George W. Pyle, Jr. took the above photo in 1963. Next is same room, taken by me in 2016.
Next is another photo taken by George W. Pyle Jr. in 1963. The little dots are basically age spots on the 1963 negatives. What follows is a photo of the same room that I took in 2017.
George Pyle sent me more photos. This morning I have lined up his 1963 photos with my more recent vintage photos taken over the past couple of years.
I do not know what of the ornate plaster work will survive the adaptive reuse in progress, but I imagine what can be saved, will be. It was so badly deteriorated in spots, and in other spots just plain missing.
But it is so cool to see the rooms as they once were. Add to that the juxtaposition in time of when my photos were taken, decades later – 53 years later give or take.
Loch Aerie, 1963
George W. Pyle, Jr courtesy photo
Yes MORE photos!! How cool is this? (Oh and on SCRIBD you can read the Historic American Buildings Survey of Loch Aerie in the 1960s!)
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
I always wanted to see more into Loch Aerie when inhabited by the Lockwoods. My friend author Thom Nickels was someone who as a boy got to interview the aged Lockwood sisters and has told me stories of kids trying to sneak through the then woods around Loch Aerie (now Home Depot). In his book Philadelphia Mansions: Stories and Characters Behind the Walls, Thom brings the Lockwood family and the era in which they lived to light.
One thing Thom speaks of on page 177-178 of his book was a painting which apparently now hangs in the Valley Forge Memorial Chapel called Washington after the Battle of Trenton by Christian Schussele.
And guess what? Thanks to my new friend Mr. Pyle, I can see how the painting hung in Loch Aerie!
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr. – Large painting is Washington after the Battle of Trenton by Christian Schussele.
My friend Thom in his book , speaks of Miss Edith Lockwood and I think I would have liked her. In Philadelphia Mansions: Stories and Characters Behind the Walls he has a photograph of Edith with her dogs on the back porch. She had terriers, and they look to have been Scotties. She was also a gardener, and Miss Edith was an integral part of the Church Farm School’s floriculture program and had quite a hand in the running of the greenhouses, “and a large peony field from which 60,000 to 70,000 flowers were cut and sold annually.”
Now the gardener in me of course wonders if Church Farm School has any of Miss Edith’s peonies left?
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
According to Thom Nickels’ research the things in the house were auctioned off. Makes you wonder where everything ended up.
It is so cool to have access to these photos. It is so interesting to see what it was like inside when lived in!
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
I received a note form this nice man asking if I wanted to see photos he took in 1963 of Loch Aerie in Malvern/Frazer (I say Frazer, but others say Malvern.)
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
He lived here when he was young and his name is George W. Pyle, Jr.
This is what he had to say about the photos, some of which he sent overnight:
My personal copy of the book – affordable and easily found on Amazon
These and all of the photos to follow were taken by me around 1963. I found the Loch Aerie Mansion, LLC Facebook page. It is quite interesting. I saw a picture of the new owner (?) with Eugene DiOrio. Mr. DiOrio has a very nice section on Loch Aerie in his book, “Chester County. A Travler’s Album” I believe that book is out of print but I was able to find an excellent copy, #51, signed by Mr. DiOrio, in 1991 at Baldwin’s Book Barn.
The first picture is a higher quality image of the one you already have. The stairs were not carpeted. There were area rugs in the entry way but bare floors on either side of the staircase. Against the wall on the left was a large and heavy mirrored hat and coat rack with holders for canes or umbrellas on either side of a bench seat.
The second picture was taken standing about halfway up the stairs. On the right side are the bell chimes that were used to call the upstairs or downstairs maid or housekeeper. There is a note safety pinned to the back of the chair on the left. There was a ribbon stretched across the arms at one time. The note said the chair was valuable and shouldn’t be used.
Outside the front door was a mat that had a couple pair of large men’s boots on them. Mrs. Reilly said they put them there to give the impression that men were there and not just two older women.
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
Mr. Pyle also tells me that in the photos, the dark spots are artifacts on the negatives from development. The last two photos are one of his and one of mine. Just to show everyone what time and neglect causes. Mr. Pyle’s photo was 1963. Mine was 2016 from a similar angle.
I will post any others he might send. Thanks for stopping by!
Loch Aerie, 1963. Photo courtesy of George W. Pyle, Jr.
My photo. Taken March, 2016.
Ahh this gem of a book is finally out!
I am so honored to have had this amazing book dedicated to myself and renown Philadelphia Artist (and family friend) Noel Miles by author (and friend) Thom Nickels.
This is such a treasure of a book because Thom tells the stories of these homes and their people.
Included in his book are many homes I find amazing and two in particular. La Ronda and Loch Aerie. I also provided photographs I took of those two incredible homes.
La Ronda. October, 2009
La Ronda, which once stood in Bryn Mawr in Lower Merion Township, stands no more. She was demolished in 2009.
Loch Aerie under restoration. 2018.in the fall of 2009.
One of the darkest weeks in historic preservation was watching La Ronda (Addison Mizner, architect) come down stone by stone, floor by floor not because she had to be torn down, but because someone could just destroy her.
Others will note the wonderful chapter on Frazer’s Grande Dame, Loch Aerie (Addison Hutton, architect), who is being saved and restored to new life and a new use. Loch Aerie will live to see more stories happen between her walls.
There are many stories and many homes in this book.
Hear about historic Strawberry Mansion’s rise and fall and the sad life of architect Thomas Nevell who designed one of Philadelphia’s greatest mansions, Mount Pleasant.
Hear about Germantown’s mysterious Ebenezer Maxwell and his famous house that became the inspiration for theexterior of the popular Addams Family house.
You can buy the book on Amazon and support Thom’s hard work and his beautiful gift of storytelling. Yu can also purchase directly from the publisher.
Philadelphia Mansions: Stories and Characters Behind the Walls (Landmarks) by Thom Nickels
Buy on Amazon here: https://tinyurl.com/PhilaMansions
Buy it directly from Arcadia/History Press here: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781625859518
And on April 10th there will be a wonderful event and discussion of the book at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. You can buy tickets HERE for that special event. They are only $10.
In the fall of 2018, the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust will also be featuring a special event with this book. Details will be forthcoming soon on that event!
I visited my favorite grande dame in Frazer today. I had to make a stop at Home Depot, so I had to go say hello to Loch Aerie.
I did not go inside because I did not have permission, and as a matter of fact I stayed on the perimeter because it’s very muddy and I just wanted to see how the mansion looked.
Loch Aerie is looking happier. Seriously. Her new owners have accomplished so much already! This is an awesome adaptive reuse happening.
You will notice when you look at the picture of the rear that they did have to tear off that back sort of porch enclosure because it was, well, rotting. So I’m not surprised by that in the least.
Loch Aerie is going to be lovely when she is finished! I can’t wait!
Today, my friend author and East Whiteland native, Thom Nickels and I went to Loch Aerie. The new owner graciously allowed us to come in a photograph and shoot a little video tour.
It made me so happy to visit the grande dame of Frazer!
I will have photos soon, and I have to thank this old house for inspiring my photography today. I had not felt so inspired of late, so it felt good.
Loch Aerie has a future and new owners who care about her and are not scared of her. They love the old gal.
Thanks for stopping by!
Ok it is no secret how much I love Loch Aerie. I last wrote about her April 21, 2016 when I thought she had sold.
I had wondered what was going on because no one had heard anything. I saw lights on a few times at night over the summer and the lawn was getting cut.
I had found there two deed related documents on Chester County’s website (see highmount-1 and highmount-2 ) but that was it.
Well guess what?
As per Vista Today Loch Aerie has sold again. Apparently they are reporting that the deal fell through and their real estate agent from Berkshire Hathaway Mike Diggin submitted an offer on behalf of Steven and Dana Poirier of Downingtown and it was accepted.
I was able to confirm Vista’s story via, what else? Social Media!
Yay!
Why yay? I do not know these people but they want to rehab it and have a wedding venue and maybe it sounds like the husband’s office as well.
I remember them from auction day, they were across the room from me.
Anyway, that is all the news fit to print on 700 Lancaster Avenue, Malvern, PA.
Tip of the hat to Vista for getting the scoop. I enjoyed my brief stint writing for them, I just couldn’t do it for free so that writing experience was unfortunately short lived.
I see this as positive news for Loch Aerie. I look forward to their opening day.
UPDATE: Here is what I was told about Loch Aerie and recent change of ownership:
“The high bidder did close and buy the property. It did not fall through.
He then sold it to the 3rd place bidder from the auction.”
Selfishly I hope the consider Frens & Frens out of West Chester for an architecture firm – they are the ones who restored Beechwood House in Bryn Mawr. I was on the Committee to Save Beechwood years ago – it is how I fell in love with Addison Hutton houses.
I will close with a video done on Beechwood for the restoration so people can se a modern adaptive reuse of an old mansion/home can work!
In a matter of minutes, less than half an hour, Loch Aerie had a new owner. CZ Patel of New Jersey. I was standing there when he said in a soft spoken voice that he was interested in converting Loch Aerie to a hotel.
That is welcome news to all who were worried about her facing a wrecking ball.
New Loch Aerie owner CZ Patel speaks with reporters after winning auction
The room was packed with residents, bidders, reporters, and even folks from other historic commission members from other Chester County municipalities. I am not sure if anyone from East Whiteland Historical Commission were present, although one member was quoted in Kristin Holme’ follow up article.
Here is the link to Kristin’s Inquire article and my byline courtesy of VISTA.Today. I was really honored the VISTA.Today editor reached out to me. I have poured my heart and soul into covering Loch Aerie the past few years.
I look forward to when I can cover Loch Aerie in her next life as a hotel.
Updated: APRIL 22, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
by Kristin E. Holmes, Staff Writer
By Carla Zambelli
Here is a LINK to auction photos I took yesterday.
