berman was the new CEO of Chester County. If anyone recalls my comments at the time, it was most simply put “why does Chester County need a CEO?”

So now I have another question based on curiosity research about a man I didn’t know anything much about. And the newspaper archives? They tele fascinating tale. This guy is literally a political survivor and has had quite a long career in the political spectrum starting in Chester County. In the late 90s, and according to an article on June 13, 1997 as the start date, he was the head of the Chester County Democrats for a while.

Yeah, for real. Why did nobody talk about this when he came to Chester County?

According to an archive article found that was written by Nancy Petersen for The Philadelphia Inquirer Chester County Neighbors Section when they had their wonderful Chester County Bureau on June 13, 1997 Byerman was elected head of the Chester County Democrats, defeating at that time a woman named Barbara Cooper. He was apparently elected to complete an unexpired term of someone named Shawn March. March was described at the time then as a single dad who had a new business who realized he didn’t have the proper amount of time to devote to being leader of the Chester County Democrats.

I will further note that the Inquirer article refers to the woman he defeated by the diminutive of “Bunny.” Yes, that of course means each major political party in Chester county has had a Bunny at one point in time. Bunny Cooper for the Democrats and former Sheriff Bunny Welsh for the Republicans. That has nothing to do with this, it’s just a Segway and the way my mind works about things. I just find interesting/amusing about politics in this county.

Anyway, given the historic shift in democratic politics for Chester County between the time Byerman was here last and recent past, why wouldn’t they say he was once ahead of the Democratic Party for Chester County? I mean when he left Democrats had little toehold basically, and when he came back, they’re running county row, right?

Chester County restructures administrative government, appoints first-ever CEO and COO

Seriously here’s the press release from the county in late 2024:

https://www.chesco.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1599&ARC=2315

Here are the screenshots of said press release in case it disappears off the county website like any information pertaining to him did yesterday:

I’m sorry I have a weird mind maybe but I don’t understand why they didn’t disclose to the public what he did in Chester County in the 1990s? Isn’t it important and isn’t it perhaps politically germane?

And yesterday they couldn’t get his information off the government website fast enough. One person I know remarked well you know this is interesting because you know how slow government works and they had him off the website lickety split, so what really happened?

And oh by the way, thank goodness for Internet archives because here’s his old bio page thing from the Chester County website:

So seriously, what happened? Speculation is running rampant across the county and neither the county, nor Mr. Byerman, would really comment to the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday- I think the phrase they used in the paper was that Mr. Byerman didn’t return a phone call for comment or something like that?

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-ceo-david-byerman-20260302.html

Now what I said specifically, when he was first appointed is as follows (and I am quoting myself as of April, 2025):

So this David Byerman is the Chief Executive Officer of Chester County. Honestly, I’m still waiting for the explanation as to why a county government needs a CEO? I think it’s kind of silly and wasteful. There I said it out loud and NOW in addition to this they want to hire a CXO somebody told me that and I said what the F is a CXO so they sent me to Byerman‘s LinkedIn page. It’s a Chief Experience Officer. I mean talk about WTF. I have to ask is that an updated job title for Julie McCoy the Cruise Director from the love boat? is Disney opening a theme park in Chester County?

Doesn’t Chester County already have someone that does marketing and tourism etc.?

I have to be honest I think we need more money to go into certain services not fluff positions.

~ April 25, 2025

So I’m still waiting. And how did he come to be chosen by Chester County? and again if he was head of the Chester County Democrats, why didn’t they say so when he was hired? Sorry not sorry I’m just a little bit stuck on that because among other things it would’ve shown people a year ago that he had some experience here and he didn’t just merely live here for a while and go to grad school at Penn, right? Or, would that have raised other questions?

this is where I wish the Daily Local’s Michael Rellehan was still alive. He was obviously covering Chester County back then and he might’ve had answers to some of these questions, right?

And speaking of our local paper, there is no mention of this momentous thing that happened yesterday in our county as of yet. I imagine it’s probably because of the county is probably trying to figure out how they’re going to talk about this? And in my humble opinion, it’s always easier to stonewall the local paper versus a regional paper.

The last county centric article actually appeared yesterday morning:

Commissioner Josh Maxwell: Chester County is in a state of ‘transition’

Well, considering the date on this article was like 7 AM March 2 meaning yesterday, indeed Chester County is in a state of transition, yes?

So does that mean Chester county employees are going to get cost of living increases? Does that mean we will see money again for things like open space because have you heard it mentioned this year yet? Does this mean that voter services is going to get a new department head and Karen Barsoum will go back from once she came?

I will also point out an editorial that Byerman wrote for the Daily Local in August 2025:

Guest commentary: Chester County’s executive leadership team – built to ensure effective local government

An excerpt:

Taxpayers deserve a government that minimizes costs and maximizes efficiency. The surest way to achieve that is through strong, capable leadership. This week, as we welcome our new Chief Experience Officer (CXO), Megan Moser, Chester County has a fully staffed executive leadership team ready to deliver results.

Some have questioned whether adding a second deputy is necessary. In truth, Chester County is a $730 million organization with 2,600 employees. For an operation of this size, a CEO and two deputies is not a luxury, it is a responsible structure that ensures the job gets done.

When I was hired as a result of the county administrator recruitment last year, my application was for the same job title held by my predecessor. At the commissioners’ direction, my title was modernized upon my hire to chief executive officer, and the former deputy administrator title became chief operating officer….The title “CEO” may sound corporate, but in a government context I believe it simply means accountability. In business, CEOs maximize profits. In government, our “profits” are measured in impact: better services, more effective operations, and stronger communities. If we define success by the outcomes we deliver for residents, the analogy fits.

As CEO, I will lead with discipline, integrity, and a steadfast commitment to responsible stewardship of public funds. We all know that Chester County faces real challenges, fiscal and otherwise. Meeting them will require professionalism, expertise, and the ability to work across political lines. Whether we lean conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between, we should agree on this: a well-run county government, led by skilled professionals, benefits everyone. As a nonpartisan CEO, I will work every day to realize this vision.

It’s a pretty big editorial, but those are the things that stuck out to me. And yes, those are screenshots from a Nevada paper when he headed back there for work after being the leader of the Chester County Democrats. but I think context is important here, because I didn’t know he was ahead of the Chester County Democrats until I decided to look in newspaper archives to see if he was mentioned anywhere in the 1990s. and that was solely out of my own curiosity because it had said when he came back here that he and his wife had lived here in the 90s, but what did he do besides go to grad school? And that’s when I discovered what he had done… and more. He had also worked for a nonprofit. It looks like. Something called the Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program.

Then I found some things he must’ve done while he was doing the whole Chester County Democrats thing :

The Lancaster New Era doesn’t really exist today. It was one of two papers that merged to become the current paper out of Lancaster, PA. This paper operated in Lancaster, PA between 1923 and 2009.

Anyway, that article is about a Republican becoming a Democrat to challenge now retired Congressman Joe Pitts who was extremely popular and a Congressman between 1997 and 2017. When he retired, he was succeeded by Lloyd Smuckler who is sort of Trumpy.

Anyway, I just found that an interesting footnote in Byerman’s career and what once was part of Chester County politics. That congressional seat got redistricted. It was once known as the 16th I believe and it covered part of Chester County and now it’s the 11th and it has nothing to do with Chester County but back then it did. The other reason I found that interesting is another mention of someone who was a Republican, who didn’t necessarily want to become a Democrat, but did for political expediency if that makes any sense? That Robert Yorczyk, who is described as owning a printing business in Exton PA had been an unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate back when GOP was boss in the county, yes? Robert Yorczyk served as a member of the Downingtown Area School Board for 14 years until 2017 according to The Daily Local. He also served on the Uwchlan Planning Commission between 1993 and 2003, and around 2011 ran for Supervisor in Uwchlan. It appears that he was a Republican school board member, I don’t know that he was elected supervisor or not. These days he has Chester county in his rearview mirror and is enjoying. I hope a happy retirement in Georgia. Honestly, he seemed quite interesting so maybe he would have made a really interesting congressman back then?

Sorry, didn’t mean to go on the giant segue and down a rabbit hole. It’s just political history is very interesting and it forms a community at large.

So I guess my whole point is Mr. Byerman was part of that political history why wasn’t it brought up when he came back to Chester County?

After being ahead of the Democrats for Chester county, Byerman seems to have been in Nevada again for a bunch of years, which is apparently his home state. Then he seemed to pop up in Kentucky for a bunch of years. His tenure with his work in Kentucky ended when whatever contract he had wasn’t renewed.

Then there was really nothing for a couple of years and then he popped up here in Chester County?

And now I mean, I think people naturally want to know why he and the county parted ways after a relatively brief tenure and kind of removed his whole presence from the county website save for some press releases so fast?

Will we ever know ? Will he ever give that interview? it’s all very curious. But then again a lot of things in Chester county these days are curious like why is Karen Barsoum still employed as the head of voter services? And who will be replacing the county solicitor everyone has heard is leaving? And I don’t recall the county saying why she was leaving do you?

Anyway, it’s a right regular Nancy Drew mystery once again, isn’t it?

it’s like project runway in chester county, right?

funeral dirge for an old house. r.i.p. breeze hill

Posted on February 26, 2026 by carla

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.

It didn’t have to become just dust.

400 leopard road in berwyn is becoming but a memory…with no court resolution yet.

will the lifetime movie version be called bad brit and her daddio?

Posted on February 25, 2026 by carla

Yep, it is like a bad Lifetime TV movie, only it is real. I had heard about this at the beginning of the month at some point, only nothing came of it…until yesterday when NBC10’s Deanna Durante broke the story:

Dammmmmnnnn, it was fact, not fiction.

So let’s discuss: an elementary school age basketball team. 2nd grade I think? Like that is barely above pee wee. Were the bookies hot on these little people match ups or something? Do adults have so little control at kids’ games that it becomes this horrifying gaper delay watching scenario?

I am told the way this works for the Malvern Basketball League is you enter the league with an entire team. A lot of basketball recreation programs you enter just your child —pay the fee and then a coach is assigned to you. With Malvern, you pay the whole fee for a team of 10 and enter all the kids as one team. So are the “coaches” vetted like anyone else even volunteering in schools these days?

So this news has gone international:

https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/youth-basketball-coach-her-father-212937972.html

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/pennsylvania-basketball-coach-arrest-b2927682.html

It’s headed across the state:

https://www.pennlive.com/crime/2026/02/coach-dad-attacked-other-teams-coach-wife-after-pa-2nd-graders-game-police.html

Etc..

https://hoodline.com/2026/02/sideline-shock-in-rosemont-lower-merion-coach-dad-nabbed-after-second-grade-hoops-brawl

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/brynmawr/amp/33706053/fight-at-main-line-kids-basketball-game-leaves-3-hurt-2-charged-da

And they’ve gone tabloid:

https://nypost.com/2026/02/25/us-news/youth-basketball-coach-and-her-father-arrested-for-attacking-opposing-team

https://www.usmagazine.com/crime-news/news/kids-basketball-coach-and-dad-attacked-other-coach-and-wife-pa-police

Her mugshot is total Elvira face. Who taught her to do lip liner like the crazy babysitter of one of my sister’s elementary school friends years ago? (Yeah seriously, this woman would do lipliner when driving kids around and it went everywhere.) Someone on X formerly known as Twitter had this to say about pops who is a financial services professional – “toupee should be charged seperately” , making this all the more ludicrous meets Lifetime insane and where’s his chapstick???

Oh and better yet? Her sister was one of those “alternative” code for cuckoo school board candidates in Tredyffrin Easttown School District – she was the blondie “diversity” candidate because yeah that is so diverse, right?

Overall I just can’t with these people. This was a second grade basketball game. So that is what? 7 and 8 year olds?

When I was growing up it was the ice skating moms who I thought were the worst. I had friends who were competitive skaters so I used to watch the momzillas in action over at the Humane Society in Ardmore. They were vicious. To each other, to their own kids, to other people’s kids. Then as we aged and friends had kids playing baseball and soccer –wowza. Then of course there were the high school ice hockey parents in recent past. I remember being embarrassed how my friend’s son’s high school team (and parents) were treated in Great Valley a few years ago.

Amazingly this happens – see Staten Island recently:

People wonder why kids fight and bully in school? Look at the fine examples being set by the adults? Anger management, fines, long and humbling community service, and no more youth sports for the win.

MdjDocketSheet Brittany Ortiz Download

MdjDocketSheet Wm Stanley Download

400 leopard road in berwyn is becoming but a memory…with no court resolution yet.

Posted on February 25, 2026 by carla

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.

chesco frankel case Download

delco frankel case Download

york frankel case Download

berwyn firebug does it again….in york pa

after the fire: 1 year later

so…. the story of 400 leopard road in berwyn has taken a twist

what to do about the gladwyne of it all?

Posted on February 23, 2026 by carla

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?

***Screenshot from Lower Merion Historical Society Website***

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.)

*Screenshot from Lower Merion Historical Society*

But this whole thing leaves me uneasy. It just does.

I like the idea of preservation and adaptive reuse.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15450897/Pennsylvania-town-Gladwyne-fight-billionaire-Jeff-Yass.html

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 do know 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.

Courtesy of
Lower Merion Historical Society

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.

https://www.lowermerion.org/government/lower-merion-connect/e-subscription

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.

https://www.lowermerion.org/

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.

Wake up 19035 before it’s too late.

https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-helped-les-wexner-build-model-town-ohio-2019-7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladwyne_Historic_District

Can the ultra-rich buy up and reshape a town? Gladwyne’s would-be fairy godparents Janine & Jeffrey Yass and Haldon House plan to remake the historic village in one of the Main Line’s toniest zip codes

Gladwyne

What on earth is going on in Gladwyne, the Main Line’s priciest zip code? We’ve got some answers.

gladwyne village is fighting for survival from bad development.

should gladwyne’s historic village be reimagined to be like peddler’s village-lite?

the gladwyne market house, once known as delaware market house closes and is sold…again

https://www.change.org/p/stop-one-family-from-controlling-a-town-s-future

This is a very amusing post from a slezoid realtor whose last name is amusing:

https://www.tomtoole.com/blog/gladwyne-downtown-revitalization-whats-planned-whats-not-and-why-it-matters/

Lower Merion to create new neighborhood zoning center for some commercial areas

https://www.lowermerion.org/departments/building-and-planning-department/long-range-plans-projects/township-wide-planning/previous-comprehensive-plans/1979-comprehensive-plan/existing-land-use

Zoners OK demo plan in historic Gladwyne

https://montco.today/2026/01/gladwyne-jeff-yass-redevelopment-vision/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/billionaire-jeff-yass-is-behind-a-plan-to-revitalize-downtown-gladwyne/ar-AA1TUPWs

oops she did it again!

Posted on February 9, 2026 by carla

Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. Just when you think there’s no more Barsouming to be had, here she comes again! She is the Britney Spears of county government! Oops she did it again!

https://www.votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2026/02/06/chester-county-mail-ballot-application-error-reverse-first-last-names/

Mail ballot application error adds to Chester County’s woes

The county sent out thousands of forms that reversed voters’ first and last names.

By Carter Walker | February 6, 2026, 4:12pm EST

A Pennsylvania county election office that was already facing criticism for a 2025 election snafu and an alleged hostile work environment is dealing with another error.

Roughly 145,000 mail ballot applications sent out in Chester County this week for the 2026 elections were printed with the first and last names of voters reversed…..Chester County’s election director, Karen Barsoum, confirmed ….Barsoum declined to say which employee or division of the office performed the check.

She said the accuracy check was more focused on confirming that the proper information, such as voter ID number or address, was connected to the right voter rather than whether the names were in the correct order.

Mmmkay Karen and once again we hear crickets versus a simple apology or truly owning yet another screw-up.

Effective leadership starts at the top and she’s not a leader is she? She’s not a good manager is she?

Read the full article, there is no paywall.

#FIREKARENBARSOUM

Prior Barsouming includes:

https://www.votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2026/02/05/chester-county-pollbook-problem-2025-election-board-meeting-karen-barsoum/

https://vista.today/2024/08/karen-barsoum-leadership-chester-county/

https://www.votebeat.org/pennsylvania/2025/11/12/chester-county-pollbook-provisional-ballot-problem-2025-election/

Chester County poll book error was caused by ‘simple human error,’ investigation finds

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/chester-county-election-office-burnout-20251216.html

Chester County pledges to ‘make it right’ as it navigates fallout from poll book error

karen barsoum needs to go: chester county has made independents invisible on election day.

love note from “chester” (and fire karen barsoum)

hey karen barsoum, where is my husband’s provisional ballot?

it’s not conclave, it’s voter services so what gives chester county commissioners? where’s the truth and accountability?

where’s karen barsoum, chester county?

serenading….chester county voter services!

where’s the literal karen of chesco voter services?

who is a conspiracy theorist now with chester county voters services?

the big voter services investigation is out, so what will change? odds are, not much in my opinion.

ahh yes the sweet smell of gaslighting from human dumpster fires.

Posted on January 16, 2026 by carla

Some kooks have surfaced.

I’ve decided that this must be some kind of seasonal disorder. They’re not being paid attention to, and they love their ridiculous. They’re all some form of Klanned Karenhood, and yes, I have mocked some of them. They are like caricatures of adult mean girls.

They like to project their behavior onto everyone else.

If you are not like them, you are bad.

If you don’t share their precise politics, you are bad.

Essentially, if you are not just like them, you are bad.

Some of these women have been coming at me for years. They are women who feel emboldened in a MAGA world. They are very limited in their world view , and they can’t handle anything that’s different or disagrees with their crazy.

When these women are online, they are extraordinarily emboldened. In person I wouldn’t know as obviously we don’t move in the same social circles or world.

Generally speaking, they’re just obnoxious. And I decided years ago I didn’t have to put up with it. Mostly I just blocked them then I don’t have to deal with them, but then they pop up again. And when they pop up it’s new gaslighting city.

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but this seems to be the time when the people that I just choose not to know like to gaslight me. Last year when it happened, someone acted on it, and it ended up being a real life police thing that the district attorney took to court and prosecuted. It’s like it’s a seasonal disorder for keyboard warriors.

Yesterday, the woman in West Goshen/West Chester we still refer to as the QAnon princess Anonymous Ada decided she was going to throw up her version of fake news.

She conveniently left out what I said, and what I said when I updated the post. I didn’t hide that. I corrected the original post which was essentially that people thought ice had been spotted in Coatesville the other day.

I wasn’t chasing ICE vehicles in my vehicle with a whistle or waving a sign on a street corner. I shared a post. What I shared was not a responsible it was just what people thought they saw.

What I first said was:

Then, when I received updated information, this is what I said, and I will note you can check the edit history because all I did was update the original post:

So there you have it. The simple, unvarnished truth.

Ada Nestor, who is a failed politician vis-à-vis a bad attempt at joining WCSAD school board and she is at present, vice chair of West Goshen Republican Committee is ridiculous. Of course it’s not the first time she’s been the QAnon Princess of alternative reality is it?

Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot

Also I take issue with the way she denigrated my friend Barry and his WCHE “All Politics Are Local” show.

Here allow me yet more screenshots which will also contain the 200+ ridiculous, gaslighting comments :

You notice she doesn’t want to say what radio station it is? Probably because Barry’s shows are great. That would be a threat to her as she apparently tries to play radio, right? According to her Barry is disloyal to Republicans because I am sometimes a guest. And she stupidly refers to him as a “committee member” as in she doesn’t even know the hierarchy of her own political party. He’s an area vice chair, actually. Oh and his show is “All Politics Are Local.”

The show is not one political party. It’s welcoming to all. It’s about the stories NOT being told in our communities. Barry is helping us cross the local news desert. She should say thank you. And of course the West Goshen Republican Committee should be ashamed to have her as one of them, but they are fairly consistently a train wreck with multiple scandals so will they do anything? Probably not.

Then there are the others. All of these lovely women who talk a good game about supporting other women….but only if you agree with them, right?

A peek into the past:

So these two women? Nasty. Why? Because I am not part of their group. Basically what they represent is distasteful. And they are not about supporting other women. They both used to make scenes at school board meetings. They were caught on video quite a few times yes? One used to brandish a bible and calling down the devil or something in Downingtown and her pal would wear a gas mask. The other one would sputter and spit whilst pointing her finger.

There is more, but no point, it’s just the wash, rinse, and repeat of ugliness. If you aren’t them, you are bad.

So I am bad I suppose.

Whatever.

But what is really fascinating is that they are almost obsessed with me. I had forgotten about most of them because that’s the joy of being able to block people you don’t care for on social media. It’s literally out of sight out of mind.

I was perfectly content to lead my life and to leave them to the annals of time. After all, they’re not important to me, I don’t want them as friends.

But I wasn’t counting on their somewhat ridiculous interest in me at this point. Yes I’m a blogger. I’m not a public figure. I live my life. They are not part of it. Yet here they are in all their truth stretching, gaslighting glory.

To them I am a bad, crazy person.

I am always amused as they refer to me as this like die hard total completely over-the-top liberal. And I’m actually not. I’m a moderate and politically, I’m an independent. I know plenty of very liberal people and I don’t have a problem with that or them. It’s what they believe, just like I have plenty of friends who are true conservatives, it’s what they believe, and we all coexist quite nicely. It’s actually kind of sad that they don’t have those kind of relationships, but it’s not my job to help them.

And I have zero desire to know any of them. They are human dumpster fires.

At the end of the day, I’m considering the source or sources. I have made a conscious choice not to know people like that.

I marvel at them, but I am truly grateful I am not like them.

Peace ✌️ out.

welcome to new slumlord city?

Posted on January 13, 2026 by carla

Yep. That’s part of the regular view at 249-269 Lancaster Avenue in Malvern, East Whiteland. This week it’s a dumped mattress and some other stuff a couple of weeks ago. It was bags of trash, just sitting in the middle of their property. As in somebody dumped trash, it wasn’t collected there. A lot were white kitchen trash bags.

The property is rotting. It looks like hell. Why should residence and anyone that drives by look at new slumlord city there? And what about the businesses nearby? Don’t they deserve better?

I seem to remember that when the property sold around 2019, we knew that the buildings were going to be torn down and at first we were told a Lidl Market was going there.

Lidl went elsewhere. Then there was this whole thing about putting apartments there. East Whiteland Township did not want that and I don’t remember what happened but the apartments didn’t happen (thank goodness.)

So every once in a while, you hear a little rumor but mostly it just sits in rots and becomes a trash dump.

I took some moody photos in 2020 because I wanted to record the vintageness of both locations.

I don’t know about my readers, but I am of the opinion that these developers and property owners shouldn’t just be allowed to let locations rot because they can’t get their own way. Can you agree on that? I mean, if you want another example, look at one of my favorites, the farmhouse at Clews and Strawbridge with boats in front of it half of the time, right?

Would it be too much to ask if they would tidy up their properties while they are pending whatever is going to happen? And is there other stuff going on with that property that people need to know about?

Would the property owner like to look at this if it was sitting on his front lawn or whatever?

this is not ok

Posted on January 12, 2026 by carla

*Screenshot from West Chester Chronicle coverage of a recent protest.*

NPR: Anti-ICE protests across U.S. demand justice for Renee Good’s death

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/10/nx-s1-5673229/ice-protests-minneapolis-portland-renee-good

Who was Renee Good?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jepdjy256o

Allow me to quote the BBC:

The woman shot dead by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis has been identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had just moved to the city.

She was a prize-winning poet and a hobby guitarist, who city leaders have said was there as a legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities.

But the Trump administration has called her a “domestic terrorist”….She had two children, who are now teenagers, with her first husband. Speaking to US media on condition that his name was not used, he said that Good was not an activist and that she was a devoted Christian who went to Northern Ireland on youth missions when she was younger.

She hosted a podcast with her second husband, Tim Macklin, who died in 2023. They had a son together, who is now six years old….Her third marriage was to Rebecca Good, with whom she moved to Minneapolis just last year, from Kansas City…. “On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles. They had guns,” Rebecca Good said in a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday…..Several state leaders have said that Good was at the scene of an ICE raid in the south of Minneapolis as a legal observer – a volunteer who monitors police and security forces at protests and operations…..Good “weaponised her vehicle”, Noem told reporters, and then tried to run over one of the officers “in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism”.

The ICE agent feared for his life, Noem said, and “fired defensive shots”….But the city’s mayor said the agent who shot Good had acted recklessly.

“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly: that is bullshit,” Jacob Frey said. “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”

So Renee Good was just a mom. She was also apparently a legal observer of protests, etc. She was literally a community volunteer. A volunteer. Let that sink in.

https://www.cato.org/blog/what-renee-goods-story

Why was she shot? Very good question. I don’t have any answers but I have to wonder is a woman who is a mom married to another woman driving a not brand new Honda Pilot with a big old lab looking dog in the backseat really a threat to national security?

Personally I am appalled. Carrying a weapon is a responsibility, and these ICE agents? I can’t wrap my head around these people who are behaving like thugs under the guise of law enforcement can you? Ok sure they have a job to do, but look at how they do it? Look at all these crazy incidents and how they are ratcheting up including to anything other than accidental death and aren’t you horrified? So do you not see parallels between this and World War II Europe?

This. Is. Not. O.k.

So the country has erupted into more protests. Now my feelings about protests have nothing to do with the ability to protest, it’s the way it has changed an evolved today because there are problems. And sometimes violence. It’s scary and hard. And whenever you hear about somebody going to a protest, you hold your breath until you know they’re all home safe and sound.

And the rhetoric being tossed everywhere from Washington DC after the unnecessary violent death of Renee Good is appallingly predictable, isn’t it? And again, it’s like political state propaganda.

Literally, it is turning into all Pravda on this bus. They are creating a narrative to defend the indefensible which is quite possibly murder, right? They are creating a narrative to suit their needs. And it’s not truthful and it’s horrible and somewhere in the back of my head because this woman was living an alternative lifestyle compared to what many of those people are comfortable with, did that have something to do with it?

It’s so hard to write about this. Because even if you’re trying to process it, someone’s going to take you to task and some of the comments have been downright crazy. And ugly. And these comments you see on social media are driven by the Washington D.C. rhetoric to fit the uncomfortable narrative of what actually happened.

This is not our country. And yet somehow it is becoming the new normal. It’s not acceptable normal. It’s a terrifying normal.

And then you wonder even for me as a blogger, trying to wrap my head around this, am I going to be punished somehow or attacked or threatened or harassed for writing this?

I just have one last comment and it’s a simple question: is this the country we want to live in?

should gladwyne’s historic village be reimagined to be like peddler’s village-lite?

Posted on January 10, 2026 by carla

***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.

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2025/11/04/trump-ballroom-donation-jeff-yass/

Read Victor Fiorello’s article it’s fascinating.

And this:

https://readsludge.com/2025/08/01/tiktok-billionaire-donates-millions-to-trump-as-he-repeatedly-delays-ban/

And this:

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2024/12/pennsylvania-election-top-donors-pacs-attorney-general-jeff-yass-state-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?

the gladwyne market house, once known as delaware market house closes and is sold…again

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.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/realestate/brynmawr-pennsylvania-house-luxury.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/realestate/brynmawr-pennsylvania-house-luxury.html

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.

https://www.haldonhouse.com/about

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:

https://www.gladwynesquare.com/

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?

So it was a busy week and then came the Savvy Main Line article and I was gob smacked.

Can the ultra-rich buy up and reshape a town? Gladwyne’s would-be fairy godparents Janine & Jeffrey Yass and Haldon House plan to remake the historic village in one of the Main Line’s toniest zip codes

Excerpt:

Colonial Wiliamsburg had John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Northern Delaware had Pierre du Pont.

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.”

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.

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2005/03/01/society-another-scandal-in-gladwyne/

Or the scandal of the village realtor and gadfly.

Main Line socialite held on fraud charges

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.

A rare glimpse inside Gladwyne’s historic but threatened Barker Mill

These people wouldn’t even know anything about the log cabin, probably.

Lower Merion considers giving added protection to Gladwyne log cabin

New developer could bring new life into Gladwyne’s old Barkers Mill

Or the original Gladwyne Luncheonette which became the Lunch Box.

The Gladwyne Lunch Box is Small but Mighty

What on earth is going on in Gladwyne, the Main Line’s priciest zip code? We’ve got some answers.

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?

https://www.phillyvoice.com/gladwyne-mansion-sold-main-line-philadlephia-real-estate-andrew-barroway/

Or what places like VISTA Today want you to think courtesy of certain marketing types Gladwyne is.

https://montco.today/2025/04/wsj-million-dollar-views-gladwyne/

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2023/09/06/gladwyne-estate-mansion-main-line-homes-for-sale.html

https://montco.today/2025/04/gladwyne-mansion-hits-market/

And of course you can Airbnb or VRBO in Gladwyne.

https://t.vrbo.io/9d4ehYr0OZb

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.

Report of Revolutionary War burials complicates Gladwyne development proposal

Then slowly, I watched it change. It started with average sized houses that people I knew lived in growing up that were super sized.

ML History: Proud tradition of Scouting on the Main Line

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.

https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/?f%5Bplaces_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Gladwyne+%28Pa.%29&f%5Brepository_ssi%5D%5B%5D=Lower+Merion+Historical+Society&per_page=10&sort=relevance

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.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=146338

https://www.change.org/p/lm-zoning-hearing-board-save-historic-gladwyne