Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Carriage house rebuilt after fire
BLUE BELL >> A carriage home on the grounds of Normandy Farm scorched by a fire last year is on track to reopen in the next few months.
The facility is expected to open in early 2023, with project costs totaling $5 million, according to a spokesperson for Hansen Properties, owner of Normandy Farm and nearby Blue Bell Country Club.
A March 2021 fire razed the building, which was originally constructed in 1834, as flames and heavy smoke enveloped the roof of the nine-room carriage house adjacent to the main building.
Several area fire departments, including Whitpain Township-based Centre Square Fire Company, responded to the initial call for service. Caitlin Kerezsi, of Springfield, Delaware County, was supposed to be getting married the next day. Her bridal party had the wedding attire inside the carriage house when the fire broke out. Luckily, firefighters were able to salvage the garments.
“I went running through the parking lot to get them and … the other firemen were looking at me like ‘what?’ I was like, ‘My dresses. You got them!’” Kerezsi told MediaNews Group last year. “Between the bridal party we had suits in there, there’s dresses, there was just so
much, and it was just a sigh of relief.”
Construction on the project began in July. Exterior architecture is expected to fit with other buildings on the property.
The new carriage house will expand to a 18,268 square-foot, three story building with 21 hotel suites. Facility upgrades include new art, furniture, carpeting, and wall treatments, according to a Hansen Properties spokesperson. Enhanced internet access will be available, with some suites gaining access to private porches, patios and fire pits, according to a Hansen Properties spokesperson. Additionally,
a terrace and fire put area will complete the carriage house’s exterior acreage.
“We are excited to bring
history back to life for our guests,” Normandy Farm President Bud Hansen said in a statement.