Stoneleigh gardens are now open to the public
As springtime comes and the new year of flowers are emerging from a long winter’s nap, a natural garden is taking bloom in Villanova, and now it’s open to the public.
Over the past couple of years, “Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden” has been undergoing a major renovation. On Mother’s Day weekend, it opened for the first time as a public garden. The property is located on the grounds of the former Haas family estate located on the Lower Merion side of Villanova at the corner of Spring Mill and County Line roads.
“We’re thrilled to share this special place with the community,” said Ethan Kauffman, director of Stoneleigh. “We hope that people will come here and make it part of their family traditions and are inspired by some of the native plants they see and take some of the ideas (to their) homes and businesses and I hope they learn more about our organization, Natural Lands Trust.”
The historic mansion dates back to 1877 when 65 acres were purchased by Edmund Smith, an executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad. After Smith’s death, the property was purchased by Samuel Bodine, who ran the United Gas Improvement Co.
In 1932, the property was subdivided and sold to Otto Haas, cofounder of Rohm and Haas Co. He purchased a portion of the property with his wife, Phoebe. Since that year, the property has continued to be owned by members of the Haas family.
In 1964, their son, John, and his wife, Chara, acquired the property. They lived at Stoneleigh until their deaths in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
After the deaths of John and Chara Haas, the family donated the estate to Natural Lands. Two years ago, it was announced that the property and its gardens would undergo renovation and then open to the public.
So what can visitors expect when they come by to take a stroll the grounds of the 42-acre estate?
“The biggest changes are that it has been renovated to accommodate the public,” Mae Axelrod, media relations manager with Natural Lands, said. “So that means safety features, bathrooms, amenities, water fountains and things like that.”
Natural Lands has also put down over a mile of permeable paths that allow rainwater to flow into the ground. Although the pool has been removed, the former pool house located next to the mansion has already been turned into a public restroom.
But no matter what changes they made, Axelrod said, there was one thing they wanted to keep in mind.
“It was really important for us to keep the character of a Main Line estate,” she said. “That’s what people are coming to see, so we wanted to keep the character of it.”
One of the things they did during the opening weekend was to have volunteers around to tell visitors about the history of the property.
A new 66-space parking lot with an entrance off County Line Road has been added for visitors.
Stoneleigh will be closed to the public every Monday to allow for routine maintenance, but then beginning Tuesday, May 15, it will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
For the first public session, Natural Lands is asking people to register just to control the number of visitors at one time since it is expecting a lot of interest from the public.
For more information on visiting Stoneleigh, visit stoneleighgarden. org/garden/visit.