Amid Massive Effort, Historic Gilded Age Montco Mansion To Be Saved

ELKINS PARK, PA — A historic late 19th century mansion in Montgomery County that iconicized the era of glitz and excess from which it was born will be preserved.

The long-neglected property in Elkins Park is now in the care of a nonprofit, the Lynnewood Hall Preservation Foundation, which aims to repurpose it for public programming and various educational efforts.

“Lynnewood Hall is arguably the largest and most exciting residential preservation and restoration project ever proposed in the United States,” Angie Van Scyoc, the chief operating officer of the Foundation, said in a statement.

Lynnewood was designed by renown architect Horace Trumbauer for famous Philadelphia businessman Peter Widener. Construction began in 1897.

The 110-room home, which sits on 34 acres off Ashbourne Road, has been the subject of controversy for years. It was left uncared for, and debate over its future has raged as it sat on numerous housing markets.

The Foundation hopes to specifically focus programming and classes at the Hall on "the skilled trades and preservation arts."

The Hall is the largest of its era in the Philadelphia region. It features an art gallery, a ballroom that can fit hundreds of guests, a swimming pool, wine cellar, more.

An exact estimated opening date is not yet clear.

Widener's son and grandson died on the Titanic when it sunk just a few short years after the Hall's completion.