I had someone reach out to me very recently, who was a descendent of the Newlin family who once lived at Ashbridge house on Indian Run Farm in Exton/West Whiteland. His name is Nick Schade and he has shared some photos that I will share at the bottom of what this used to be but now a few words about what it has become.

This was one of the broken down old beautiful Chester County farm houses I have been obsessed with over the past few years. This was the one that when you went into Main Street, looked like it was shrink wrapped in plastic so it could be shipped somewhere like a package I don’t know how else to describe it. I have been writing about this place for a few years, the last time in 2020.

I will be completely honest, and I never thought that this would ever be restored. But it has been. This next photo is another one from Bozzuto who was the developer.

Now I am not going to be a hypocrite, and change my tune and say I love the development around the farmhouse, because I most assuredly do not. First of all, I think there are too many apartment complexes being built out here and we don’t want to be at King of Prussia in Chester County. But it sure seems like that is the direction that everything is going, isn’t it? But I will say that I am honestly grateful that the rehab actually occurred.

It is so important for municipalities to see that adaptive reuse of old structures can occur. Like what finally happened here would be ideal for the Lloyd Farm House in Caln. Or the 18th century farmhouse on the property of the boat dealership that was Clews and Strawbridge in Frazer. Or what about the old farmhouse in Exton – you know 105 S. Whitford Road in Exton? Was part of Oaklands Estate originally and a familial/childhood home of a now retired and popular former Chester County State Representative?

I am also going to say that in spite of the insane amount of development in West Whiteland, it is also a municipality that has some mighty fine adaptive reuse and restoration of historic structures if they survive.

Back to Ashbridge House/Indian Run Farm. So the farmhouse is part of the development, and the old barn is World of Beer. The photos you will be seeing are from the Newlin family.

I am always grateful when these family members send me photos of these places I write about. Because when I see them as they were in my minds eye, and I imagine, it’s always so wonderful when I see actual photos if they exist to see that I wasn’t wrong in my imagining. It’s also cool since a lot of these families don’t have a lot of descendants left, or they don’t have descendants that know of once came from this area and lived in these great places.

The photos I am about to post start in the late 19th century and run through to the 1970s.

Thank you so much Nick for the photos and the prompt to post an update.

#thisplacematters