Somehow the old girl survives….Don’t you wish someone would rescue her and preserve her?
Tag Archives: Loch Aerie
adaptive reuse?
Will the big red barn on the corner of Planebrook and Swedesford in East Whiteland rise again? In February I was wondering the fate of this really big, red barn, and look at what I snapped yesterday:
So nice to see since an apparent adaptive reuse in progress, especially East Whiteland seems to have preservation issues (as in actually seeing that things are preserved).
Things I do not like in East Whiteland right now include the closing of the movie theater in Frazer for a used car or car dealership, the replacement adult whatever toy store next to the King Street Grill, the closing of Newbury Gifts in May and the Wedding Touch closing on April 27th.
The commercial district of East Whiteland along Lancaster Avenue is a hodge podge, and if they cared, it could at least look better. If all these “high end” stores are either in the Vahalla know as Uptown Worthington (whose advertising on their website is well worth mocking it is so absurd) or coming to Uptown Worthington, hello, has anyone looked at Route 30 as it runs through East Whiteland? What is decent is drowned out by seriously ugly so why not improve it? Why not attempt to attract other than car dealerships, mobile home parks, self storage and adult novelty stores? And yes I know those aren’t the ONLY things along Route 30 in East Whiteland, but that is what the public perception is.
Soon Uptown Worthington will be as crowded as Mall World in Exton so why not start thinking about giving people attractive shopping alternatives and fix it up on Route 30? To me it just seems to be common sense to draw on the popularity of Uptown Worthington and Mall World in Exton and to make the in-between look better and have stores people would like to patronize, preferably independent retailers and not more big box stores. I am not saying some new urbanist fairy tale of a walkable business district (it would never happen safely here), but a more cohesive and better looking few miles.
Also on my wish list for East Whiteland? I would love to see Linden Hall and Loch Aerie preserved too.
I would also really appreciate it if Whitelands Chiropractic on the corner of Church and Lancaster in Frazer would trim the complete bent elbow of hedges so drivers could see better from both roads.
Business districts are important. Uniformity and neatness and design of business districts are equally important.
on good friday, remember the churches abandoned by time and man
Sounds a bit dramatic, but it got your attention, didn’t it? On Good friday, one of the holiest of holy days, I ask you to remember a small but historically significant church that is rotting in Frazer in East Whiteland Township, Chester County. It is on Bacton Hill Road and it is Ebenezer AME Church.
It started as a fascination of a ruined structure that I later received more information on. Ebenezer AME in Frazer was built in 1835.
Apparently the oldest grave stones in the cemetery date back to the 1830s. An Eagle Scout named Matthew Nehring had been working on uncovering the gravestones. (Have no idea if his project is finished.) 
According to the photos it appears some of the dead buried here are soldiers and veterans. One gravestone is for a Joshua Johnson (Pvt., Co. K, 45th Reg., United States Colored Troops (USCT) (Civil War). I find this to be incredibly historically significant as the army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in 1863.
According to the East Whiteland Historical Society (which I am not sure what they do because all I see are historic structures rotting in East Whiteland) this church used to serve as a “hub” of African American society in Frazer. So again on Good Friday I ask again why isn’t any of it being protected?
In any Christian religion, Easter is a very big deal. Imagine Easters of the past in this little church. Ladies and gents in their Sunday best, the ladies sporting spring hats. The laughter and joyful sounds of children outside after services have concluded? The pastor standing outside wishing his congregation well and God speed?
A reader of my blog tells me County records indicate that the lot is owned by the “African Methodist Episcopal Church”. This online directory shows the a church in Malvern – St. Paul’s.
The headquarters of the AMEC church are as follows:
500 8th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37203 Phone:(615)254-0911 Fax:(615)254-0912 Email:cio@ame-church.com
I am going to e-mail these posts to AMEC and see if they will care. Certainly no one else I have e-mailed to date has appeared to care.
East Whiteland always seems to be Johnny on the Spot for historical data yet all this
stuff just rots. Peter H. Spengeman, a member of the East Whiteland Township Historical Commission wrote to me recently in part:
I appreciate the writer’s interest and concern about the considerable historical resources in the Township , and the ongoing need for protection of structures such as the Ebenezer AME Church, a recent focus of beginning conservation planning. All of us shudder when we pass a formerly stately structure crying for help.
He continues with what East Whiteland has done in the past, and well, the past is the past. What is going on today? I am going to not try to sound harsh, but what is it they do besides bemoan the fact that a heck of a lot of history in East Whiteland is rotting? Loch Aerie, Linden House, and more? For example (I do not know all the municipal boundaries so feel free to correct me) but isn’t part of Duffy’s Cut that Amtrak won’t allow any more archeological digs on in East Whiteland? Is the mass grave important enough that maybe another marker closer to the actual site is in order?
I get that part of the problem is East Whiteland has probably more commercial zones than residential so why not get smart with zoning and planning? Is it possible to write into ordinances and make conditions of approval that not only include these developers to improve the roads and infrastructure, but to kick in towards the preservation? I mean seriously they have developers with huge, deep pockets like 
Brian O’Neill and Eli Kahn, right? I mean Brian O’Neill is Catholic with a sense of religion, right? Why couldn’t they ask someone like him to save a church? Help get another historical marker closer to the actual location of Duffy’s Cut mass grave (Where AMTRAK halted archeological digging) ? Or help find a conservation minded buyer for say Linden Hall or Loch Aerie?
Both developers and their partners have made noises out here and elsewhere about how their developments add to the character of an area, so why not have them put their money where there mouths are on historic sites? Paoli Battlefield and Battle of the Clouds are important, but why is it I see neighboring municipalities succeeding with preservation efforts? Historic Sugartown, Historic Goshenville, and even though sometimes I think they need to do more, Historic Yellow Springs?
And again, when you go to East Whiteland’s really poorly designed website and pull up the historical commission you get a big bowl of nothing.
This church meant something to residents of Chester County for generation upon generation. I was also told (and I quote) “Some of the family names on the gravestones are the same as families still living in Malvern Borough. I can’t blame the Township when the church and the families don’t seem to care.”
I will tell you what, if some of my people were buried in an abandoned churchyard I sure would care.
So here is wishing on Good Friday that apathy dies an untimely death and people remember this site before my photos are the only things left standing.
Again, I am happy to share the photos I have taken to date. If the African Methodist Episcopal Church were to roll up with East Whiteland to save it, I would continue to offer my photographic skills as a donation as well as my PR talents. But someone other than I has to care, first.
Blessed Easter all.
it’s palm sunday, so why not post about an abandoned church?
So yesterday, I went out and photographed an abandoned church that had historical importance to the area: Ebenezer AME Church. I had taken a couple of photos a while back and then Pete Kennedy from Malvern Patch told me what I was looking at so I wrote the post ebenezer ame church – bacton hill road.
Ironically and as life might have it, as I was out yesterday taking photos, someone from the East Whiteland Historical Society popped by to leave a comment on my post. His name is Peter H. Spengeman and this is what he had to say:
As a member of the East Whiteland Township Historical Commission, I appreciate the writer’s interest and concern about the considerable historical resources in the Township , and the ongoing need for protection of structures such as the Ebenezer AME Church, a recent focus of beginning conservation planning. All of us shudder when we pass a formerly stately structure crying for help. To mount preservation efforts , it does require committment, time and often public advocacy and substantive funds to ensure that bricks and mortar are added to create stability of these structures as well as interest in publicizing our rich history. We are pleased that the Supervisors of the Township have supported the Historical Commission over the years, as well as past and recent efforts by the County of Chester and private societies to catalog all resources and provide new and excellent research into the Paoli Battlefield and Battle of the Clouds. The Township Historical Commission now has openings, and those in the community who feel strongly about historical preservation are welcome to come to a meeting, held the second Tuesday of each month, and see if they would be interested in contributing. Thank you,
Peter H. Spengeman, Member, EWTHC
I am going to not try to sound harsh, but what is it they do besides bemoan the fact that a heck of a lot of history in East Whiteland is rotting? Loch Aerie, Linden House, and more? For example (I do not know all the municipal boundaries so feel free to correct me) but isn’t part of Duffy’s Cut that Amtrak won’t allow any more archeological digs on in East Whiteland? Is the mass grave important enough that maybe another marker closer to the actual site is in order?
Or Linden Hall or Lock Aerie? Have they sought commercial conservation minded buyers or donations from the developers getting rich off of East Whiteland?
I get that part of the problem is East Whiteland has probably more commercial zones than residential so why not get smart with zoning and planning? Is it possible to write into ordinances and make conditions of approval that not only include these developers to improve the roads and infrastructure, but to kick in towards the preservation? I mean seriously they have developers with huge, deep pockets like Brian O’Neill and Eli Kahn, right?
Both developers and their partners have made noises out here and elsewhere about how their developments add to the character of an area, so why not have them put their money where there mouths are on historic sites? I would even say welcome them making corporate offices out of a historic structure in a commercial zone – we all know it is not going to go back to residential so why not encourage a developer to preserve the facade and do an adaptive reuse of the interior?
Paoli Battlefield and Battle of the Clouds are important, but why is it I see neighboring municipalities succeeding with preservation efforts? Historic Sugartown, Historic Goshenville, and even though sometimes I think they need to do more, Historic Yellow Springs?
I note that East Whiteland’s Historic Commission has openings, but I am a writer, not a board person. I have little patience for boards where not much has changed in decades and trust me, they would not like my impatience. I am doing them a favor by raising awareness, what I do not get is how they seem unable to think outside the box here. Why not go to their supervisors and ask for more public and private partnerships? After all, Chester County has great wealth in it, and it is win-win for those who have those beautiful estates and properties to have what lies around them look nice too. Preservation and adaptive reuse can do that.
Also to be commented upon is that I sent out my initial post to historical groups who keep records of the black soldiers who served in the Civil War and others interested in local history and preservation and not one acknowledged receipt of the e-mail or commented on the post. I also sent to media outlets and did not hear anything. But that part doesn’t surprise me because history, crumbling history, and historic preservation aren’t sexy to the masses that feed off local and regional media. I will remind the print and t.v. media that you used to cover stuff like this.
So on Palm Sunday I offer you photos of Ebeneezer AME, or should I say her ruins in Frazer. This church meant a lot to a lot of people for a lot of years, right? Is this how we honor her dead buried in her church yard, or what was her church yard? I wondered as I took my photos yesterday if descendants of the dead buried there even know they have people in this old abandoned churchyard?
I have no idea who owns this, maybe the state, but I know from paying attention to other cases involving abandoned churches and grave yards, local municipalities like East Whiteland can take them over. And seriously what would it cost to put a little fence and marker up and to cut the weeds? You could probably interest more boy scout troops and archeological types to help right the graves. All it would take would be a little effort on the part of say, East Whiteland Historical Society.
EWTHC I have started something here for you, am happy to share my photos. Am happy to volunteer in as much as trying to raise awareness and take photos of preservation efforts should they actually occur. But you have to actually want to care about this stuff and again, not trying to be mean, it is a little hard to decide what it is you care about – on East Whiteland’s website there are no current agendas or meeting minutes since 2009.
loch aerie in frazer 2013
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?
lockwood mansion in photos…
So, I have this fascination with Chester County’s Lockwood Mansion (a/k/a Loch Aerie). I happened to be at the Home Depot today after taking photos elsewhere, so armed with camera, I took some exterior shots. I will note that in spite of the abandoned air of the property, a lot of the garden plantings are still there and quite pretty in the spring….
Enjoy the photos! Click HERE for photo slide show.
maybe loch aerie is indeed chester county’s la ronda.
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:
It’s Not The End Of The Line For This Landmark It Fell Into Disrepair. But Now Loch Aerie Has Been Lovingly Restored.
June 07, 1992|By Sharon O’Neal, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
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.
marooned and desolate in frazer: lockwood mansion (“loch aerie”)
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?
Lockwood Mansion owners reject bid
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.