Here in Chester County we have reached the non-answers to questions phase of life, making it feel like we’re in the City of Philadelphia. It seems when people ask them questions these days they don’t even remotely answer the question and then there’s the whole thing over data centers. Are they really that obtuse deliberately ?
You’ll notice whomever does the socials for the county gave that lady a link to Chester County Planning Commission. Has anyone else realized that all the questionable planners from Montgomery County seemed to end up in Chester County not to be a conspiracy theorist but like are they trying to populate the region with their shall we say interesting or maybe Stepford trained planners? It’s something to consider.
And look at the link they posted and who’s on it. That bad ordinance model from Penn Futures is on it. Penn Futures went from annoying door-to-door solicitation to basically being sellouts didn’t they?
And there is supposedly some model ordinance they’re looking at from Montgomery County (shocker do you see a pattern yet?) but it’s not there and would you really trust anything coming out of Montgomery County given the total sheit show of Limerick and that other location near Conshohocken for a data center?
Our county needs to get off of Josh Shapiro‘s data center bus. So do other counties basically residents can’t depend on anyone when it comes to data centers and protect protecting us. And it affects our water. It affects our power. It affects our cost of power which PS PECO has said in a press release that they’re raising rates and it has to do with that – data centers.
📌On Monday, 15 months after receiving a nearly 12 percent rate increase for electricity and a 12.5 percent increase for natural gas, PECO Energy filed a request with the Public Utility Commission seeking an additional 12 percent increase in electric rates and another 11.4 percent increase in natural gas rates…. In its press release, PECO said providing power to data centers is one of the reasons the utility is seeking a rate hike.📌
And you’ll know they all dance around the topic of water usage of these things, and you can find videos from a county in Georgia who’ve literally had their water supply sucked dry by a data center.
And they don’t want to talk about the noise, or the fact that these data centers are muscling their way in to get approvals and before they even have a shovel in the ground, they want to make everything bigger like in East Whiteland and East Vincent.
It’s kind of like the pipelines except even worse. We as residents are being hung out to dry while they pander to a governor with political aspirations. I don’t mind political aspirations as long as it is not at the expense of all of us and even on a county level now you have to wonder?
Tredyffrin Township at their recent supervisors’ meeting last week struck a hollow chord with me. Here listen:
Sorry, not sorry that was overly scripted deflection. People deserve answers. I have personal friends who all but for a weird twist of timing and fate would have gone through that exact same area at almost the same time so if it wasn’t Megan Nieberle who was murdered, it could have been one of my friends.
Or it could have been any number of people who live around there, right? For example, I won’t name the supervisor in Tredyffrin but there’s one that I know lives right in that neighborhood near where Megan Nieberle lived correct?
And let’s talk about Steve Jahn’s interactions with people and other police departments before shooting a nurse and MOM of three, ok?
There is a woman from Parksburg, who had a crazy interaction with this guy a couple days before this event. In Caln?
This lady Tiara could have been his victim just as easily as Megan became his victim. Tiara who was a victim of his erratic behavior wanted to press charges. That police department out there apparently just let it go and why? If somebody’s acting that erratically in a parking lot, don’t you even want to look into him for a hot minute?
Here’s an excerpt from the written portion of the interview on 6abc‘s website:
“The officer didn’t want to pursue charges, they didn’t think it was going to go anywhere, and they kind of dissuaded me,” Tiara said.
She said police contacted her again Saturday morning and shared his insurance information, telling her he had also been hostile with officers.
“They wanted to let things lie, they said. So they’re the police, I agreed,” she added.
OK, then you add to that the fact that police encountered him at the PNC Bank and Paoli before he forever took a woman away from her friends, family, coworkers, neighbors? Before he devastated her husband and children?
I just don’t understand why they couldn’t have even have put him in a holding cell? And I get that to 302 someone is not as easy as it used to be, but it’s still possible isn’t it? Sorry if I am not particularly sympathetic about what came out of the mouth of Tredyffrin officials at their meeting. I thought they would at least be more real. (And yes I get that they can’t talk about an ongoing investigation but it could have been a little less CYA sounding.)
And people got up and spoke, and they remarked also upon the fact that residents received no notification of this and why wasn’t an emergency notification issued before they arrested Jahn telling people to stay in their houses and keep the doors locked or on the lookout? Because at that point in time who knew where he was? And it was family members who turned him in, correct?
I’m not playing hindsight is 20/20 but in my opinion I think several balls got dropped here and a woman lost her life as a result.
And then there is something else that I’ve heard multiple times now and is any reporter going to hunt this down? It has been said he stopped in at Radnor PD as in their township building/station at some point before this all happened? Did that actually happen and what did Radnor do? And then there were the reports that appeared in the media already about people concerned about this guy’s mental health calling the police?
Tredyffrin needs to do better than what they have offered thus far.
Megan Nieberle’s husband and children deserve better. Everyone deserves better.
This didn’t have to happen. I still believe that how many days later after this happened.
But Tredyffrin’s response? It’s like they were issuing platitudes so if they’re sued, they can say they care or something? Come on Tredyffrin. Put on your big boy and big girl pants. You can’t unring this bell and how you act going forward may determine a lot of things in this municipality doesn’t it?
Disappointed is the most polite term I can apply to what I saw at that meeting and I dare say residents want action here not platitudes?
Also, Steve Jahn’s hearing was postponed and after looking at the docket, it seems like he still doesn’t have legal representation. He also might not be mentally capable of going to court right now and of course, if that’s the case, I think the public deserves to know what’s going on don’t you?
I’m actually sorry to sound critical but what the hell happened and what is going on?
If you look at the docket, it looks like May is his next court date.
Chase and David the owners who are now friends literally started with a small hoop house that I am pretty sure they made themselves. They delivered all the plants themselves at first. That’s actually how I met their dogs.
I want to say up front I have been a devoted and regular customer. I am not ever compensated in any way, shape, or form. Quality plants- annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, herbs, fruit plants, vegetables and more.
I love to garden, they have great plants at fair prices. And they deliver. I do know some of the wholesale nurseries in multiple states that they use, so I know what I am buying and it’s quality plant material not all juiced up with Miracle Gro. Have I lost a few plants over the years? Yes, due to deer, not them!
I have bought so many wonderful things from them. I have introduced friends and family in multiple states now to them. I have watched them grow from a one hoop house and a couple of vans operation to a multi-state business where they have a hub up in Lancaster County and another in Maryland. They are even growing some of their own plants now.
Last year they added a new arm of their business called Second Chance Plants. It’s an overstock and discount concept put into pop-up locations. They tried it out last year and it was such an enormous hit that this year. They have the regular Bloombox business and like a dozen of these seasonal pop-ups stretching through PA and MD.
I went to the one in Exton on Saturday because I was jonesing to look for plants. Gardening is a definite passion of mine, and I put a lot into my garden every year. So the Exton location is that the Exton Square, Mall in one of the parking lot. And since it’s essentially a dead ghost mall, there’s plenty of space. Of course if those developers would actually pay attention it shows you what people want and it’s not more condos townhouses and apartments is it? It’s things like this and a hospital isn’t it? (But I digress.)
This additional arm of their business is freaking amazing and the prices are amazing and the plant quality is literally like Terrain, but not the Molly Markup. I bought three trees and they had so much stuff and it was just the soft opening. They even had a tremendous selection of beautiful ceramic planters. They have the grand opening next weekend. I think it starts on March 20. You have to look on the website or their social media.
I never had the time to visit any of the pop-ups last year. And I’m really glad they moved them into so many areas this year.
One of the things that we are lacking around here now with the constant march no stampede of big box stores and the cost of renting space and what not is there aren’t as many plant nurseries. There used to be so many gorgeous plant nurseries around so to me this is welcome. I’m not saying there aren’t any nurseries, but they aren’t nearly as many as there used to be.
The guys from Bloombox have worked hard and they have done this on their own. They drive all their own social media. They have wonderful people who work for them I and all of their other happy customers celebrate their success. Their success means our gardens look better and better every year.
However, their success means people want to make a buck off of it, doesn’t it?
Enter my favorite fauxblicist and some shall we say rather pushy or interesting unsolicited now not so private messages to the BloomBox guys:
Good lord. Does this woman not understand not being freaking rapid fire pushy? Yes fauxblicist, no thank you after trying to ignore the ping ping ping of unsolicited messages is a no means no situation is it not? Or does she think that is a maybe?
Welp….it’s a no. I spoke with them.
You see they don’t need her mailing list.
They don’t need whoever she thinks are her followers.
They do their own work. And trust me when I tell you, they work hard.
Social media also isn’t something a small business needs to necessarily hire someone for. A lot of this can be done by yourself for your business or for yourself personally with just a little effort. And that doesn’t mean buying followers. It means connecting with your audience. It means posting about your business. It starts with baby steps.
And if your business needs more, then you hire a real professional, which in my humble opinion which I am allowed to have it isn’t someone who only shares on their own channels.
I would also like everyone to look at the timestamp. It’s really not polite to message strangers later in an evening is it, or do people simply not have boundaries anymore as far as social norms? Just like it’s rude to message too late (especially someone you don’t know), it’s also equally rude to message them so early isn’t it?
And all of this goes into the context of if she wanted a shot at their business and this is what she’s doing? Would you also message someone early in the morning as they’re getting ready to launch a soft opening of multiple pop-up locations over a couple of different states?
A more prudent person might’ve sent an initial message to say hi but then you let it sit and maybe follow up with another brief message a few days later, right? Kind of the wrong situation to lack impulse control wouldn’t you say?
But then again this is the woman who even made a write up and Bitchy Waiter once upon a time:
And then there was the time when she went a little Rambo on a restaurant:
And another restaurant:
And then, of course she does this Easter bunny thing with this creepy costume. And she’s a made herself a public figure so I can have an opinion about the creepy, flat faced rabbit outfit. And no she’s not a furry, just seasonally a bunny. But then she post this recently about that jam:
Yeah….ummm… if somebody’s possibly bringing you somewhere to possibly be around their small children to entertain, they want to know you’re OK, right?
And when we’re talking about the email, I never signed up for her emails and I’ve been trying for I don’t know how many years to not get her emails yet there she is along with the other junk mail that covers nice topics like erectile dysfunction etc.
She’s a peach. A frenetic one….and that is being kind.
Her name was Megan Nieberle. CBS News released at first, so I am not breaking any confidences or being insensitive. She knew people that I’m friends with. I have known her name since this happened and I kept it to myself but now it’s out there along with an obituary.
She was a nurse at Children’s Hospital. she was a mom, a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a niece, a friend. I could go on, but you get the picture.
And she was a nurse, a natural caregiver. I have so much respect for nurses and she was a children’s nurse. She was a local Chester County girl through and through, having also been a proud graduate of Henderson High School in West Chester.
I have no pity or empathy for Steve Jahn who shot her. Random acts like this make me quite run out of the milk of human kindness.
And while I also understand per the other media reports about how it’s hard to 302 someone. I really feel Tredyffrin should’ve tried harder and I really hate anything that sounds critical of law-enforcement because they have such a tough job and we’ve already lost someone in law-enforcement at the same time in Chester County….at the same hospital.
I will also note to everyone again that there is an official obituary at this point. This is it:
There is also very rando stuff floating across social media. That is literally Clickbait that will probably infect your phone or your tablet or your computer. Please don’t click on them, but please do report those because they’re not being put out by the family. They’re being put out by ghouls.
Steven Jahn mugshot
So NBC10 and Deanna Durante said yesterday I think it was that Jahn’s friends were trying to contact police along with his own call Saturday a couple of hours before the murder of Megan Nieberle? NBC10 interviewed a couple different lawyers about it when I was a little confused about because I thought he was like education related law?
Megan’s life mattered. This also could be any of us. I spoke to a couple of people who are my friends who are in and around Berwyn. Both of these friends of mine had been out around a similar time frame and almost went down that road close to that time when the murder was committed.
Life is a fleeting and fragile thing, indeed.
Now let’s go back to what people told police about this guy was being like, and was he not known to the police for past behavior?
Online there have been many people commenting about situations even from within their own families where the police took someone’s weapon, etc.
I don’t know what else to even say at this point. I didn’t know Megan, but this could’ve been any woman on a dark and often too quiet road. and my opinion remains that this maybe could have been prevented.
My heart goes out to her friends and family. I will remember her in my prayers. Heaven gained another angel, who is there way before she should be.
RIP Megan Nieberle.
May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you: May you see your children’s children. May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings. May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward.
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home, And may the land of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you.
Join them Monday at Penn State Great Valley at 6 PM Monday March 9th for the planning commission meeting! Auditorium of the Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley, located at 30 East Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355.
In addition to in-person attendance, the Township has arranged for the meeting to be livestreamed via the Township website. https://www.eastwhiteland.org/
Public comment for those unable to attend in-person may be submitted via email to bcarosello@eastwhiteland.org. Please submit comments by 12:00pm on Monday, March 9, 2026.
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?
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?
Screenshot
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?
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:
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:
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.
Found on Newspapers.com
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.
Found on Newspapers.com
Then I found some things he must’ve done while he was doing the whole Chester County Democrats thing :
Found on Newspapers.com
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.
Found on Newspapers.com
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
