Advocacy
Protecting the irreplaceable resources that define the Chestnut Hill areaBelow: If houses like this, one by one, were lost, Chestnut Hill would quickly become a very different place. The Chestnut Hill Conservancy catalyzed a community movement in 2016 that turned a developer’s planned demolition — of this T. P. Chandler-designed house of high architectural significance — toward preservation and sensitive redevelopment. (photo: Emily Cooperman)
The Chestnut Hill built environment is rare and remarkable
Chestnut Hill has a rich tradition of architectural diversity, beginning with 18th-century houses, barns, and mills. After the Revolutionary War, Federal architecture of the village gave way to a myriad of Victorian styles.
Nearly every notable architect practicing in Philadelphia over the past 170+ years is represented in Chestnut Hill — from the early Italianate Victorian designs of Samuel Sloan, to the exuberant Queen Anne buildings of the G. W. & W. D. Hewitt firm; from the groundbreaking, European influenced work of Wilson Eyre, to the exquisitely designed country houses of Mellor, Meigs & Howe; and from the ornate classical design of Horace Trumbauer, to the early modern works of Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi.
Equally notable is the imaginative interweaving of nature throughout the built environment. For over 140 years, the Houston and Woodward families have provided Northwest Philadelphia with hundreds of acres of sustainable open space as an integral part of their real estate developments.
The Chestnut Hill Conservancy leads the efforts to protect this extraordinary architectural and environmental heritage and ensure that Chestnut Hill continues to thrive as a special place.
If you are interested in helping with advocacy efforts to prevent unnecessary destruction of intact resources in your neighborhood by rallying your neighbors into an effective coalition (with our guidance), please contact Executive Director Lori Salganicoff: lori@chconservancy.org or 215-247-9329 x 201.