Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden

Stoneleigh is a 42-acre property in Villanova, Pennsylvania, owned by Natural Lands Trust, a land conservation non-profit organization founded in 1953 and headquartered in Media, Pennsylvania.

Photo by Mae Axelrod

On April 20, 2016, the children of the late John and Chara Haas donated the family’s 42-acre Stoneleigh estate to Natural Lands Trust. “This remarkable act of generosity marks a turning point for both Stoneleigh and for our organization,” said Molly Morrison, Natural Lands Trust’s president. “We are deeply honored to be entrusted to carry on the Haas family’s legacy of stewardship for this magical place, and excited beyond measure to add Stoneleigh as a unique, shining star in our constellation of preserves."^[1]

History

Stoneleigh’s history dates back to 1877 when Edmund Smith, a rising executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, purchased 65 acres of land in Villanova and constructed a residence there. In 1900, Samuel Bodine, head of United Gas Improvement Company, acquired the property.

Following Samuel Bodine’s death in 1932, Stoneleigh was subdivided and sold. Otto Haas, entrepreneur and co-founder of Rohm and Haas Company, purchased the southwestern portion of the estate, launching a more than 80-year tenure of careful stewardship by the Haas family.

Otto and Phoebe’s son, John, and his wife, Chara, acquired Stoneleigh in 1964 and lived there for the next five decades.

The property includes trees, pathways, and gardens that the Haas family has carefully stewarded over the decades. The gardens were designed by a number of notable landscape architects over the past century—including Olmsted Brothers, sons of the famed Frederick Law Olmsted.

The gardens at Stoneleigh were created to be the setting for a home. The Tudor Revival mansion will serve as a unique venue for lectures and other public events but the majority of it will serve as offices and archives for the Organ Historical Society, an international non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating, studying, and preserving pipe organ history. The Haas family has long had an affinity for the music of many types.

Photo by Mae Axelrod

After a period of transition, Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden will be open—free-of-charge—to visitors.^[2] Natural Lands Trust will also offer a variety of public programs with a primary focus on natural gardening and landscaping techniques. The organization also anticipates hosting family and child-oriented programs as well as volunteer opportunities.

Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden is slated to open to the public in the spring of 2018. The property will join the dozens of public gardens in the Greater Philadelphia area, which is considered "America's Garden Capital" with more public gardens than anywhere else on the continent.^[3]

References