Discovering Chestnut Hill

This popular series of tours and lectures invites you to explore the area’s architecture, history, and natural beauty.

Join us for our Fall 2024 series for an engaging two-part event exploring the rich history, architecture, and stunning landscapes of Awbury Arboretum, guided by the knowledgeable George McNeely. George McNeely is a local architectural historian, lecturer, and writer of the “Our Town” column of The Chestnut Hill Local.

The Chestnut Hill Conservancy’s popular Discovering Chestnut Hill series of guided tours and lectures invites you to explore the area’s architecture, history, and natural beauty.

Conservancy Members save on tickets for these and other special events.

Become a member today

“Awbury Arboretum – The Historic Landscape” lecture with George McNeely

Date: Wednesday, September 11, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM
Location: Virtual, via Zoom
Registration Link: Click HERE
Registration Fee: $15 for Conservancy Members, $25 for Non-Members

Delve into the fascinating history of Awbury Arboretum, which is both on the National Register of Historic Place and a Philadelphia Historic District, and includes 55 acres of public land and 25 historically significant buildings, mostly single-family houses. The district is approximately half a mile northeast of busy Germantown Avenue, which has since the 17th Century been the central commercial spine of what is now Northwest Philadelphia.

Into the 19th Century, the area was farmland with copses of woods and scattered modest farmhouses. Starting just before 1850, members of the extended Cope family began buying land and building what were originally summer houses, along with the necessary support structures. Those houses were designed by a number of important local architects, including Thomas Ustick Walter, Addison Hutton, Cope & Stewardson, and Duhring Okie & Ziegler.

Such country estates typically included a “home farm” that produced the family’s vegetables, fruit, and meats. The home farm at Awbury was gradually removed as the farm fields were transformed into a Picturesque English-style landscape by several noted local landscape architects, including Thomas Saunders, Arthur Cowell, and Harrison Mertz & Emlen. More recently, the Arboretum has recreated the traditional “home farm” with an active community hub for non-profits that focus on urban agriculture, including the Philly Goat Project, the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild, and Food Moxie.

The lecture, led by George McNeely, a local architectural historian, lecturer, and writer of the “Our Town” column in The Chestnut Hill Local, will provide a deep dive into the arboretum’s historical context, touching on key moments and figures that contributed to its development.

Following the lecture will be a Q&A. If you would like to submit any questions in advance, please email Conservancy Programs and Communications Manager Chrissy Clawson at chrissy@chconservancy.org.

The Zoom link will be sent to registrants approximately one day in advance of the program.

In addition to our generous sponsors and supportive businesses and members, the Discovering Chestnut Hill tour and lecture series is sponsored by event sponsor John B. Ward & Co. Arborists and supporting sponsor Cawley Masonry.

Buy tickets for Wednesday, September 11

“Awbury Arboretum – The Historic Landscape” walking tour with George McNeely

Date: Saturday, September 14, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM
Location: Awbury Arboretum (One Awbury Road, Philadelphia, PA 19138)
Registration Link: Click HERE
Registration Fee: $15 for Conservancy Members, $25 for Non-Members

Experience the beauty of Awbury Arboretum firsthand with a guided walking tour led by George McNeely, a local architectural historian, lecturer, and writer of the “Our Town” column in The Chestnut Hill Local.

Awbury Arboretum is both on the National Register of Historic Place and a Philadelphia Historic District, and includes 55 acres of public land and 25 historically significant buildings, mostly single-family houses. The district is approximately half a mile northeast of busy Germantown Avenue, which has since the 17th Century been the central commercial spine of what is now Northwest Philadelphia.

Into the 19th Century, the area was farmland with copses of woods and scattered modest farmhouses. Starting just before 1850, members of the extended Cope family began buying land and building what were originally summer houses, along with the necessary support structures. Those houses were designed by a number of important local architects, including Thomas Ustick Walter, Addison Hutton, Cope & Stewardson, and Duhring Okie & Ziegler.

Such country estates typically included a “home farm” that produced the family’s vegetables, fruit, and meats. The home farm at Awbury was gradually removed as the farm fields were transformed into a Picturesque English-style landscape by several noted local landscape architects, including Thomas Saunders, Arthur Cowell, and Harrison Mertz & Emlen. More recently, the Arboretum has recreated the traditional “home farm” with an active community hub for non-profits that focus on urban agriculture, including the Philly Goat Project, the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild, and Food Moxie.

The lecture, led by George McNeely, a local architectural historian, lecturer, and writer of the “Our Town” column in The Chestnut Hill Local, will provide a deep dive into the arboretum’s historical context, touching on key moments and figures that contributed to its development.

This tour provides an immersive experience, allowing participants to connect with the history, architecture, and natural beauty of Awbury Arboretum. Remember to plan your visit to Awbury with public transportation!

Space is limited; sign up today!

Disclaimer: Please wear waterproof shoes with no open toes and consider wearing pants, as the terrain is uneven, and there is a chance of encountering poison ivy. The tour will take place rain or shine; meeting and parking instructions (at the station) will be sent to registered attendees closer to the tour date. Remember to plan your trip with public transportation!

In addition to our generous sponsors and supportive businesses and members, the Discovering Chestnut Hill tour and lecture series is sponsored by event sponsor John B. Ward & Co. Arborists and supporting sponsor Cawley Masonry.

Buy tickets for Saturday, September 14

This popular series of guided tours and lectures invites you to explore the architecture, history, and natural beauty of our urban village.

Conservancy Members save on tickets for these and other special events.

BECOME A MEMBER ⇒

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2024 DISCOVERING CHESTNUT HILL SUPPORTING SPONSOR

Here’s a look back at our previous tours and lectures:

The Stories of Grace Hill, 8410 Prospect Avenue by Dr. Joseph Pizzano, Historian
Dr. Pizzano’s interest in Grace Hill began with the original blueprints and other archival information gifted to him by Ned Wood, a prior owner, and grew from there over the decades. Grace Hill was built for publisher and railroad manager Cephas Childs in 1855, a year before the Chestnut Hill Railroad began operations. It was subsequently named Grace Hill and substantially altered by the Patterson and Woods families with plans by several notable architects. These prominent families were directly involved in the thoughtful evolution of Chestnut Hill from a summer retreat to a residential community, which directly affected this home. The property was subdivided in 1975, with Grace Hill remaining a single-family home and its outbuildings also converted to single-family homes.

Innovative Urban Housing in South Chestnut Hill Walking Tour
Retired architect and city planner, Conservancy Board Member, and Chestnut Hill local Richard Bartholomew will lead this tour through the most unique and surprising houses in the lower section of Chestnut Hill. To learn more about this topic, you can read Richard Bartholomew’s essay.

The Frances M. Maguire Hall Project Tour and Lecture
The Frances M. Maguire Hall Project aims to renovate many of St. Michael’s Hall spaces, a 19th-century mansion that acts as an adjunct building for Woodmere. With a special focus on sustainability, the project will repurpose existing buildings and rooms, and implement energy conservation measures during the rehab. These works will turn the mansion’s parlors and bedrooms into art galleries, a hands-on space for children’s art & education center, a museum café, and public programming spaces.

Living Among Landmarks: The Olmsted Legacy in Chestnut Hill
A Conversation and Exhibit
2022 is the bicentennial of Frederick Law Olmsted—a leading cultural figure of his time and founder of the profession of landscape architecture as we know it and as it is practiced today. Olmsted’s personal career and the practice that was his legacy flourished for more than one hundred years. He and his successors worked in virtually every state and large city in America. In Philadelphia and surrounding communities the firm secured commissions for nearly two hundred projects. At least forty of these were for clients in Chestnut Hill. Beginning in 1897, this work spanned forty years.

April 26, 2022 is Olmsted’s 200th birthday. As part of the national celebration, Chestnut Hill Conservancy will host an evening symposium, “Living among Landmarks: The Olmsted Legacy in Chestnut Hill,” featuring a conversation among current-day owners of homesteads and gardens designed by his successors in the firm of Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects. Olmsted biographer Witold Rybczynski will introduce the program. Before and after his remarks and the panel discussion, the audience will have access to a pin-up display of photos and plans of all the known projects from the Olmsted Brothers’ decades of involvement in Chestnut Hill.

Recasting the Victorian Suburb: Two Young Architects at Work in Germantown and Chestnut Hill in the 1880s
Virtual Lecture with Jeffrey Cohen
This illustrated talk by Jeffrey Cohen will illuminate recent research exploring Wilson Eyre’s beginnings with the architect James Peacock Sims. Cohen teaches architectural history at Bryn Mawr College. His previous research has focused on 19th century streetscapes and on architects with significant contributions to Philadelphia’s legacy including Benjamin Latrobe, Frank Furness, and Wilson Eyre, architect of several beloved Chestnut Hill houses including The Anglecot.

Monument Lab: Civic ReImagination
Virtual Lecture with Dr. Paul Farber
Monument Lab’s Director and Cofounder, Dr. Paul M. Farber shared insights from the non-profit public art and history studio’s work on public memory in Philadelphia and beyond. Monument Lab began as a university classroom project in 2012 and has grown into an internationally renowned civic studio grounded in the vision that “monuments must change.” Dr. Farber’s lecture was followed by a brief Q&A.

Farber earned a PhD and MA in American Culture from the University of Michigan and a BA in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He holds several academic appointments and has contributed to numerous art and history publications.

WPA Structures in the Wissahickon Walking Tour
In-Person Walking Tour with Bob Thomas
Robert Thomas, AIA, was our guide for our sold out, in-person walking tour in Wissahickon Park as a sequel to Kate Cowing’s fascinating talk on “WPA Structures in the Wissahickon” sponsored by the Conservancy in collaboration with Friends of the Wissahickon. The 2.3-mile trail walk kicked off at Historic Rittenhouse Town, followed trails along the east side of the Creek to Blue Bell Hill and the Kitchens Lane bridge, and returned via Forbidden Drive. Along the way, participants were treated to seeing exemplary buildings of this New Deal initiative, including guard boxes, a picnic shelter, and a comfort station.

WPA Structures in the Wissahickon
Virtual Lecture by Kate Cowing, AIA.
During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded a three-phase project to improve the Wissahickon Valley. One of many WPA projects in Fairmount Park, this particular work included the construction of outbuildings along the Wissahickon Creek including shelters, guardboxes, comfort stations, and concession stands. Architect Kate Cowing presented a lively lecture about the history, restoration, and reuse of these structures and the WPA’s legacy in the Wissahickon Valley Park. This virtual lecture was co-sponsored by Friends of the Wissahickon.

Pastorius Park and Its Neighborhood: An Unlikely and Serendipitous Gift of the Automobile Age
In-Person Walking Tour with Rob Fleming
Early in the 20th Century, the City of Philadelphia made region-wide plans that included a large intersection of three parkways in the heart of Chestnut Hill. Condemnation and clearing opened the ground for the grand intersection—a traffic circle. But World War I interrupted the work. At that point, the community was not yet settled in its final form; if the project had continued, Chestnut Hill would have lost its village character. Pastorius Park, a jewel of American landscape design, is one of many uncoordinated but fortuitous developments that as a whole give Chestnut Hill the character of a well-planned community. Join Landscape Architect Rob Fleming as we explore Pastorius Park and the remaining traces of what might have been.

Accidental Master Plan: The Fortuitous Open Spaces of Chestnut Hill
Virtual Lecture by Rob Fleming. Chestnut Hill is not a planned community, but it reads as one. It has legible boundaries, a central core of commercial services, accessible transportation links, and housing types affordable across a range of income levels. Its character varies and its density ranges from tight-packed urban to near-wilderness. Between lies a network of open spaces—forested streets, parklands, and borrowed views of private landscapes and gardens—all knit together as a pleasing whole. In this illustrated lecture, Landscape Architect Rob Fleming showed how even while Chestnut Hill’s gradual growth may have been unplanned, a principled aesthetic worldview informed the key land-use and design decisions that would give the community its unique character.

The Wissahickon Style of Landscaping
Virtual Lecture by Carol Franklin. This Discovering Chestnut Hill Virtual lecture explored the landscapes of Chestnut Hill and Mt Airy with nationally recognized landscape architect and life-time Chestnut Hill-Mt Airy resident, Carol Franklin, drawing from her book Metropolitan Paradise: The Struggle for Nature in the City. The book is a history of the Wissahickon Valley, co-authored with David Contosta, professor of Social History at Chestnut Hill College and author of a number of books on Chestnut Hill. This virtual slideshow illustrated the critical interconnection between the structure and architecture of the communities in Northwest Philadelphia with the adjacent Wissahickon Park—exploring these ideas in the context of their development from the end of the era of the Lenni-Lenape to the present day. It explored in detail the distinct patterns that emerge and create the genuinely “greene country” villages that make our communities so special. She calls these patterns the “Wissahickon Style” because they grow out of an imaginative and very positive response to the great natural woods that is our local branch of Fairmount Park

Driving Tour of the Chestnut Hill West Line
Beginning at the terminus of the Chestnut Hill West railroad at Germantown Avenue, the tour route follows the line to Mount Airy, with stops at Chestnut Hill West, St. Martins, Allen Lane, and more. Tour guides will explain each station’s architectural history and – in some cases – adaptive reuse.

Railroads of Chestnut Hill: Lecture
Ted Xaras, railroad history aficionado and professional artist, will continue this year’s “Railroad Resources” program series with an illustrated lecture on the history of Chestnut Hill’s two railroad lines and how they shaped the communities they serve. Vintage and contemporary photographs of our local stations and train operations on the former Reading line (Chestnut Hill East) and the former Pennsylvania Railroad (Chestnut Hill West) will highlight the contrasting architectural styles between the two lines: Frank Furness’ individual designs for each station on the East line, and the West’s more standardized stations designed by W. Bleddyn Powell.

Railroads of Chestnut Hill: Lecture
2019 marks the 150^th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. In celebration, railroad historian Joel Spivak will tell the story of the railroad in Philadelphia and how it came to Chestnut Hill. Spivak is the author of Philadelphia Railroads and Philadelphia Trolleys.

Railroads of Chestnut Hill Tour
Discover the hidden landscape of the Reading Railroad with archivist Alex Bartlett and architect Jean McCoubrey. Now SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail line transporting commuters, the Reading was a working train line, making use of a network of now-defunct sidings to carry freight—from ice, to coal, to grapes—to local businesses. Up until the late-1920s, trains operated at the street level, intermixing with automobile and pedestrian traffic. While the removal of all grade crossings resulted in the alteration and demolition of many structures and landscapes along the right of way, clues still remain as to how the line would have appeared. You may be surprised by what you find!

The Discovering Chestnut Hill Series

Discovering Chestnut Hill is a frequent column in the Local allows the Chestnut Hill Conservancy and the Local to share and highlight some of the things that make Chestnut Hill so special.

2021

May 6, 2021 Discovering Chestnut Hill: Nurses Week by Alex Bartlett (PDF)
March 4, 2021 Discovering Chestnut Hill:The Wissahickon Garden Club by Alex Bartlet (PDF)
February 18, 2021 Discovering Chestnut Hill: The Conservancy honors Tabitha Oman and Myron Manternach home addition by Shirley Hanson (PDF)
February 4, 2021 Discovering Chestnut Hill: Conservancy recognizes Melissa Epperly for restoration of High Hollow by Shirley Hanson (PDF)

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