Historic Battle: Preservation forces seek to save Darby icon
Darby is known for its long-standing history and the buildings that dot its streets.
On the 1000 block of Main Street alone there is the location of the historic Darby Friends Meeting House, where three different buildings occupied the land since the late 1600s, establishing itself a place on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The current meeting house on the land was built in 1805. There’s also the Darby Free Library, which has been operating for 275 years – approximately 130 of those years at its current location — and continues to hold original volumes brought over from London that are just as old. And don’t forget about the commonly referred to Airplane House which features a flight simulator plane on the roof of its first floor. The Airplane House is also noted for being the work of Minerva Parker Nichols, an architect who would become one of the most successful women to open her own firm in a field dominated by men in the early 1900s.
Away from that stretch of Main Street which hustles and bustles with cars, buses and trolleys on a daily basis is a hidden gem of one of Philadelphia’s premiere architects.
On the Darby side of Springfield Road where the borough meets with Aldan, Collingdale and Upper Darby is the Woodburne Mansion, an over 100-yearold, 55-room mansion that is tucked away out of sight from the street. Horace
On the Darby side of Springfield Road where the borough meets with Aldan, Collingdale and Upper Darby is the Woodburne Mansion, an over 100-yearold, 55room mansion that is tucked away out of sight from the street.
Trumbauer, a Philadelphiabased architect whose work includes the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Lynnewood Hall and a number of buildings for Harvard and Duke universities was commissioned by Edgar Scott in the early 1900s. The mansion was bought by the Sister of the Divine Redeemer in the 1930s; they held the property since 2005 when they decided to sell it. At the time of its closing it was used as a nursing home with the sisters taking to the upkeep.
Since then it has been the subject of being razed as part of proposed developments plans that would eventually fail, overgrown vegetation that covers the once-grand structure and thieves/vandals who have taken liberty to make the abandoned rooms their canvas and steal the copper from the dormer windows.
As it sits idle deteriorating from water damage and shrubs and weeds that overtake its many facades and first floor sightlines, Woodburne has yet to amount to anything of substance for its community since it was last open. Its passive existence not even hampered by March’s winter storms that toppled t housands of trees in the Philadelphia region that damaged homes and left many without power for days.
That instance of beating Mother Nature where nearby residents could not was a sign that the mansion was meant to stay and
thrive again.
“None of them came down on the building, they all came down near the building,” said Jan Haigis of the Darby Borough Historic Commission. “I think something’s been protecting that building.”
“God’s protecting it,” added Collingdale Historical Society President Elizabeth MacGuire.
Just as it’s been protected from total destruction, it’s been protected from any means to attempt to renovate any part of the building, too.
MacGuire, Jan and her husband, John, are looking for help by the county, who owns the mansion and the over 30-acre tract of land it sits on, to try to help in some way.
“We’re in the present, looking at the past moving into the future,” said John Haigis. “It’s not the dead hand of history, but it is opportunity if we can recognize it and work together. I don’t believe (the county) were open to those suggestions.”
Haigis added that Delaware County is its own blessing and curse because of its historical footprint.
“The blessing, we have incredible history. The curse, we have so many buildings it overwhelms available resources,” he said. “Here we have a building that is owned by the county on behalf of the people of Delaware County. They are stewards of that building and I’m concerned with the awareness of the stewardship.”
County Council Chairman John McBlain is aware of Woodburne and the continued conversations surrounding its future. However, he’s evaluating not just the money needed to work on the building – which ranges from $1 million to demolish it to approximately $18 million for full restoration – but its use.
“It’s nice, it would be wonderful; I’ve been in there, it’s a real gem,” McBlain said about the property. “When you’re talking about public money, as much as you’d love to do it, you have to look and say what are we going to use it for? Thus far, there hasn’t been a use identified that I believe justifies the expenditure.”
So far, the county has put in at least $300,000 of its own money when it purchased the land in 2016 for $1.7 million. Grants funded the remainder. While the mansion is fenced off with “no trespassing” warnings hanging on the chain link fence, the remainder of the property is still open to the public to use.
The Haigis’ like to compliment the house for its good bones, the thick lumber and stone materials used that have prevented the property from completely falling apart. The extent of the interior damage since 2013 is unknown, but open leaks may have gotten water damage into the walls and affected its plaster.
“There’s something salvageable there, but there has to be the will do that,” said John Haigis. “I have no information about the structural instability and I think that may be an excuse as opposed to an actual reason. I am presuming that (council) are people of good will and they want to do the best for Delaware County.”
“We have not ever wanted to give anyone a hard time about it,” added Jan. “We believe it can be a win for Darby Borough, for Delaware County, for the house.”
To further evaluate the use of land the county has consulted York-based TPW Design Studios to give a full report on its potential use. A concept plan drawn up by the firm dated Oct. 1, 2017 shows an open, passive recreation area with the Woodburne included in the plans. Picnic groves, a community garden center and an outdoor event space were included in the mockup. A full report by TPW is expected at the end of the year.
As McBlain said, it’s getting the money to keep that mansion.
“You need to balance the cost with what the future use can be for the property,” he said. “To restore it to its ‘Gone With the Wind’ glory is between $17 million to $18 million, which is not feasible (to the county). It’s a very romantic notion, it’s my romantic notion, because I’ve been in the place and I know what a jewel it is.”
At present the land is proposed as a trailhead of the Darby Creek Trial, a walking trail that will eventually connect Haverford to Darby along the creek.
“From our point of view … we think that that’s wonderful, that the open space is going to be saved for mostly passive open space,” said Jan Haigis. “We see the mansion as an asset to that because it could help provide funds by having businesses there or opportunities to do the things related to preserving old buildings.”
“To get that trail down to there and to have the trail, perhaps, come up to the area where the mansion is would be spectacular,” said McBlain. “My favorite phrase in government is ‘all it takes is money.’ Things that John Haigis wants, for all of the things I want, all it takes is money.”
McBlain added, “If we had all of the money in the world, I would love to have it as a place where county residents can use it. I don’t know how realistic that romantic notion is and we’re struggling to find a way to do something with the mansion that fits within the structure of the money.”
Common ground met between McBlain, the Haigis’ and MacGuire was using at least some part of the mansion as an iconic piece of the park land. McBlain suggested a ghost structure of the building frame and the others suggesting even keep the south entrance facade that was compared to the White House.
“Its use as a park is a wonderful thing, however, the mansion helps to give reason for an identity to the park,” said John Haigis. “I understand the financial dilemma, but I’m thinking of a little bit of money now keeps the possibilities of the future open.”