Beaupre mansion at Rosemont Presby’s Inspired Life serves as set for new film
‘The Underhanded Free Throw’ screening at film festivals
RADNOR » Step into the Beaupre mansion at Rosemont Presby’s Inspired Life and it feels like you’ve stepped back in time to the Gilded Age where the Great Gatsby might appear at the tip of a hat.
The Beaupre mansion, once owned by the Cassatt family and part of a residence community for seniors, took a star turn recently when independent filmmaker Cynthia Wilker shot her 20-minute film “The Underhanded Free Throw” there.
Wilker, who wrote and directed the film, said that she and her crew were “very lucky” to be able to use the mansion as a setting because their executive producer and a cast member knew Judee Bavaria, president and CEO of Presby’s Inspired Life.
“We’re really grateful,” said Wilker. “It wasn’t easy finding a place. It was beautiful and it was perfect.”
In the film the large, elegant and ornate green room is featured and the red room, which serves as a room for large gatherings, as well. The Beaupre mansion also includes a sunroom, now a pleasant art studio for the residents, a library, a dining room with a large, ornate table and chairs and an impressive marble foyer. Many of the rooms sport unique, carved marble fireplaces. The upstairs has been renovated into comfortable apartments that look out onto the beautifully manicured grounds. There is also a stone patio with comfortable rocking chairs where residents can enjoy outdoor dining or enjoy the vista, said Kai Saloma, move-in coordinator.
Built in 1902, the mansion was a gift to Robert Kelso Cassatt from his father, Alexander Cassatt, a railroad executive and brother of artist Mary Cassatt. Later owners of the French-style chateau, the Robinson family, co-founders of Acme Markets, gifted the mansion to the Presbyterian Church, said Melissa Fordyce, director of communications for Presby’s Inspired Life. The now nondenominational retirement housing provider has several locations in the Philadelphia area.
Wilker, 61, started a second career as an actor and filmmaker after a 20-year career as a therapist. An Ambler resident, she is married to William Ramirez and the mother of three grown children and
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