The Votes Are In for 2024’s Inductees!
Thank you to everyone who voted for the 2024 inductees into the Chestnut Hill Architectural Hall of Fame. The winners will be announced at this year’s Preservation Party on Tuesday, December 3.
Chestnut Hill is among the nation’s most architecturally distinguished communities, home to outstanding examples of architecture from three centuries. The Architectural Hall of Fame is a distinguished list of Chestnut Hill’s most treasured significant buildings, structures, and landscapes chosen by the public. These properties represent groundbreaking approaches to planning and design; are significant for their design, materials, and craftsmanship; or as an exceptional example of their style; or are of historical significance because of an association with an event, a person, or by age. Thousands of public votes were cast to induct these treasures into the Hall of Fame.
Thomas Mill Covered Bridge – 1731 – Inducted, 2015
Forbidden Drive
Spanning the Wissahickon Creek at Thomas Mill Road, this is the only remaining covered bridge in Philadelphia, and the only covered bridge in a major U.S. city. It has been rebuilt several times over the years and was restored by the Works Progress Administration in 1938. (Photo: Chestnut Hill Conservancy Archives)
Abraham Rex Store (Woodward offices) – 1762 – Inducted, 2018
8031-33 Germantown Avenue
Originally built in or before 1762, the Abraham Rex Store is one of Chestnut Hill’s oldest remaining historic buildings. Built by Abraham’s German immigrant father when Germantown Avenue was a dirt road, the building sits in part of Chestnut Hill that was then called Sommerhausen and was the most prosperous of several area “great stores” during the latter part of the eighteenth century. These local stores were rendered less important over time as improving road networks allowed farmers to bring their produce directly to city markets. The building stayed in the Rex family until the 1850s, and was bought in 1884 by Henry H. Houston; his daughter Gertrude Houston Woodward inherited the building in 1921. The north section was built in 1818, and other alterations occurred in 1903, 1908, 1939, 1941, and 1965. Stucco was removed from the front of the building in 1971, revealing the beautiful original stonework underneath. The building now houses the offices of George Woodward, Co. and the Woodward House Corporation – an early example of successful adaptive reuse.
Stagecrafters Theater / Peters House – 1784 – Inducted, 2019
Various Architects – 8132-34 Germantown Avenue
Stagecrafters is comprised of a complex of late-18th and early-19th century buildings. The Germantown Avenue building, aka the Peters House or the Ezra Sands House, was constructed after 1784 as a stuccoed dwelling with wood trim and gabled dormers. At the rear is a former barn with a house attached. It is reputed that this early-19th century house stood at 2 West Hartwell Lane until 1902, when Robert H. Aiman and his family moved it to its present location next to the barn. Founded in 1929, Stagecrafters began using the property for productions the following year and rented the complex from the Aiman family. The theatre group converted the barn into a 200-seat theatre, and in 1949 the group purchased the property from the Aiman estate. Stagecrafters has remained at this location ever since.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Mermaid Inn – 1734,1913 – Inducted, 2023
Koeller and Speth – 7673 Germantown Avenue aka 7671-7673 Winston Road
The early history of this local landmark is quite murky; the original Inn is believed to have been built in 1734 and would have been an essential stop for weary travelers making the trek between the City of Philadelphia and cities to the north and west, including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and Reading. It appears to have remained largely unaltered until Winston Road was opened. This required the demolition of the original inn and its reconstruction in 1913 at a new location just east of the original site. Koeller and Speth designed the new version of the Inn, and it has been suggested that elements of the original Inn were incorporated into the new building.
Morris Arboretum – 19th-21st Cent. – Inducted, 2016
Many notable architects — Meadowbrook and Hillcrest Aves.
Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is a cultural landscape comprised of beautiful historic and new buildings set within an internationally important arboretum. Contributors include Chandler, Cope and Stewardson, Eyre, Cret, McGoodwin, Olmsted Brothers, and Andropogon. The fernery is a signature Victorian feature, while 18th and early 19th century vernacular architecture dot the landscape, including a 1761 cottage and an 1854 mill. The 1968 loss of the Compton Mansion was a seminal event for the community, helping to broaden awareness of the burgeoning preservation movement and sparking stellar subsequent preservation work at the Arboretum. (photo: Paul Meyer)
Chestnut Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery – 1835 – Inducted, 2018
2 Bethlehem Pike
On May 23, 1835, the cornerstone was laid for the Baptist Church of Chestnut Hill at the southeast corner of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike. The original 40- by 45-foot structure, the first single-denomination church built in Chestnut Hill, was enlarged in 1857, and a clock tower and bell were added in 1874. At the time, the Presbyterians were considering adding a clock to their nearby steeple. When the Baptists built theirs first, the Presbyterians concluded that a second one would be superfluous and resigned themselves to going to church on “Baptist time.” The building was among the first to be declared historic by the Philadelphia Historical Commission in 1974. According to the Church, the congregation was part of the Underground Railroad in the early 1860s (there may have been a tunnel that ran under Bethlehem Pike and ascended beneath the floor of the church — where there is still a hatch). The cemetery (the oldest in Chestnut Hill) contains the graves of several Civil War soldiers.
Valley Green Bridge – c.1832,1915 – Inducted, 2021
Valley Green Road crossing Wissahickon Creek near Valley Green Inn
Constructed in 1832 by Philadelphia County, the Valley Green Road Bridge predates the creation of the Wissahickon Turnpike, (the toll road that would become Forbidden Drive), its namesake the Valley Green Inn, and the creation of the park itself. Prior to being acquired by Fairmount Park who has maintained it over the years, the bridge served the busy mill community and was part of a 236-acre tract owned by the Livezey family. Known for years simply as the “Stone Bridge” on the earliest area maps, the bridge was also known as the “County Bridge,” and “Springfield Avenue Bridge.” Wissahickon historians have determined it is one of the oldest and most celebrated features of the park. Indeed, with its picturesque single span, the bridge became a popular subject of both amateur and professional painters, photographers, as well as postcard companies. Images often show the reflection of the arch in the Wissahickon creek framed on either side with greenery. The bridge’s only known major rehabilitation occurred in 1915.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Casey’s Ice House (aka Willets Studio) – 1843,1913,1924 – Inducted, 2023
H. Louis Duhring – 7900-06 Lincoln Drive aka 225 W Springfield Ave
One of the most prominent examples of adaptive reuse in Chestnut Hill, this building was initially constructed by James Casey in 1843 as his ice house at the present-day intersection of Lincoln Drive and Springfield Avenue. As part of a campaign to make Chestnut Hill a center for artists and craftsmen, developer George Woodward persuaded the Willet family to relocate their stained-glass studio from Pittsburgh in 1913. Duhring, Okie & Ziegler converted Casey’s Ice House into the Willet stained-glass studio and residence in 1913 and 1924. After the Willets outgrew the space in 1924, Woodward had Duhring convert the workshop into two living areas.
The Venetian Club – c.1845,1929 – Inducted, 2019
Various Architects – 8030 Germantown Avenue
The Venetian Club might be considered as not one building, but two. The back portion of the building was built as a single house by Abraham Rex circa 1845. It became the home of Chestnut Hill Academy in 1895 and remained so until three years later, when the school relocated to its present home at the Wissahickon Inn, now part of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. The Chestnut Hill Primary School- later known as the Joseph C. Gilbert School Annex- purchased the property in 1906. The School owned it until 1924, when it was sold to the Venetian Social Club. The Venetian Club immediately began work on the former school, by hiring Joseph Felix of 218 Benezet Street to help design interior alterations. In 1929, brick front and rear additions were made to the old school. These were designed by architect John Graham and included a Spanish tile roof, a winged lion sculpture. The Venetian Club retains the splendor of the 1929 additions, and remains a local landmark today.
Photo taken 2018 by Alma Feuss. Generally, photos of the Venetian Club building are few and far between.
Chestnut Hill College-Historic Complex – c.1850-1961 – Inducted, 2018
Various Architects – 9601 Germantown Avenue
Founded in 1924, Chestnut Hill College is bounded by Germantown Avenue, W. Northwestern Avenue and the Wissahickon Creek. In 1929, Building Magazine described it as “one of the finest group of buildings erected for any educational institution in the entire country.” Significant buildings include the 1903 French Gothic St. Joseph Hall, designed by noted ecclesiastical architect Edwin Forrest Durang. Inside there is a five-story, 95-foot high rotunda complete with a vaulted ceiling, balconies and a stained glass skylight. An observatory is located on the roof and has been in use since the building’s inception.
Fournier Hall, with its Italian Romanesque architecture and red terra cotta-tiled roof, features an exterior portico of twelve arches and an entranceway topped with an Eastern Byzantine style tympana combining both Christian and classical imagery. Decorating the West Door are the signs of the zodiac and the symbols of the four Evangelists as well as the mythical griffin and the college’s seal. The interior consists of five sections connected by corridors, a foyer with terrazzo floors and wood wainscoting, and a dining room. There is also a Romanesque-style chapel; it was finished sometime after 1891 and built in a neo-Gothic style to resemble the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. It features vaulting, pillars and pointed arches. The main altar is replete with Gothic spires, which recur in the surrounding stained glass windows. It is paved in Italian marble, and the altar rail is made of Mexican onyx. The altar itself is constructed of Italian marble, while its pillars are pink Numidian marble.
Valley Green Inn – c.1850,1937 – Inducted, 2023
Valley Green Road at Wissahickon Creek
In 1850, Thomas Livezey rented Edward Rinker on the Valley Green Inn site to build his Valley Green Hotel. At Rinker’s hotel, a traditional dinner of catfish and waffles was served, as was customary in other hotels along the Wissahickon Creek in the 19th century. With the growing city and industrialization, the city realized its water supply needed protection, and many structures along the Creek were demolished, with the vacant land being incorporated into Fairmount Park. The building languished as the 19th century progressed, and its demolition was considered. Locals, including Charles W. Henry and others, fundraised and raised over $1200 for restoration. This was completed in 1901, and the old hotel became known as the Valley Green Inn. Additional restorations were made in the mid-1930s with the help of the Friends of the Wissahickon, and the Inn was rededicated in 1937. Since then, the Inn has been jointly run by the Friends of the Wissahickon and the Fairmount Park Commission. The Curator and Archivist of the Chestnut Hill Conservancy have cataloged the artifacts displayed throughout the Inn.
Our Mother of Consolation Complex – c.1855-1916 – Inducted, 2023
Edwin Durang, John J. Kennedy – 7-27 East Chestnut Hill Avenue
In 1854, John Middleton, a wealthy Quaker who converted to Catholicism, determined that Chestnut Hill should have a Catholic church. At that time, many of the community’s house staff were recent immigrants from Catholic countries like Ireland. Amidst considerable anti-Catholic opposition, in 1855, Bishop Neumann blessed the new church and rectory. Originally called St. Mary’s, the name evolved to Our Mother of Consolation by the late 1870s. A parish hall and school were completed in 1888, and a larger rectory and school were built in 1904 (Edwin Durang) and 1916 (John J. Kennedy). The school suffered a devastating fire on March 21, 2023, that took the roof but left much of the structure. Although the installation of a Catholic church almost produced a riot 160 years ago, it remains a strong force in the community, like the fire- damaged school building.
Gravers Lane Train Station – 1872 – Inducted, 2015
Frank Furness — 300 E. Gravers Lane
This is one of the few surviving buildings by Frank Furness, who, as chief architect of the Reading Railroad, designed about 130 stations and industrial buildings. His bold style fell out of fashion, and many of his buildings were demolished in the early 20th century. (Photo: Wendy Concannon)
Anglecot – 1883 – Inducted, 2019
Wilson Eyre, Architect – 403 E. Evergreen Avenue
This Shingle-Style house was designed by noted architect Wilson Eyre, Jr., and was heralded as innovative in form, plan, and for its mix of materials. All of its additions between initial construction and 1910 were by Eyre, illustrating the evolution of his style. After use as a nursing home, Anglecot was converted into nine condominiums in 1982-83 in a project that restored the single-family style facade and conserved the surrounding open space.
Photo by Wendy Concannon
The Wissahickon Inn – c.1883-1884 – Inducted, 2015
1883-84 — Henry Howard Houston — 500 W. Willow Grove Avenue
Built in the Queen Anne style, this 250-room inn was the first project of Henry Howard Houston, the 19th-century developer of large sections of Chestnut Hill. It was designed by G.W and W.D. Hewitt, the architects for many of Houston’s later developments. The inn closed in 1901, and the building was donated to Chestnut Hill Academy – now Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. (Photo: Wendy Concannon)
Houston Sauveur House – 1885 – Inducted, 2019
Hewitt Brothers for H. H. Houston, Architects – 8205 Seminole Street
Henry H. Houston commissioned G.W. & W.D. Hewitt to construct several high-style Queen Anne houses along Seminole Avenue at the end of the nineteenth century, which galvanized development of the St. Martins neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. The Houston-Sauveur House initially served as a rental for Houston and was purchased two years after its construction by Louis Sauveur. While the building has undergone several alterations since construction, including a small rear addition in 1927 and conservatory addition likely in the 1960s, it largely reflects the original Hewitt design. This outstanding example of the Queen Anne style is so far the only Chestnut Hill property on Seminole Avenue to be listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
Water Tower Recreation Center Complex – c.1889,1919 – Inducted, 2018
Robert McGoodwin – 209 E. Hartwell Lane
The Complex consists of the historic Water Tower built in 1859 by the Chestnut Hill Water Company, and a Recreation Center and public playground built on a former pumping station and reservoir site. Philadelphia Water Department took possession of the Chestnut Hill Works on January 20, 1873. The reservoir and Tower, originally capped with a wooden water tank, were built because Philadelphia’s water system did not extend to Chestnut Hill until 1904, at which point this pumping station became obsolete. The Water Tower Recreation Center was built in 1919 by architect Robert McGoodwin in memory of Henry M. Houston Woodward, the eldest son of Dr. George and Mrs. Gertrude Houston Woodward, who was killed in the line of duty during World War I.
The Woodwards ensured the plot’s future role as a recreation site through an earlier donation of property located at 22nd and Huntington Streets to the City as a public playground (now Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center). The bequest was contingent on the City’s agreement to redevelop the six-acre reservoir site as a public playground and to operate and maintain the site in perpetuity. In 1910, the City agreed to these conditions and the Woodwards financed the redevelopment of the site. Within two years, a modest facility known as the Gravers Lane Playground provided the children of upper Chestnut Hill with a place to exercise and play. In 1919, the City transferred ownership of the property from the Department of Public Works to the Bureau of Recreation under the auspices of the Department of Public Welfare. The Woodwards continued to support the Center, partially financing two additions in 1929 to house an auditorium, gymnasium, and public meeting space.
By the mid-twentieth century, the Water Tower Recreation Center site had expanded, with the addition of two parcels enclosed by East Hartwell Lane, Winston Road, and Ardleigh Street, totaling two acres now housing six tennis courts. The modern facility also includes a batting cage, a hockey rink, one general playing field, two ball fields, and three basketball courts.
Nearby, overlooking the site of the reservoir and playing fields, are two stone pillars constructed as a war memorial with bronze plaques dedicated to those who died during World War II and containing the names of 81 individuals from local families
Chestnut Hill Fire Station – 1894 – Inducted, 2016
John T. Windrim — 101 W. Highland Avenue
This Romanesque Revival building is attributed to architect John T. Windrim. A police substation in the same style originally stood on the left side of the building; it was demolished in 1959. The Fire Station was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places by the Chestnut Hill Historical Society in 2014, on behalf of the community and in partnership with its owners, the City of Philadelphia.
Church of St. Martin-in-the Fields – 1895 – Inducted, 2016
G. W. and W. D. Hewitt — 8000 St. Martin’s Lane
This stone High Victorian Gothic church was built by William C. Mackie for Henry Howard Houston, as part of his planned development which he called Wissahickon Heights. The Woodwards changed the name of the community to St. Martin’s after the name of the church. Numerous alterations to the church have occurred over the years, including the 1894 addition of a choir room (G. W. and W. D. Hewitt), a baptistery in 1898-1889 (Theophilus P. Chandler), and a new chancel in 1901 (Chandler). The Church underwent a major interior renovation in 2001.
Chestnut Hill Free Library – c.1897-1907 – Inducted, 2019
Cope and Stewardson, Architects – 8711 Germantown Avenue
The Chestnut Hill branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia is the second library to stand at 8711 Germantown Avenue. Constructed of Wissahickon Schist, it replaced the Christian Hall Library Company of Chestnut Hill, a private library founded in 1872 by Henry J. Williams. The Free Library of Philadelphia assumed control of the Company by February, 1897 and replaced Christian Hall with the current building, designed by Cope and Stewardson. It was completed in 1907 but was not opened to the public until almost two years later. The building has seen two major changes since its completion. In 1992, a back room was added to serve as a community multi-purpose room, and in 1999, the library’s interior was renovated.
Women’s Center (aka Julia Hebard Marsden Residence) – 1903 – Inducted, 2021
Charles Barton Keen, Architect – 8835 (formerly 8811) Germantown Avenue
Built for wealthy socialite Julia Hebard Marsden and her new husband Dr. Biddle Reeves Marsden, the house is a distinctive and characteristic example of the Colonial Revival style as applied to the suburban “country house” of the early 20th century, and a significant local example of the work of Philadelphia native Charles Barton Keen. The commission was one of Keen’s earliest large country houses, and was widely published in national architectural journals and publications upon its completion.
The house passed through a series of private owners before its eventual acquisition by Chestnut Hill Hospital, which converted the home into seven staff apartments in 1959. Today it serves as the hospital’s Women’s Center. Although changed inside, the house’s exterior remains much like it did when the Marsdens lived there.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Krisheim – 1910-1912 -Inducted, 2016
Peabody and Stearns, Olmsted Brothers — 7000 block McCallum St.
This was the home of Gertrude Woodward (Henry Houston’s daughter) and her husband, Dr. George Woodward. Together they succeeded Houston as the major developer of Chestnut Hill in the first half of the 20th century. First a single-family home, then an institution, then split into apartments, Krisheim is now being returned to its original use by the Woodward family. Krisheim was designed by Peabody and Stearns, one of the premier architectural firms in the U.S. The landscaping by the prominent Olmsted Brothers firm was initiated 10 years before the building was completed. (photo: James Garrison)
High Hollow – 1914-1917 – Inducted, 2021
George Howe, Architect – West Hampton Road
George Howe’s spectacular High Hollow was built in 1914-17 as the architect’s personal residence. Its design is derived in part from Howe’s student thesis at the École des Beaux-Arts in France. It is often regarded as Howe’s most significant residential work and viewed by many as setting the standard for house design in the region through the early 20th Century. In his rapturous 1920 review of the home in Architectural Record, architect Paul Phillipe Cret declared “to find so perfect an example of a complete group, and above all a group where the gardening, the architecture, and the smallest details are exactly fitted to the importance and the character of the whole, is far from common.” The property is currently under renovation by its dedicated owner.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Half Moon Houses – 1916 – Inducted, 2018
Duhring, Okie and Ziegler – 7919 – 7925 Lincoln Drive
Half-Moon Houses, or the “half-moon group” is composed of four properties with a twin house in the center arranged in a crescent shape around an open court. This is one of several residential groupings by developer George Woodward as part of the creation of a Pastorius Park Group development. These groupings were crafted to embody ideas found in many English villages of a park or common area surrounded by dwellings. Houses were built of rough-cut local stone and topped with steep roofs that recalled the cottages that Woodward had admired during his trips through England’s Cotswold hills. Woodward worked closely on these and many other developments with his three favorite architects – Louis Duhring, Robert McGoodwin, and Edmund Gilchrist. According to Woodward, the four of them would meet in his office once a week, and would submit designs for all in the group to critique.
William A. Kilian Hardware Co. – c.1925-1927 – Inducted, 2021
Melvin H. Grebe, Builder – 8450 Germantown Avenue
Kilian Hardware was started in 1913 and was first owned by William Kilian and his wife, Minnie Goudy Kilian. Their first store was at 8611 Germantown Ave., and then moved to 8441 Germantown Avenue (Minnie Goudy did much of the moving by wheelbarrow), before settling at its current location in 1923. The current building may contain elements of an early 19th-century (or earlier) stagecoach stop – first as Donat’s Hotel and then Gaiser’s Saloon. Kilian’s hardware store opened for business in the front part of the building in 1923, but the original building was substantially torn down in 1925 and replaced with the current building by 1927. Since before the First World War, Kilian’s has served local residents and tradesmen seeking everything from hammers to housewares, and has provided a traditional anchor to Germantown Avenue’s “Main Street” character.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting – c.1931 – Inducted, 2021
Heacock & Hokanson, Architect; Melvin Grebe, Builder – 100 East Mermaid Lane
The Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting was the first to be formed as a “United Meeting” following the 1827 schism that divided Friends into Orthodox and Hicksite factions. The Meeting House reflected changes in Quaker faith and practice to a less hierarchical form, built to resemble residential architecture. The design of the Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting House suggests a connection between meeting houses and homes, perhaps a nod to Friends’ meetings having been initiated within the homes of its members.
Photo by Bradley Maule
Pastorius Park – c.1937 – Inducted, 2023
Bounded by Abington Avenue, Millman Streets, Roanoke Street, and houses on Navajo Street, Sunrise Lane, Lincoln Drive, and Shawnee Street – Frederick W. G. Peck
Named for Francis Pastorius, a German-born Quaker who founded Germantown in 1690, George Woodward conceived Pastorius Park in the early 1910s after visiting Hyde Park in London. The land that comprises the present-day park was donated by Woodward but languished for over 20 years until the Fairmount Park Commission hired landscape architect Frederick W. G. Peck to develop a design for the park. Woodward was pleased with the design and funded materials with the actual construction of the Park and its improvements being executed by the Works Progress Administration in 1937. Peck’s design reflected Woodward’s vision as a passive, reflective space. Since then, the Park has been restored several times with the community’s help, including the Chestnut Hill Community Association and Friends of Pastorius Park. Today, the Park remains true to its original design and the original vision of George Woodward.
Margaret Esherick House – 1960-61, 1963 – Inducted, 2015
Louis I. Kahn — 200 block, Sunrise Lane
Louis I. Kahn, one of one of the world’s most influential 20th century architects, designed this house for Margaret Esherick, niece of prominent Philadelphia woodworker Wharton Esherick. Listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, it is one of very few of Kahn’s residential designs that has ever been realized. (Photo: William Whitaker)
Vanna Venturi House – 1963 – Inducted, 2015
Robert Venturi — 8300 block, Millman Street
This was an early project of the internationally known architectural theorist Robert Venturi, who designed it for his mother. Also known as “Mother’s House,” it broke with many of the standard elements of Modern architecture. In 1989,the house won the prestigious “Twenty-five Year Award” from the American Institute of Architects, given to a single project each year that has stood the test of time for 25 to 35 years. (Photo: Bradley Maule)
614 St. Andrews – 2013 – Inducted, 2016
Elie-Antoine Atallah — 6oo block St. Andrew’s Rd.
Designed in the Philadelphia Modernist tradition, this recent addition to the community harmonizes with surrounding older homes through the use of traditional material such as wood, brick and glass. The house is a play of material juxtaposition and light sculpting, designed to allow for maximum natural light, heating and cooling, elegantly manage stormwater, and provide privacy while celebrating the beautiful views across the valley. (photo: Jeffrey Totaro)