Houses of Philadelphia: Chestnut Hill and The Wissahickon Valley

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L AV E RO C K F A R M A RT H U R E . N E W B O L D H O U S E

Laverock (1925)

A

RT H U R

M E I G S made sure Laverock Farm would be one of the most well-known residences in the

country when he authored a monograph on the design and construction of the estate in 1925. An

American Country House is more than a simple description of the design and construction process. It is an ode to a way of life that never really existed, just as the house is a highly improbable hameau Français for an investment banker only a mile outside the city limits of Philadelphia. Nevertheless, the Newbold family savored to the full their goose pond, pigeoniere, and Gothic-arcaded swimming pool for more than two decades. Sometime after Arthur Newbold’s death in 1946, the house was demolished, the property subdivided, and all traces of this arcadian fantasy lost except for some street names in the new subdivision.

The Newbold residence in 1914

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Houses of Philadelphia: Chestnut Hill and The Wissahickon Valley by Acanthus Press LLC - Issuu