Here is beautiful and marooned Loch Aerie. It’s 2013 and she is still hanging on. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Tabas family cared as much about this mansion’s preservation and future as the airplanes in their front yard they feel the need to get media for?
In Easttown Township on Waterloo Road there is a barn called the Kennedy Barn by some, Mrs. Rossi’s Barn by others. Mrs. Rossi’s husband was the one who restored the barn most recently, apparently. He was a co-founder of ANRO printing. So in a nutshell, this barn isn’t past salvation like many large and now unused barns.
The barn is described by the Inquirer today as “hundreds of years old.” Yet Tom Bentley of Bentley Homes can’t seem to do a thing with it, can’t seem to market it well enough to sell it. He wants to demolish it. You see the barn is standing between him and eight or so new McMansions.
Yes, some consider Bentley a better kind of developer. I just see his homes as more upscale stone facing, stylistically over complicated and contradictory on the exteriors, yet still at their heart big Tyvec boxes on relatively small lots for the most part for their size. For the most part all they do is scream “NEW”.
I first became aware of Bentley years ago when working on a wine tasting for a Philadelphia Orchestra Committee. Like many developers are wont to do, he lent one of his sample homes for the tasting. I think it was over near Aronomink Golf Club. The house was a large, drafty cavernous box with all the bells and whistles the nouveau riche of the Main Line would shrivel up and die without including a kitchen that you knew would be for show in the end rather than actual use. It kind of went with his girlfriend at the time, a woman who looked like a rather less expensive version of Stevie Nicks.
I was disappointed when I moved out to Chester County when I realized one of my favorite streets in Malvern, Forest Lane, had sprouted a veritable infantry of Bentley Homes. All but one is predictable and went up in about ten minutes. So over there, the horse is out of the proverbial barn, nothing can be done. But over in Easttown? What the heck is wrong with their supervisors and planning commission? Where is their historic commission on this?
Let’s get real: if Bentley wanted to save the barn, he would. If he wanted to use the barn he would, because earlier developments of his sometimes included older structures, original to the property. But nooooo, Bentley wanted to knock down the barn and leave some man-made ruin with a freaking plaque! “Barn Wuz Here”. How fabulous and generous. Not.
And those on this commission in Easttown including a woman I think highly of for prior preservation and community building efforts think this is o.k.? I think I am the most disappointed in her. And yes, I get how this all works and they are trying to make the best of a bad situation, but you know what? Not good enough.
Bentley is a well-heeled developer. If he wanted to, he could turn that barn into a living space adapted for modern use. It is done all over the country, and has been done successfully on the Main Line and out here in Chester County as well. Facing Forest Lane in Malvern on a corner of another development street just up from Bentley’s homes on Forest sits an amazing example of a barn converted to living space. Friends of my family live in another such space on Upper Gulph Road in Radnor Township and there is also another converted barn space on Darby-Paoli Road that once belonged to a family I knew in high school and then to another a woman my mother used to know. And circling back to Bentley, those houses he is building on County Line Road in Villanova? It is amazing how many trees did not survive, isn’t it?
The point is, it can be done (the barn saved and turned into some sort of adaptive reuse, preferably residential), only Bentley doesn’t care and Easttown is willing to settle at the expense of its irreplaceable history. Not that Easttown is the only municipality guilty of these travesties. As a bit if a related segue, I believe it is on one part or near Sugartown Road if you go the back way to hit that Buho Mexican restaurant in Exton you see a neat row of some houses that were quite lovely at one time which are now rotting. Obviously some developer bought them and got hit by the economy tanking. It makes you shake your head in wonder. Every one of those houses could have been upgraded to more modern means if need be, but no, someday they will all come tumbling down for some more plastic boxes.
Chester County municipalities need to collectively wake up before everything is ruined out here. Once the land is gone, it’s gone. Once the old buildings and historic structures are gone, they are gone. I know every old house and every old building can’t be saved, but lordy at least make an effort once in a while. And that is the problem: none of these municipalities make a consistent effort any longer.
If any of you out there know anyone that can wrest this barn from Bentley or get him to save it on his own, please do. Personally when I hear things like this I think next time there is an election Easttown residents should change-up the faces don’t you? It is time that deep pocketed developers stop running and ruining communities, isn’t it?
But if you see Tom Bentley cruising your neighborhood you can’t miss him. He has a preposterous vanity plate.
Shame on Easttown Township.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Plans to demolish centuries-old barn raises hackles in Chester County
If you want to call Tom Bentley’s office and tell him how you feel: 610.436.5500
If you want to e-mail Tom Bentley’s office and tell him how you feel: salesinfo@bentleyhomes.com
If you want to tell him on Facebook how you feel: http://www.facebook.com/BentleyHomes
The reducing-to-ruin of a refurbished early-1800s barn in Devon is one step closer following Wednesday’s Easttown Planning Commission meeting.The commission agreed to recommend approval of Bentley Homes’ application for demolition to the Easttown Board of Supervisors, with consideration given to requests from the township’s Historical Commission.
For months, the Planning Commission has heard from those who hoped to save the barn on the former property of Angelo and Rose Rossi at 222 Waterloo Road, which Bentley CEO Tom Bentley wants to turn into a 10-acre subdivision.
I love Wayne because it has some superbly wonderful and unique 19th century homes.
One is owned by the family of someone I know named Greg Pritchard. Greg is part of the Radnor Historical Society and incredibly knowledgeable. He was of great help to me a couple of years ago when I was researching the Wayne Natatorium to submit to the state for it to get a historical marker.
The Pritchards recently did something super cool: they researched and re-created the original fence to their home from the 19th century with the help of a guy named Stephen Zook of Rocky Ridge Cedar Work in Christiana, Pa. I assume Mr. Zook is either Amish or Mennonite.
I just think the fence is beautiful and unusual and thought I would share in the hopes of inspiring fence creativity! Below is Greg’s family home when it was built. This wasn’t a requirement, they just did it. That is preservation in action, people. How very cool!
On Saturday June 2nd in between the rain showers, I went to Historic Goshenville in East Goshen to check out the Living History Day. What a fun historic site! 
This site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
As per a website called Living Places:
The Goshenville Historic District is significant for religion and community development within the context of early Quaker settlement and community development patterns in Chester County. Goshenville literally grew up around a Quaker meetinghouse after being settled in the first decade of the eighteenth century. It also was developed in response to the needs of the largely Quaker agricultural community surrounding it. As a village, Goshenville supplied basic needs of this community – places for worship, cemeteries, a blacksmith/wheelwright shop, a post office, a school, a mill, a general store and a grange, all situated along an important transportation route. It would also offer area residents with the services of a doctor, lawyer, and several trades, as well as the local seat of government. Large Quaker families, particularly the Garrett family, heavily influenced its development. Significant for religion, Goshenville is the story of Quaker religion, tradition and
history and its influence on its community development patterns and architecture……Quaker Settlement and Development as part of the 40,000 acre “Welsh Tract”, the area that became Goshenville began to be settled in 1683. In that year, Edward Jones and 17 Welsh Quaker families left the then frontier outpost of Edgemont south of the district and entered into the undeveloped wilderness of
Chester County. They settled around what would eventually become North Chester Road. “Goshenville” was derived from the Biblical name “Goshen”, a promised land named by the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Then part of Westtown Township, Goshen Township – a name adopted from Goshenville and the only municipality in Chester County with a Biblical name – was organized in 1704. It was split into East and West Goshen Townships 1817. North Chester Road, which connected the village to the city of Chester to the south, was laid out in 1693 and in place by 1699. It was extended north to Frazer in the first decade of the eighteenth century.
Read more HERE.
The event I went to had a focus on the Civil War, and women on the home front. The volunteers were pleasant and knowledgable and there were even demonstrations. My favorite were the sewing ladies. What I found so amazing was that East Goshen Township as a municipality is so invested in the local historical preservation. As opposed to where I moved from (Lower Merion Township) they don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk.
Being around historic Goshenville in part reminded me of one of my favorite historic sites, Harriton House in Bryn Mawr. Harriton is a little slice of heaven thanks to decades of hard work on the part of her curator and Executive Director, Bruce Cooper Gill.
The event was enjoyed by yound and old, and it was a terrific learning experience!
For more event photos, kindly follow THIS LINK.
It is a horrible economic time to have a crisis with a historic structure, let alone one of the most favorite and beloved in the Philadelphia region. It is because of that this blog is making a little side trip to the Society Hill section of Philadelphia where I was born.
St. Peter’s, is an 18th century, American Revolution relevent Episcopalian Church in Society Hill and 4th and Pine streets. I went to grade school at St. Peter’s School, so I have many happy memories of this church (and others like getting a book autographed every year at the St. Peter’s book fair by Marguerite D’Angeli who was a friend of the headmistress.)
St. Peter’s was one of the Society Hill landmarks that was my playground as a child. It is also one of the most beautiful and serene places in Philadelphia.
I attended Easter Services at St. Peter’s and it was like instantly going back in time to when I was a little girl. St. Peter’s is one of those places that makes you realize you can go home again. From her beautiful windows to the high boxes inside the church, to the climb up the stairs for a look out over the church yard, St. Peter’s is just a very cool place.
I learned on the news today that St. Peter’s needs the help of anyone who can spare a dollar or two. The church is being forced to close due to instability in the roof of the historic structure. St. Peter’s Church was designed by Robert Smith and opened in 1761 as an offshoot of Christ Church in Old City. The Church’s tower, designed by William Strickland, was added in 1842.
St. Peter’s is a National Historic Landmark.
Saint Peter’s is not just a historic structure, it is a church that does many good things including a food cupboard. They live their slogan of “Open Hearts. Open Minds”
Can you help save St. Peter’s? The faster they have angels drop donations on them, the faster they will reopen.
Donations of any amount can be sent as follows:
Saint Peter’s Church, ATTENTION: HISPIC,313 Pine Street Philadelphia, PA 19106
Media on the topic:
Plan Philly: St. Peter’s Church roof at risk of collapse
St. Peter’s Church at 3rd and Pine streets has been in continuous use since the 1760s, but parishioners will not be able to worship in the sanctuary this Sunday.
The Inquirer reports that St. Peter’s sanctuary roof is at risk of collapse. An engineering firm reportedly inspected the sanctuary’s roof trusses and found their condition dangerous enough to order the building closed until stabilization measures can be completed.
WHYY Newsworks: With roof in danger of failing, historic Philly church takes sabbatical May 17, 2012 By Kevin McCorry
How many of you have ever passed this rotting old house hanging out on the Lincoln Highway/Route 30/Lancaster Avenue?
Chester County needs to put some thoughts into their commercial corridors don’t they? It’s not like the location is suited for residential, yet here and there these old houses sit and rot. Some have sale signs on them, some are just rotting away by themselves.
What can be done with old buildings like this? I am a realist and know full well that not every old house should be saved. But some should. And Chester County needs better planning in their commercial corridors. Man cannot live by strip mall alone……
This is in “City and Suburban Architecture” by Samuel Sloan, published in 1859 by Lippincott in Philadelphia. Sloan was partnered with Hutton when the house was built, but Hutton seems to get all the credit! The book is at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia
I am a lover of old houses and I love the quirky and fanciful. But I had no idea that so many of you out there shared my fascination with Loch Aerie or the Lockwood Mansion in Frazer, PA. When I said yesterday that Loch Aerie was like Bryn Mawr’s La Ronda was, well, hmmm maybe I am not so far off base?
It’s a shame that Loch Aerie isn’t loved and cared for like Granogue, Irenee Du Pont’s Estate in Delaware. Granogue is privately held and once upon a time Mr. Du Pont was kind enough to give me a tour, let me check out the green houses and the amazing view of the Brandywine Valley from a top the water tower.
Thanks to all of you yesterday, I learned who owns Loch Aerie — the Tabas family, and I discovered a tear sheet from what appears to be the realtor on the property on the Internet. Unfortunately, it seems for these people, this magnificent home is just another steak on the grill.
The house was originally named Glen Loch, but when the Pennsylvania Railroad named its last Main Line station “Glen Loch” without asking permission first, William Lockwood the mansion’s owner changed the name of the estate to Loch Aerie.
I found this information in a book by Brian Butko called Lincoln Highway. Because of Mr. Butko’s book, I also learned that William Lockwood made the mistake of granting access to his springs to the railroad. After all, the Pennsylvania Railroad needed water to power their steam locomotives. Apparently Lockwood had to really go after the railroad and the legal battles depleted his fortunes, even as he prevailed in court against the railroad. I find this part of the history fascinating because I think our railroads of today are lousy neighbors, and this shows that lack of consideration along this rail line in particular is historical.
William Lockwood had daughters who lived in Loch Aerie until 1967. At that time Daniel Tabas, patriarch of the Tabas clan along the Main Line purchased the estate.
Now here is where I get confused.
Gretchen Metz of the Daily Local wrote in June 2010:
The Lockwood Mansion is going back on the market.
The seller, the Estate of Lockwood Mansion, a Tabas family trust, turned down the winning bid of $720,000 by a New York businessman.
Yet Brian Butko in his book Lincoln Highway says in 2002 (and I quote):
So that is most curious? Did the estate ever leave the Tabas family after Daniel Tabas purchased the house? I am sooo curious. Thanks to The Library of Congress, we all have access to a Historic American Buildings Survey (mind you there are lots of other Chester County-centric stuff too.) I found several copies on the Internet of the one in particular about Loch Aerie to and will embed a copy below, but it appears to have been done in the 1950’s. So maybe this Tony Alden did not actually own the house as was implied in Butko’s book?
Now take a minute and check out this article from 1992 from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Here again is where I find more curiosity: was this definitively designed by Addison Hutton as an original idea? I ask because a friend from the Radnor Historical Society Greg Pritchard (he is one of my favorite people and helped me so much as I was going through the approval process to gain a PA historical marker for what once was The Wayne Natatorium) sent me a message last night with a photo he took from a plate in a book that was published nine years before Loch Aerie was built. The photo is above and the first one in this post. It is a photo of a plate in a book titled “Rural Villa” and I can’t quite make out the name on the bottom right hand corner of the plate. But that is Loch Aerie, is it not? So was this drawing done for/by Addison Hutton before Lockwood commissioned his mansion, or was this drawing the inspiration for Hutton’s design? If it was inspiration, is there a Loch Aerie look-alike somewhere? 
Around 1974, Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall wrote a biography on Addison Hutton (Addison Hutton, Quaker Architect 1834-1916). On page 41, she writes of what appears to have been a visit to the home with her husband. William Lockwood’s daughters were still living there.
Apparently, as per this book, Loch Aerie/Glen Loch/Lockwood Mansion was one of Hutton’s favorite commissions because it was an independent one. I also learned thanks to Elizabeth Biddle Yarnall how William Lockwood made at least some of his money: paper collars. Mrs. Yarnall remarked upon her 1958 visit how intact the house still was at that time that it seemed that they “…had stepped into the Victorian world of Addison Hutton“.
Flash forward to 1995, and another Philadelphia Inquirer article about Loch Aerie. The Philadelphia Inquirer used to do all sorts of cool pieces like this, but their issues and various changes of ownership means that not only don’t you see articles of interest like this very often, they also don’t seem to give the reporters the time or encouragement to write articles like this. I find that a shame. Anyway back to 1995:
A Battle Between House And Store Retailer’s Plan Is Too Close For Comfort.
Ahhh what a tangled tale. So with all due respect to the late Dan Tabas, if he had such a “love affair” with the house, why did it rot for many and have motorcycle gangs hanging out? Why does it in essence sit and rot today? Let’s get real, this was always a juicy plot of land. Someone who has a love affair with a home like this, restores it, doesn’t sell off all the land around it to a big box store, effectively marooning it like a small desert island. Someone with a love affair, restores it and moves his family in to enjoy the splendor and privilege of living in such a home. Or they find a suitable adaptive reuse. Yes, think Addison Hutton’s Beechwood on Shipley’s campus which the Committee to Save Beechwood saved – yes volunteers did that, not the school although the school reaps the ultimate benefit now. Or up closer to Bryn Mawr Train Station (around 802 W. Montgomery). That is also an Addison Hutton designed home, and if memory serves it could have been the house Hutton built for his family. In any event, this property was recently converted to condos. Mind you, I will never be a condo girl, but in this case, it provided a viable adaptive reuse that saved the structure.
I also love how Home Depot described their store design as “more characteristic of the Main Line.” And then they woke up. I have been to that Home Depot several times, and Ardrossan it ain’t. Not even close. It is what it is: a big box with concrete floors.
Of course I wonder given another article unearthed from the Philadelphia Inquirer if East Whiteland could have said no? According to this article, not only was the sale of the property on which Home Depot now sits contingent on this approval, Home Depot went to this “township to amend its zoning ordinance and create a special classification for retail and home and garden center use.” This article also says how the reason Home Depot wanted to big box in was traffic from the Exton Bypass on Route 202.
That just kills me. Big boxes might have their uses but not only do they slowly starve out independent businesses, the big boxification and strip mallification of Chester County is something which astounds me. So many Chester County municipalities seem to an outsider completely thoughtless when it comes to preservation and the future. All these plastic mushroom house developments, and countless big boxes and sub par strip malls, not all of which have full occupancy. Look at what has been built over the past 25 years or so. Is any of it spectacular? No.
I don’t get why Chester County doesn’t have a more cohesive plan for commercial development county-wide, and it is obvious in some of these municipalities that they see the short-term salivation over ratables, and not much else. Of course if you ever watch any public meetings, eleted and planning officials love to fall on the sword of Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code which in my humble opinion needs an updating. Suburbs and exurbs are vastly different and Pennsylvania needs better comprehensive planning, so that many local municipalities run out of excuses on why they don’t need better planning. Not all local municipalities are horible at historic preservation, but a lot of them could do much better, or simply pay less lip service to the idea of preservation and employ more doing.
I also think that Pennsylvania as a state needs to have more that means more in the area of historic preservation. People need incentive to preserve, and I wish that Pennsylvania would follow the lead of other states in this country who offer more enticing incentives to preserve historic structures.
Now the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission administers the federal rehabilitation investment tax credits , but it just seems a lot of other states simply do more. At a minimum the Municipalities Planning Code needs to be more in sync with historic preservation in a top down approach in Pennsylvania. Of course that opens other cans of worms as Pennsylvania is most definitely a private property rights state. We all learned that lesson again when it can to La Ronda. La Ronda was demolished I think as much as anything else because the owner could demolish it.
It is a crying shame that Loch Aerie has never made it to The National Trust for Historic Preservation. I wish in addition that preservationists in Pennsylvania and Chester County would take an interest in preserving this La Ronda of Chester County. No, we can’t save every old house, but once in a while it would be nice if some of the more important homes, of which this mansion is definitely one, were not left to rot. We are in a crappy economy no doubt, but still so much our past in our communities is left to rot. There seems to be plenty of money to build new, but not much money or incentive to preserve. Private property rights state or not, once the architectural history is gone, it’s gone and not coming back.
What kind of adaptive reuse do you think could fit Loch Aerie? I would like to see something that preserved the exterior and enough of the interior. It would make a cool B&B or boutique hotel. Even a restaurant. Or a quirky office space. Antique store or art center. The landscaping would be key as it’s views are now either highway or big box. Given how it was cut off, it wouldn’t make an ideal single family home. If I were an official in East Whiteland, I would be looking for a way to make preservation of Loch Aerie happen. But we all know the reality of that as it is far simpler to approve a demolition plan and look the other way. Or to let many old structures rot and look the other way until no one wants the properties except for another doofy strip mall, drive thru pharmacy, bank branch, or fast food restaurant.
One last question. Has this home ever been on a Chester County Day Tour? There certainly are enough cool Victorians in Chester County that they could do an entire Victorian Day, or given all the historic homes at risk ALL over, they could do an “at risk” themed tour. I love my barns, don’t misunderstand me, but there are a lot of cool houses in Chester County that are in desperate need of rescuing from various points of time in history.
Here are the documents I loaded on SCRIBD and also check out The Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society’s Historical Quarterly Digital Archives “A Brief Glimpse of East Whiteland“:
Just a little end note added courtesy of a reader. They suggest all get familiar with Landscapes2: bringing growth and preservation together for Chester County. In their call to action this website says (and I quote):
Chester County is at a critical point in its history. We must make a choice for our future. We can let the unsustainable development pattern of the past continue, or we can choose to work together toward a new pattern of development that preserves the unique character of Chester County.
Chapter 1 of the comprehensive policy plan, Landscapes2, outlines how the Board of County Commissioners and the Chester County Planning Commission plan to address growth management and preservation strategies in collaboration with public, private and corporate citizens.
There is also a section on historic resources.
Thank you one and all for your continued interest in this blog.
There is a mansion which has fascinated me for years. A giant Victorian creature, marooned and perched on an island of land in Frazer, PA along route 30, a/k/a Lancaster Avenue a/k/a Lincoln Highway. You also see it when you go into Home Depot.
Every time I see the mansion I look for signs that either someone has bought it, or someone wants to tear it down. It deserves to be saved as it is a truly magnificent structure.
I learned more about the house thanks to a You Tube video I am posting. It should be preserved. It’s very cool. It is also of the designs of Addison Hutton . Once upon a time a few years ago, I was on a committee that saved a house called Beechwood, on the Lower School Campus of the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr. It was also an Addison Hutton house.
Anyone have any stories to tell on this house? The Daily Local wrote about it a couple of times in 2010
Am I to gather from another article sent to me that was also in The Daily Local that this poor house is owned by the Tabas Family? Hmmm, I knew Susan Tabas Tepper growing up, knew about the Downingtown Inn, Mickey Rooney’s Tabas Hotel, Twelve Casars, and Riverfront and City Line Dinner Theaters, but not this. Are they going to let this just rot? Why don’t they restore it and sell it?
Published: Thursday, June 10, 2010
By GRETCHEN METZ, Staff Writer
Here is the delusional offer sheet on the house – apparently it is the listing of a Keller Williams guy in Exton named Bob Liberato. He needs to buy a clue and a better head shot. The property is listed at $2,250,000? And oh yes, it can be yours as a commercial rental for $20 a square foot – you know I guess they just aren’t worrying about reality getting in the way of the economy, right?
In my humble opinion, the owners don’t care about this mansion, or its history or the fact that it was a work product of an incredibly famous Philadelphia architect. Mind you this is what is wrong with the corridor along which it sits. Drive up through Paoli and beyond – through to Frazer, Exton and beyond and you will see a lot of pretty amazing structures just rotting. And in between them are hodge podge commercial developments dotting the landscape with no thought to planning whatsoever. (Another rotting structure I have always been curious about is the house so falling in on itself it is dangerous either right next to or near Clews & Strawbridge.)
I also found a very cool slide show on Flickr . You know what is crazy? This is exactly the kind of structure that should be on The National Trust for Historic Preservation watch list.
They don’t build ’em like Loch Aeire / Lockwood Mansion anymore . But much like La Ronda in Bryn Mawr once sat rotting in her faded glory, so does this home. And generally speaking, people either don’t care, or only care when it is too late.
I dub Lockwood Mansion the La Ronda of Malvern. May we only hope her ultimate fate is not so horrible as La Ronda’s was.
I have a thing for Main Street oriented towns….this is the natural commodity that developers attempt to capture but can never quite naturally duplicate in developments that reflect the theories of New Urbanism, and so forth. And why create Developer Disneylands when the real deal is all around us?
Adaptive reuse I think is a more productive key to the future. The National Trust for Historic Preservation seems to share my opinion too:
The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes that the strength of America’s historic and older neighborhoods is critical to the future of our communities, and that improving housing is a key element of any community revitalization strategy. Our goal is to prevent unnecessary demolition, and to restore, rehab, and reuse existing structures, while helping to ensure that needed new construction is compatible and complementary with the character of our older and historic resources
But to reuse an old structure, or series of old structures is not what most developers seem to want to do.
If we’re not careful, Main Street will disappear. And that will be a loss. I don’t know about you, but I like communities with individual identities. Not everything needs to be homogenous and Stepford wife situated.
The one thing that concerns me is that Chester County is still seeing a LOT of development. Lots and lots of strip malls, but I notice that every time one of those goes up, small crossroads town centers are forgotten more and more.
I would hate to see small Main Street oriented Chester County town centers become ghost towns and a thing of the past. And as I wander through the county, I notice it’s already happening….
