A photo sent to me during recent civic association meeting…
I spy with my little eye a new Inquirer article on the 19035. No not about the grifters currently visiting Club Fed or wherever that the civic association didn’t want mussing up their “vibe” but the article is about the equivalent of the hypothetical company town owners.
(Inquirer article has a pay wall and you have to subscribe to read it, unless they are still allowing people a few free reads a month?)
What do I say company town owners? Easy. In part this reminds me of our history when it come to factory / mining / mill towns when they were first settled (think 19th century.)
These company towns were controlled by the owners of the factory / mining / mill towns. They built the houses, school, local store, etc. etc. (Related aside: Gladwyne already once was a mill etc. town once upon a time, so is that the rich man poor man vibe the developers are going for again?)
Anyway these company towns had the ability to control every single person. They had literally a monopoly on everything. Workers and their families were dependent upon the owners of factory / mills / mines for their survival, which was a great way to control these people yes? Of course, history refers to boom and bust cycles with these towns which is why tourists visit ghost towns out west to this day, yes?
If you are interested in learning more about these types of towns see:
Yeah I know you think I am off on a tangent but the origin of the Gladwyne Village is HELLO a MILL TOWN. Do the upwardly mobile of nouveau 19035 really want to be owned again in a sense? Sociologically it’s a fascinating point to ponder.
So the article also talks about the mythical green space that is so fake sounding I can practically feel the sickly sweet taste.
Here is a link to what they presented to HARB at the beginning of May, which is what they presented to the 19035 gated community errr I mean Gladwyne Civic:
(I will tell you that Lower Merion Township’s website sucks, it’s as if it was designed to hide things, but I digress.)
So once again they are with the green space and fakakta gazebo with parking butting up against existing residents’ homes like it’s a city and WHY? Do they not see the big assed park that is 14.8 acres DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET?
I mean I am told that developer guy Andre worked in the village as a kid before he became an Andre? Does he have selective male Alzheimer’s or something? Are they literally BLIND as to the amount of green space, open space, natural water features, etc etc that ALREADY FREAKING EXIST IN GLADWYNE FOR ALL TO ENJOY? Are the residents also green blind?
Literally WTF in Gladwyne?
They don’t need a developer manufactured pocket park in essence….there is one across the street that is HUGE. Then there is Rolling Hill, Saunders Woods, Flat Rock Park, need I go on?
So these people and Lower Merion Township are either not listening hard enough, not caring enough to hear, or are just freaking green blind aren’t they?
Do the historic preservation and adaptive reuse. Rebuild the Gladwyne Pharmacy etc building, as that was probably just a favor for some pal that Walter Durham designed it in the first place because he designed houses, not mini malls. But leave the zoning alone which will threaten a well established historic district that is recognized on a local, county, state, and federal level. (Unless of course they plan to add a Trump Arch like planned for Washington DC?)
Listen harder and hear developers.
Don’t tart up the village. Do better, be better.
If these developers want their legacy in the 19035, they need to respect the legacy that already exists. Right now they are merely paying it lip service in my opinion.
Gladwyne is a wonderful place with a historic village. The nouveau and uninformed see it as this money-laden Main Line place to be conquered. Yeah, so they have done that enough in general to the Main Line, but there are some places that they should just leave alone. That includes the literally historic village in Gladwyne.
Yesterday was Azalea Day at St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne. It was the 73rd year.
I went to Azalea Day from the time I was 12 pretty much until I moved to Chester County. It was and is a perfect example of the magic of the village and surrounding environs which just don’t need tarting/messing up.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Gladwyne doesn’t need to be other than it is. Maybe people can’t stop Lower Merion from approving horrible out of place LEGO infill development McMansions, nor keep predatory development out of Ardmore with BS plans every few years for Schauffele Plaza, etc., but Lower Merion needs to be proactive with stopping the madness in the 19035.
It’s like Groundhog Day in Gladwyne every few years when a bad plan arises. The only thing now is that they neither have a civic association with people willing to protect the historic village, nor elected officials who are willing to do so and did you ever think Gladwyne would be in this predicament? Honestly, I did not because all of my observing prior to this was admiration for Gladwyne sticking up for Gladwyne.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Now there are still some people on Gladwyne Civic who were part of the magnificent years where they STOOD UP and fought for Gladwyne and the historic village. But they are the minority and probably tired. And my so much civic “leadership” yet where IS the leading? Oh I am sure they don’t care for my opinions and they even tossed me out of the closed Facebook group started by a friend. They have social climbers from Chester County in the group, but I am a threat. They tried once before this to remove me unsuccessfully.
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So I am out of the group now, which is no great loss as it is quite the insipid government ass kissing shadow of the group it once was….and civic it once was.
They will say that I am talking about this because it is merely sour grapes and no it’s not. If they kept such close tabs on my activity there before the co-prez removed me, they would see that I really did not visit much as the involvement of my friends lessened. That and knowing that I could not keep my mouth shut over the insipid nothingness that was being posted. Gold foil stars for all, and the nerve of that horse for not picking up its poop!
I had posted about what was happening in the historic village district because THEY WERE NOT. And it was and IS important. But now I realize WHY they aren’t and it’s sad that I realized it’s in my opinion a combination of a lack of spine and it would mean actually working for the community, right? For these people it’s easier to have a “greenspace” and gazebo that is not needed and for the historic village district to lose protections with a zoning change and an overlord they can bow and scrape to isn’t it? And if this goes through like this, history in my opinion, will not remember them fondly.
Again, for the cheap people in the expensive seats: historic preservation and continued adaptative reuse is a GREAT thing. Creating a fake narrative and a Peddlers Village/Disneyesque landscape is NOT. Potentially changing the zoning, tearing down houses and undoubtedly trees is also a BIG MISTAKE.
I can indeed have these opinions. My opinion remains the same: yes to historic preservation, tree preservation, and adaptive reuse. No to zoning changes and the ensuing circus. It’s still supposed to be a historic 18th/19th century crossroads village and THAT is ok.
The Gladwyne Civic needs to recover where they left their collective balls.
Lower Merion Commissioners need to not sit on their hands.
Residents can’t depend on either the commissioners or civic association here and they should go to every single meeting possible to save the village.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Vanity projects can be useful, this project has many problems. The developers here should use their big money for good….if they are really listening, that is?
The “greenspace” and then shoving parking next to private homes of residents who were there first. Quite disrespectful at a minimum if it matters to these people.
Greenspace is great, but have these people also actually paid attention to Gladwyne?
Right across Youngs Ford Road is a most marvelous park, and some of the best trails and open space anywhere are already existing in Gladwyne and have for many, many years. That “greenspace” is lipstick on the proverbial pig and a vanity thing along with the “water feature” and most of this project. And yes I can have that opinion. (Creeks and a big river are apparently not enough of a NATURAL water feature?)
A lot of people were not around to remember the “water feature” that worked for like ten minutes in Ardmore at the “gateway” on Ardmore Ave by Bryn Mawr Trust (don’t know what it is now). And the water feature was crooked, as in not level.
Today it is an oversized flowerpot that whomever owns the property should care for, but not sure who does?
Gladwyne is a beautiful area with natural water features, not an urban center that needs the calming influence of the sound of water so you don’t hear buses and taxis etc etc.
I am all for historic preservation and adaptive reuse, not Disney.
Gladwyne does not have to be Peddlers Village, there already is one.
Gladwyne does not have to be anything other than the sweet village it already is.
Reading and reciting history to (in part) appease HARB and the public doesn’t mean you get it, and part of the whole they aren’t there yet, is they do not get Gladwyne any more than a lot of the nouveaux who have moved in over the recent past.
What I have sadly observed is I do not think that the commissioner who now serves this ward including Gladwyne gets it, nor do most of the 14 member board of commissioners. The current leadership of Gladwyne Civic either doesn’t get it or they in my opinion have personal agendas and yes, I can offer that opinion. One co-president in particular is a problem and he treats Gladwyne as a gated community, which oh my means he won’t like it in the end if the village turns Disneyesque. The other co-president is nice (and his wife is fabulous.) The civic today seems to not have the same spirit past iterations have had, and a lot of the people willing to get up and fight for Gladwyne have moved and even passed away. Can we send up a prayer that Gladwyne Civic finds it’s lost spine?
BUT (and it’s important) If the commissioners allow that zoning change it will mean eventual disaster for a little, VERY historic crossroads village, which historically is supposed to be just that. Nothing more, nothing less, it doesn’t have to be.
The other thing is this: there are other areas the “developers” AKA new village owners could pour their energies into. Like Narberth, which is no longer a magical small town that I used to call Main Line Glocca Mora, it’s a hot mess with local borough government that acts like they all have had lobotomies or something. (Cue trying to sell Sabine Park for development, right? Or the disgraceful condition of parts of “Main Street” near the old market.)
Look, the bottom line is these people see a PROJECT in Gladwyne, and IMHO it is still a vanity project because I still feel they don’t SEE Gladwyne for who she really is and can remain. Again, I don’t object to restoration and adaptive reuse AT ALL, but as for some of the rest of it, there was something one of my grandmothers said once upon a time: just because you CAN do something, it doesn’t mean you should.
Enjoy the screenshots courtesy of the Lower Merion Historical Society and my photos with many happy memories of the village of Gladwyne.
Here’s hoping they figure it out. Here’s hoping they realize that some places can retain their historical and beloved character and it’s ok just the way it is.
(Also, I had heard that there MIGHT be some kind of a meeting possibly at Waverly Heights on May 19? Is that just a regular civic meeting or a special meeting? And ummm on Election Day? That’s kind of shady isn’t it? And if it is happening, where is it posted so people can verify it? Or can’t the public attend?)
I am also including in the post, proposed changes to historic preservation stuff in Lower Merion and Class I and Class II resources. (It is a draft of a historic preservation plan.) As I know longer live there, doesn’t affect me, but it bears reviewing by the public before the commissioners act upon it in the future. I will note that the LMT employee head of HARB, Greg Pritchard, is a really good dude and incredibly knowledgeable. I came to know him years ago when he was with the Radnor Historical Society. He helped me research the Wayne Natatorium when I was submitting it to the state for the historical marker.
I’ve written about Gladwyne, PA before. It was the first place we lived when we moved to the Main Line many years ago when I was a kid.
When I was a kid, it was truly a magical unique place. Then like the rest of the communities on and off and adjacent to the Main Line who suffered from Main Line-itis or wanna be status, they believe their own press releases at this point and it’s time for them to go talk to Vanna and buy an overpriced clue.
As an adult, I have been in and out of Gladwyne for years because my parish church was there growing up, and I have had many friends who have lived there and still live there.
It has only in the recent past come to pass that not very many of my friends are either involved with the civic association there or in leadership positions. I mean, I can’t think of how many years in a row dear friends were either president or a vice president or on the board of that civic association. As a matter of fact, I was around when they started their Facebook group and was one of the early people invited to join it.
So as the people whom I knew moved on and new people filtered in, you started to notice a big difference in Gladwyne Civic Association, and even in their Facebook group. I noticed that in spite of big issues going on there locally with different things the page was getting dumbed down and seemingly sanitized?
For example posts about the 19035 Madoff types (convicted and jailed felons Josh Verne and Scott Mason) although news for right there were removed. I mean they couldn’t possibly admit they were taken in by their schtick, right? And what about Christopher Hogg from a couple of years ago?
Then other posts would also appear that made me laugh literally. One of my favorites was the person who posted an outrage about why wasn’t someone picking up their horse’s poop when they went down the road? When I saw that post I instantly flashed back to when the sound of horses on the roads of Gladwyne was the rule rather than the exception.
And gosh how would these current 19035-ers have reacted to the mid 1970s burglar nicknamed the “Fat Cat Burglar”? Yup look it up. 1974 and 1975. Victims included Ruth Junkin, J. Permar Richards, Walter Pew, E.R. Fenimore Johnson.
Does the Junkin name ring a bell to any of these people? Or do they realize that was the last name of the little old lady who sold her estates that would become a lot of what became Waverly Heights and once we used to visit the horses on her property? Were they aware of the crazy battle that ensued over the former estate of the late Ruth Rea Junkin circa 1983 to build Wobbly Heights? It was known as the “Junkin Tract” although the property had originally belonged to her late father, Samuel Rea, who had been the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and built the mansion still part of the property today in 1914? Did they know about all of the crazy accusations of all sorts of things like political lobbying and the criticism of the late Commissioner Howard West whom as the Realtor brokered the deal I guess? And that was definitely true because he was my parents’ next door neighbor back then. (FYI you can read about this in the archives of the Main Line Times and Philadelphia Inquirer.) The initial 53 acres that would become Waverly Heights was approved by Lower Merion in May of 1984.
Or remember Kurt Davidyan who went from social butterfly and having the Real Estate firm Davidyan and Nichols in the basement level of the building that housed PNC Bank and Gladwyne Pharmacy to umm his 2004 fall from grace having to do with fraud charges?
Of course, the latest scandal in the 19035 that they definitely don’t want discussed is what will happen with the historic village of Gladwyne? Will it be Yasswyned? So as related to that, I posted a couple of weeks ago a simple question in the Gladwyne Civic Association Facebook page: I wanted to know if there was a link to the Zoom recording of the recent Lower Merion HARB meeting that people could watch? I got a roundabout non-answer answer from the new commissioner who used to be involved with the civic association Facebook page and the civic before he was elected commissioner for Gladwyne.
And then came a message:
Ahh I see.
I responded back to him that I didn’t understand his message basically because I’d always been a member of this group and I lived in Gladwyne as a child.
It was utterly ridiculous to receive such a message. Also worth noting is I am hardly the only one in that group who doesn’t live in Gladwyne. They’re quite a few people who never lived in the 19035 including a woman from upstate New York who now lives in Malvern, who will never live in Gladwyne.
I still think it is because I asked an uncomfortable question for some. Of course that question shouldn’t have been uncomfortable because it was pretty basic. I mean, what’s the big deal about the HARB meeting? It’s like when someone had posed a question months ago about who bought the buildings, and I didn’t actually know who was behind the limited partnership or whatever it is, but I posted the public real estate record showing the transaction and that comment was removed and why? It wasn’t even posted with particular comment. It was just the public record so what was the big deal? Was it a secret?
So after I responded to the guy, I never heard anything for I guess more than a week. I’d forgotten about it because I just thought the whole thing was stupid and then came the messages I received yesterday:
Oh my gosh, oh golly, he threw me out of the gated community of 19035! Yet he wants my support? Huh?
He is one of the new co-presidents of the watered down Gladwyne Civic Association has thrown me out of the Gladwyne Civic Association Facebook group, which again I’ve literally been in since it was started. At the end of the day I’m amused by this. He’s a jackass. Yes, that is an opinion.
Yes, I told him off. And it’s not because I am in one less Facebook group. It’s the principle of the matter. And I did mention to him that I’ve been contacted by lots of people who currently live in the 19035 because they feel that the Civic Association is doing a whole lot of nothing when it comes to protecting the community and it’s historic character. I think that’s worrisome. Also worrisome? They’re so concerned with their appearance in a Facebook group that they are not actually encouraging public discourse on anything meaningful and why?
So essentially he is like treating Gladwyne like it’s a big HOA and I’ve been tossed out of the gated community 🤣
So yes, I’m apparently banned from the 19035. Whatever. Better lock up the gates right?
The last word is most simply put keeping me out of a Facebook group because I asked a question that made some people uncomfortable for God knows what reason isn’t going to stem the tide of questions or concerns about a modern day robber baron coming to the historic village center will it?
And at the end of the day, my opinion remains the same. I have zero objections to adaptive reuse of historic structures and restoration. It’s the whole make it like a stilted nouveau Main Line Peddler’s Village and messing with the zoning that raises concerns and why is it bad to show concern? And they haven’t revoked the First Amendment yet so I can have those opinions.
It’s not just about opportunity, it’s about community. Community means many voices, not just what some want scripted.
This whole billionaire is buying up a Main Line area village is disturbing, yet expected at the same time, isn’t it? Is it as simple as nothing says I’ve arrived like “I own you and all of this?”
Ok yes, slightly generalized and sarcastic but that is how this feels, doesn’t it?
Why Gladwyne village? Some might say “why not” but I honestly want to know why don’t you? To me, in my opinion, this doesn’t feel altruistic or having a love of historic structures. I can have that opinion, unless of course in this process the first amendment was purchased as well?
Doesn’t this feel more personal to you? I mean look, Jeff Yass, who is very much part of this is a self-made man of an extraordinary level? An impressive career and financial trajectory is undeniable. After all when you look up his Wikipedia page you see he was a guy from Queens, NY. Described as growing up in an average middle class family and now he’s the Sheriff of Yasswyne, err Gladwyne?
All snark aside, on its face it is impressive. BUT. And this is a big BUT. But why Gladwyne? Is it to be able to look out from what we grew up with as The Guard House, now part of the Union League Club to be able to wave and arm and declare ownership? I don’t have that answer only the little voice inside me says this is still not just about sprucing up a historically listed village, but most billionaires play things close to the vest don’t they? (Not actually a dig, it just makes sense.)
I don’t know that I like the idea of this all being bought up by a new entity who doesn’t seem to truly understand the history of Gladwyne or Gladwyne village. Or maybe it’s just I truly wonder do they care? Is this a passion project or an enormous exhibition of ego meets narcissism?
Things I really don’t like are the word of mouth and direct conversations with people who have been having land agents or realtors or whomever showing up unannounced and uninvited. Whomever these people or this person is, they are trying to chat people up to sell their property and why? They don’t seem to wish to disclose who they are representing and why? Is this deliberate vagueness? A question I have NOT heard asked is DO THEY HAVE SOLICITATION PERMITS FROM LOWER MERION?
What these smiley doorknockers are doing is door to door soliciting, so has the commissioner now representing Gladwyne actually looked into that matter? Shouldn’t he and shouldn’t Lower Merion? They aren’t exactly peddling Girl Scout cookies, after all.
In my opinion (again allowed to have) the more properties acquired means the project gets bigger. I found the house bought at the end of 2025 close to other acquired properties:
So this house is zoned residential, right? I guess then it has to be moved to like some kind of commercial zoning in order for it to be a viable part of the revamped village concept or whatever the hell they’re calling it?
When it comes to bending over for developers, the current director of building and planning at Lower Merion Township is an expert isn’t he? I mean, we all remember or some of us remember the days of eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore don’t worry?
I don’t trust Lower Merion Township. When Bob Duncan was head of Building and Planning you could always count on him doing the right thing, or at least giving you an honest answer, even if it was hard to hear. In my opinion, those days are long gone at far away. And then you look at the manager’s office – the guy formerly from West Chester Borough. He was at that job for 27 years until 2014. He is super development loving manager, look no further than the path he set for West Chester Borough, yes? So in my opinion, is he going to actually care about preserving the historic village center of Gladwyne, PA?
I don’t know enough about the composition of the current Board of Commissioners in Lower Merion to know if any of them really give a good goddamn about the Historic Village of Gladwyne being preserved and not turned into Peddlers Village do you? What I doknow is Lower Merion is prone to historically bad decisions. Look at the failed attempt at eminent domain for private gain years ago?
And for those who think houses can’t be torn down by subsequent owners? Remember La Ronda.
I grew up in Lower Merion and enjoyed it and loved the quirkiness of old Gladwyne. I laughed when with the presentation for the Yasswyne of it all people were ooohing over picnic tables. Why? Had they never visited the Gladwyne Lunch? Not new.
Again, adaptive reuse and restoration? Not a bad idea. But wobbly plans that seem too good to be true? Shall we contemplate they probably are? I’ve been looking at their plans and again no problem with restoration and adaptive reuse but there’s big question marks over the Walter Durham building that houses the pharmacy, etc. and it’s always been an awkward building.
That’s nothing new. I actually don’t think it’s worth saving as it doesn’t work. BUT what replaces it? This is listed historic district, correct? It can’t be too huge and average retail looking it has to be special. It has to fit with the historic district. Size and scale matters. Design matters and this is a historic village, it’s not a beige beige world with loads of stucco.
When you look at the back of the parking lot, which actually isn’t that expensive now you can’t help but wonder are those townhouses over that wall an eventual target of this “reimagining”?
And no matter what happens who protects the residential residents around this “reimagining” ? Why do I feel like the Civic Association isn’t doing much here? Are they afraid? Are they unsure? Are they ignoring it hoping it’ll all go away? And what about the commissioners, including the new guy in Gladwyne?
A wonderful piece of art on a building not owned by the current buyer uppers of the village
And other than the legal wrangling and wondering about commercial and residential deeds and commercial and residential zoning of it all, what about traffic and practical things? Like current traffic? The car rider lines for the Montessori school are no joke and even I have seen those over the years. And then there’s the car rider lines for the elementary school.
And parking. I think it’s a no secret that the Guard House doesn’t have sufficient parking right? So how do we know there will be sufficient parking for this proposed Shangri-La of a Main Line Peddlers Village?
I mean, come on wouldn’t that be better to start smaller and see how this all works? Restore and work with what they have and not tear down houses? or did they buy that house in December to put a business there? If so, what kind and where will the people park for that?
Should we ponder that this is about the soul, moral values of a community and what people want it to be in the future? Do these village purchasers actually want meaningful input from the community or are they paying the community lip service just to get what they want? Come on now, don’t act surprised that I said that because developers do that all of the time, don’t they?
I have written before that there’s a whole history here. That history should neither be ignored nor denied. One of the problems overall on the Main Line in general as newcomers have moved in is they’re there for the lore not the reality. You have all the funny bullshit of what the Main Line is supposed to represent and a lot of. It’s just realtor marketing, take Malvern, which isn’t actually the Main Line but every time you turn around somebody is saying it is.
The village of Gladwyne I first saw as a kid wasn’t perfect. It was quirky, it was old, it was historic, and it was kind of awesome. It still is kind of awesome and it doesn’t need to be tarted up, just spruced up and restored a little bit better.
But nothing is going to happen if concerned residents don’t get off of their behinds and start going to commissioners meetings. Every resident in that municipality has a right to public privilege of the floor as they call it. There is a section set aside for that for non-agenda items at every commissioners meeting. There is also public comment on agenda items, should any of these things about the village of Gladwyne come up on the agendas.
I have noticed that the Township of Lower Merion offers Zoom. I don’t know that they offer comment on Zoom but residents can ask. People can keep up with the agendas and things that have been filed that are loaded on the website as well.
Years ago, the then director of building and planning also often used to have specific mailing list for specific issues within the township. I don’t know if they still do that. But again, I do know that residents can’t depend on the civic or going to those civic association meetings alone. People have to go to the township meetings, when they can in person, an alternatively on Zoom. The residents need to speak for themselves.
But people should be polite. And I know it can be difficult when you’re dealing with a municipality and you don’t feel like you’re being heard. But taxes pay for those bureaucrats, etc., remember that.
It’s not hard to organize, but the people of Gladwyne have to want this for themselves. Because if they roll over now, no matter what happens they’re going to end up with stuff they’re not happy with because they did not participate.
These are just my opinions and observations. In my opinion on the specialist of Gladwyne, as in the village has lived in me since I was a kid. It does not have to be super expensive and overpriced. It just has to be nice. Gladwyne used to be a bit more inclusive.
At the end of the day, I’m also concerned because I have seen what random development does and I’ve seen it in Gladwyne in other parts of the 19035.
Historical Gladwyne Photo belonging to Lower Merion Historical Society.
Yasswyne? Really?
Gladwyne, is kind of a special to me. Circa 1975 was my introduction, and it was magical. Sledding on crazy hills off of Monk Road and Rose Glen. Free range kid wandering from the historic village through to the haunted feeling sanatorium buildings of the once “Gladwyne Colony”. Halloween and sleepovers and birthday parties with my friend whose dad went to high school together. The Gladwyne Library and its wonderful stacks and things like the plant sale. (And the cookbook fundraiser- I still have a copy!)
And the horses. Gladwyne then was still an equestrian hub. Sledding and carriaging with Mr. Gwinn. Leaning how to ride. Watching pony club. I didn’t belong to that I was not good enough.
The old village. It was just so nice. One of my friends was related literally to founding fathers of the village. Tree lined streets and marvelous old houses from so many eras. Whimsical Victorians. Charming Bungalows. And even 18th and early 19th century houses, mostly frame.
I realized this morning that the Gladwyne I stumbled upon as a kid was actually reminiscent of parts of Chester County I love so much. And to that end, sprucing up the village is not a bad idea, but this mass appropriation of buildings in the center as well as talks of tearing things down including one of the houses near the library I guess that was purchased? My opinion is a HELL NO.
It’s hell no to Peddlers Village-lite complete with all those absurd picnic tables scattered about the village that will not in my opinion be maintained long term. It’s hell no to making it a faux tourist attraction bringing lots of traffic to little streets with barely enough parking for residents.
Look I felt something was up in the fall, when I went digging into who supposedly was doing this, and that was not when any of us knew a big contributor to the destruction of the White House and the East Wing and the McMansioning of the people’s house.
I remember when I first started nosing around about this Gladwyne thing people on the Main Line were really odd with their reactions and I even had my comments taken down in places. And literally what I was sharing was who bought the place and was on the deed records with Montgomery County. That was before anyone even knew Yass was involved. But now I wonder what Gladwyne’s new commissioner knew and when?
And I remember when I figured out who these Bryn Mawr people were without knowing that anyone else was involved, I had reservations. Mostly because they just seemed like they were about themselves.
So they live over on Rock Creek Road and I knew a lot of people growing up and into adulthood that lived on that winding road and it had cool houses and beautiful trees and gardens, still does. So they restored their house and reinvented it and that’s their right but I remember looking at it thinking it’s really brown and it’s not quite here but I could appreciate some of the design elements.
But the Historic Village of Gladwyne, and it is a historic district, turned into some odd thing that it’s not? That’s not worth the renovation of the older buildings in my humble opinion thank goodness I don’t live there. 
But I had no idea the scope of this project until I saw the website and some of what the people who want to do this were posting:
To follow are four screenshots from their public website below. Go onto their website and read every word.
It’s Gladwyne Village as in the Village of because literally that’s what it is. Then I noticed that they magically weren’t doing a zoom of the meeting and when you don’t want to record a meeting that always set up red flags in my head. If you’ve got nothing to hide on a project, you put it out there for the world to see, including the meetings don’t you?
And now, it seems, historic Gladwyne has Jeff Yass.
The richest man in Pennsylvania, and his wife, Janine, have partnered with a younger husband-and-wife development/design team to both turn back the clock on Gladwyne village AND propel it into the next century.
The partnership spent millions over the last several months to buy or lease key properties in the heart of historic Gladwyne: the former Gladwyne Market, Gladwyne Village Shoppes (which house the beloved pharmacy and Homeroom luncheonette), Gladwyne Post Office, the former longtime OMG Salon building and, as of Dec. 31, a private home in the Village….The designated face of the partnership, Andre Golsorkhi revealed the quartet’s vision….At the outset, Golsorkhi (below) emphasized that his investor/development group is 100-percent local and, believe it or not, was NOT doing this to make money….The first resident who spoke felt blindsided….Another speaker feared the conformity of a Gladwyne Square. “It’s going to end up looking like Nantucket, she said. “This presentation makes me even more nervous about what you guys are doing …You’re saying Gladwyne needs branding… it’s gonna be a certain architecture that you think is important when you’re destroying a quirky Walter Durham house… I like communities that are organic and grow up in different ways. We have other buildings in Gladwyne that are just as important for the community that are not owned by Mr. Yass. I just wonder what the end game is. There’s always a price for this.”….Architect Ed Lewis (below), a 60-year Gladwyne resident told Golsorkhi that he “started the historic district in my living room with a meeting of neighbors concerned about overdevelopment.”
My photo
Read the entire Savvy article. It is very long and gives a lot of detail and thank you Caroline for what you do.
OK, I’m going to be 62 years old this year so why mince words? I think this plan is bullshit. This is about someone’s sanitizing and reinventing a place that first and foremost is a historic district.
I have no problems with people restoring things, but this isn’t about restoring. This is about changing history. And it’s not really the history of the people who bought the buildings.
To these four individuals, this is about making money. It’s not necessarily so all realistic, and I am allowed to have that opinion.
Again, I have no problem with someone fixing up old buildings and creating an adaptive reuses. But when you start to want to add parking lots and a random nouveau village green with lots of picnic tables that never existed within the history or framework of this village, it stops being about preservation and switches to just being about profit, doesn’t it?
Now I will agree the Walter Durham buildings that comprise the pharmacy, etc. are awkward. I’m really familiar with them. My mother was a realtor with a real estate office that was in the lower level years ago and for all the years that I banked at PNC, my branch was Gladwyne because they were the nicest people. And Gladwyne Pharmacy was our first pharmacy out here when we moved here and I still used to use them here and there until I moved to Chester county because I wanted to support them because they were independent like Parvins in Bryn Mawr.
I also have to admit when the Union League club took over the Guard House, I wondered what the future held for Gladwyne because that was a big change. But I didn’t anticipate this. And I have to say that The Union League respects the village. They have done a fine job with the place, although I do miss the ability to just go in there on a Friday or Saturday because I don’t belong to the Union League. I have been there for dinner several times since it reopened as part of the club and I love it and why do I love it because it’s still retains what we knew as its history. Even down to some of the dishes that were signature to Albert Breuers.
Found this on Wikipedia and I can’t find my photos and I have tons of The Guard House somewhere 
I know change will happen, but the change doesn’t have to be this drastic and it shouldn’t be. These people have the money to restore what they bought in the village of Gladwyne without making it look like Disney or a more expensive Peddler’s Village with insufficient parking.
I did dig out some of my photos of Gladwyne and why is still so special to me. And a lot of that includes things like the Memorial Day Parade. or walking down the little streets in the village and hearing the ghosts of my childhood passed and it’s a simple as knowing who lived where and things we explored St. John Vianney was our parish. Our first vet was Gladwyne vet. And the library. That library is still my favorite library anywhere. I won a Martha Stewart cookbook years ago as an adult in a raffle, I used to bury myself in corners as a kid and read, and I loved the plant sale. And I have a copy of their cookbook they used as a fundraiser. They could’ve had more than one cookbook over time, but I have the original one. and at one point in time, one of their librarians was actually a princess.
Yes a princess. She died in 2005 and her name was Maria de Pasquale. She was a friend of my parents along with her husband, Joe, who was one of the famous DePasquale brothers of the Philadelphia Orchestra and my friend’s aunt. She was a descendent of Napoleon‘s first wife, Josephine and Czar Nicholas I. She was born Maria Madgelena, Duchess von Leuchtenberg in Nice, France, daughter of Duke Serge Nicolaievitch and Duchess Anna. She renounced her title somewhere around 1949 to marry Joe.
So yes, my childhood librarian was once a princess. And she was tough. You didn’t have your books over to you returned them on time. but she always had books to recommend, even to kids. She also spoke five languages. and I remember being in the library one time when her inner princess came out because she was annoyed with someone on the phone.
I found her fascinating. So these are the little things that make up the history of Gladwyne that creating some artificial version of a Nouveau Gladwyne will never capture.
Of course, I bet they don’t know about things like in the early 2000s when the pharmacist went to jail.
Or all the contretemps over the years with a now deceased member of a founding family of Gladwyne who at one time owned a lot of the things in the village. He’s long deceased now and could be so cranky.
Or the whole controversy over the Gladwyne lunch years ago or Barker Mill or Oddfellows.
Now, of course, the 19035 has become known in recent years as being the home of shall we say Main Line grifters, correct ? And the McMansion ridiculousness?
And we can’t forget about all of the controversy surrounding what will be the redevelopment I guess eventually of the Dorrance estate on Monk Road. Course I was also on that property as a kid and it’s nothing sort of spectacular even if the old apple orchard no longer exists.
And I remember when the estate on Waverley Road was sold to become Waverly Heights. And there were other surrounding properties that got fed into it and when I was a kid, there were lots of horses with swishy tails hoping for a pat at the fence or maybe an apple. The Junkin Estate.
The Gladwyne I grew up with was always a mixed bag originally it had been like mills and farmers and people with grand estates who owned lots of horses. It was very much like parts of Chester County, including Willistown.
Or my one friend‘s house across the street from St. John Vianney which was sold and bulldozed and it had the nicest pool. It was the best house. In its place? A McMansion so big I don’t even say you can. I don’t even know how you can say they have green space or a garden. Of course Lower Merion planning really didn’t say much about that. Did they? and that will be a definite hurdle here because that planning department is so pro-development, along with the fact that the new commissioners, including the one for Gladwyne have not been there long enough to understand the place. And that even includes River Road.
Again, I know, change happens, but here it shouldn’t be so drastic. It should truly be keeping the history in mind and the current plans in my opinion do not.
Once known as The Delaware Market House, The Gladwyne Market House is in a building has been a market at the corner of Youngs Ford and Righters Mill roads in Gladwyne since the early 1900s. It could be longer. I’m just not sure.
Delaware Market originally was a beloved small gourmet grocery with prepared food as well in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, that closed in September 2009. It was like the Instacart of its day because you could get groceries delivered. Now mind you, that was a paid privilege and the market waspricey, but the quality was amazing of pretty much everything.
I do not know or remember when they started doing more prepared foods because when we ever use the market, we didn’t use it for prepared foods per se.
I actually went to the Delaware Market House the day it closed and that was around 2009.
My photo
I still have my Delaware Market House bag from that last day they were open and the last chance to shop. It was a really nice store run by really nice people. At the time those owners were successor owners to the original owners who had sold it to them. It was reported back then that economic downturns made it too expensive for them to stay open.
My photo. Last day of Delaware Market House 2009
I never went back there after it closed as Delaware Market House, but it was resurrected thanks to a caring local resident. It then became the Gladwyne Market House or Gladwyne Market. So when it was resurrected at that point it became a slightly more modern iteration of what it had been. And there was catering and more prepared food, and it was still beloved by the community.
Well, we all recently learned if you ever follow things in Gladwyne that the market had its last day the other day forever.
Once again the property has been sold and the business closed.
From Facebook
According to a social media post I saw the new owners do not have a desire of just getting rid of the market building or the shops across the street which also sold from owners different than the market to these new people “RMR Property Holdings LLC.”
It seems that their goal is restoration, revitalization, and reimagining what could be. Again, saw it on a social media post.
But it sounds like it’s not an end per se in Gladwyne, but a new beginning. I am going sign off feeling hopeful.
This is a screenshot sent to this blog that is a public photo, note the little globe.
It’s a crazy tale, isn’t it?
First of all there’s the whole Main Line of it all and should we just call it for what people think it is? Stealing from customers to keep up with the Joneses in the 19035 ?
And then there’s the thing that this is a man who’s just been convicted of worse but similar to what his father did years ago and what’s up with that? If you figure this man is 66 years old, he was old enough in the mid 70s, etc. to comprehend what his father did, which undoubtedly had a horrible effect on his own family growing up, right? Should we just say apparently not since this is like a twisted repeating pattern of life?
What also amuses me about this case is anytime anyone has tried to post any of the articles in any Gladwyne Pennsylvania social media groups since this saga started, the posts get deleted?
Nothing to see here, can’t interrupt life in one of the towns of the Magic Kingdom known as Lower Merion.
It’s always interesting sociologically how people react to these stories. You know they’re all whispering behind their hands, but it’s like they don’t want to admit in public it happened. Wonder what the boys are saying at Squires Golf Club in Ambler or wherever it is?
Honestly, I don’t feel sorry for the man. I go back to the fact he’s 66 years old. He’s old enough to remember how what his father Melvyn Mason did to at least his family must have felt right?
Newspaper archives contain the sins of the father and the Prudential Bache scandals of the 1970s don’t they?
So did Scott Mason have to choose this path he will now forever be remembered for? I mean adults are suppose to know the difference between right and wrong, right? After all it’s what you teach your kids or are supposed to/try to, right?
So supposedly Scott Mason gets sentenced in May. Wonder what his wife knows? And you have to wonder what happens to the rest of his immediate and extended family because of his actions including his father? And what will happen to the people he stole from?
I truly feel sorry for his kids (their worlds must be so blown up, he’s their dad) as well as obviously sorry for his victims.
I also feel sorry for the charitable institutions and any nonprofits affected by his actions and what about his alma mater Hobart William Smith College in Geneva, New York? And if he is a slumlord landlord up there, what happens to the students who have rented properties from him? Do they stay in their places and the bank just takes over or what happens?
So many questions….still. So much squandered by this man who has had so many legit opportunities and is this the legacy he will leave his kids and grandchildren? And you have to wonder if before any of this happened if his kids even knew what his father had gotten up to when he was a kid? This is like a real life NetFlix series it’s so messed up.
I will begin to end this with it’s astounding. He took a sledgehammer to somany lives by his actions, including his own. In fact, greed is not good. Did Scott Mason think he was Gordon Gekko or something?
And to the 19035? Y’all were better before the nouveau invasion. The entire Main Line was.
Hopefully people will learn from this, but our society seems so lost and divided, I just don’t know. Until then, orange is the new Main Line black, right?
I just can’t with the Madoff-Lite of it all. The Philadelphia Business Journal popped out a new story on new drama regarding Scott Mason of Gladwyne, PA:
Now for the filings in NJ – interesting to PA because in the exhibits you can see where they added filings of PA people as exhibits….and Joseph DiStefano’s Inquirer article too.
So when the Philadelphia Business Journal articles came out about Scott and Lynne Mason and Rubicon Wealth Management and Orchard Park Real Estate Holding LLC, one of the first things I did was go to the Rubicon website to see what they were about. https://www.rubiconwealth.com/ was the website and when I plunked it into Google I came up empty:
So I think the Rubicon phone number is the same from when they were in Bala Cynwyd, before Blue Bell, and it is just ported as a VoIP number. Who knows if there is still an actual office? 980 Jolly Road in Blue Bell is an office complex- think this is the website: https://www.980jollyroad.com/
Anyway, I was getting stuck trying to figure out where the cache of the Rubicon Wealth Management website was. I figured it had to be somewhere, it’s the Internet, right? So I asked a techie friend what the name of the website was that captures these old things if they are entered. They texted me back “Internet Archive : Wayback Machine.”
So where to begin? Before I get to the website, allow me to start with one of their little website video snippets, geared towards women. As a woman, considering the accusations, this is particularly despicable. A lot of women of a certain age, are not necessarily investment savvy, and can be too trusting.
And that led me to the info on the former Chief Compliance Officer who left a while back I guess. He was the Compliance Officer before Scott Jeffrey Mason donned the cape of regulation, which is truthfully kind of dumb because where is the separation of church and state?
So people were asking who was on the Rubicon website. Well here are your screenshots:
So Malvern Capital Management who was in the Inquirer article is literally right in Malvern. Here is a link to their website. They are also potential victims, aren’t they? Like what about the people related to Scott and Lynne Mason? You know when you have “family” in the financial business, it’s common that they manage their family members’ assets as well, isn’t it? Or you do business with neighbors, friends, the folks you met at a civic association meeting, it’s all good over a round or two of golf, a cocktail party, etc? What will the fallout be exactly? This is actually a tragedy that will possibly have several acts, right?
This whole thing takes your breath away. I can still find nothing at all on the Orchard Park Real Estate Holdings LLC except the LLC basics on the Commonwealth of PA website.
Well that’s all I’ve got but I hear the 19035 is all abuzz. Also, so we are clear: I am not following this for the salaciousness alone, I think this is wrong. People entrust their life savings to people and they expect honesty and a moral compass, right? I realize the cases here are just beginning but remember, the Philadelphia Business Journal articles and the Philadelphia Inquirer article both mentioned that “clients have been in contact with FBI and SEC investigators who are seeking information about Rubicon”, he said” to directly quote Joseph DiStefano’s Inquirer article.
I will be honest and say out loud that this is so sad what the Main Line has become. And the Nouveau Main Line is ripe for these issues because these people move there now because it’s an exclusive-ish suburbia in Lower Merion Township and no one knows the history at all. And a perennial problem? People from one side of the river quite literally in Montgomery County never pay attention to the other side of the river. It’s like when I was growing up, the Main Line crowd and the Chestnut Hill crowd didn’t mingle, and neither of them mingled much with Ambler, Abington, Dresher, Jenkintown, Huntingdon Valley, Bucks County, etc.
The First Amendment as always allows me my opinions.
