I'm 69 and grew up with Whitemarsh Hall in view from my bedroom window, at least in winter. I had been fixated by the place since first seeing it in 1963 when a family friend took us for a tour of the place shortly before the Penn Salt Company, house's last occupant, moved out. I was a regular visitor (theoretically illegal at the time) up until the mid 70's and used to even play music in the front lawn with a friend of mine earlier on (when it was less illegal and we knew the caretaker). Let's just say I was devastated that they couldn't find a buyer for the place, saw its deterioration and vandalism, and it's ultimate demise. I was not alone in the area - The place had a special presence for us living in the area. I still miss it...

A couple of minor historical tidbits: During WWII, art collections came to Whitemarsh Hall for safekeeping, as there was a belief that coastal towns may be shelled by German ships, or bombed by German planes. The basements contained a large number of work rooms. When the salt company owned it, they used these original work rooms as laboratories, and partitioned many upstairs rooms into offices. The coal bin was 2 stories tall underground, and the coal furnace was the size of a truck. There were elevators, which required an operator to use. The grand ballroom was so large that one could fit a regular suburban house in it with room to spare. Marble was the preferred finish, covering almost every wall and floor. There is a very fine house at the gateway to the original property off Willow Grove Avenue. The gatekeeper would call the main house when the family arrived, and the organist would begin playing. The pipe organ could be heard throughout the entire property. There is another home with a porte cochere off Paper Mill Road which was the "back gate" to the property. The homes built on the property just after WWII were made of poured concrete, which makes them a huge challenge to change. If you drive around the community, you'll see statuary and specimen trees from the original estate still existent. The 1964 owner wanted to convert the property into a retirement home, but the township refused to change the zoning. The 1970 owner, as explained in the video, wanted to build apartment buildings, but they weren't "affordable housing". The township refused to change the zoning. They wanted single family housing in there, or a commercial enterprise like the salt company. The 1970 owner didn't pay his taxes, and the township ended up the owner. Throughout the 1970's, the township held events on the lawns of estate. As the years passed, vandals took to the building. The copper roof was stolen, as was all of the wiring, plumbing pipes, radiators, and anything remaining of value, including some doors and statuary, by thieves. Fires were set, and the building remained standing. The township put a fence around the building, but it didn't deter anyone. When the house was torn down, a locked safe was found. When the safe was opened, it contained breeding records for Mr. Stotesbury's horses from the 1930's. The developer who purchased the property tore the building down in 1980 (IIFC), in preparation to build townhomes. Today, the West Belvedere still exists, as does the staircase that once allowed guests to go from the enclosed lawn to the lower garden. The columns that once supported the rear loggia still exist and give one an idea of how tall the building was. Unfortunately, the specimen trees around the former mansion, the very large fountain, and the marble "watering house" (which contained the valves that controlled water to the various fountains) were removed by the developer. If you look on google maps, you can see a large open area marked as Whitemarsh Hall where the original house sat. No townhomes were built on the footprint of the original mansion. A line of large mansions leading from P.A.B.Widener's Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park and continuing westward to Whitemarsh Hall were constructed in a 30 year period along, or in close proximity to Church Road. Many of these still exist, although they are no longer private residences. Several are colleges. Curtis Hall exists only as the original ballroom, sitting in a public park. Horace Trumbauer was the favored architect of many of these homes. And now my personal experience... I toured Whitemarsh Hall at the very start of the demolition. The way the mansion was demolished was to literally knock it to the ground and then push the pile down into the basements. Being a stone building, the demolition went very slowly. When I visited, I was able to access the first basement level. All the levels below that were completely full of water. Many of the work rooms were intact, with their original brass plaques stating what work was done in that room (imagine a room for "seamstress" or ""cobbler"). The first floor was covered in debris from attempts by the demolition contractor to remove architectural salvage, but the scale and grandeur was unmistakable once you walked into any of the primary rooms and saw the curved marble staircase, the 16' tall pocket doors, or the marble walls. On the second floor, the Stotesbury's bedrooms had an incredible view of the valley below. The elevator cars were still in their shafts. The only real way to get from floor to floor were the narrow twisting servant's stairs, as the grand staircases had been either vandalized or removed. The size of the place was overwhelming.

The entire property was magnificent. I loved everything about it. If I had to choose, I'd choose the grounds as my favorite. I am so thankful that someone had all the lovely pictures so we could see such magnificents as it once existed. Thank you.

I always get sad when I see a video like this because I already know what the outcome is. Thankfully there are other beautiful homes that not only survived, but are thriving in beautiful condition. This a great channel. I like leaning the history even though the end is sad for these homes…

I saw this about 1971 or '73, abandoned, beaten, vandalized. Remarkably, some of the huge mirrors in the grand ballroom were in tact, mostly broken. I took a piece of broken marble lying about, wishing someone would have had the thought of at least gutting the building more orderly, and preserving fireplaces, mirrors, etc in museums, universities, and wealthier people's homes.

I really like how you rolled through the photos as you told the story of its decline. Such a stunning structure… it low key breaks my heart to know those gardens are gone.

Making and maintaining a residence like that is a product of a bygone era. As lovely as it was, it was doomed to fail owing to the fact that nobody lives forever and that included their wealth. Still what you need to do is accept the wonderful talent that made it all happen including the hard work that kept it up during it's existence.

The staircase is always my favorite thing in these old mansions.

Thank you for sharing..

Why does it always seem that after years of building a home they pass away shortly thereafter? Also, a lot of lessons can be learned from these rich people's mistakes.

WOW!!! This estate rivals the Biltmore. BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Of all of the lost great estates, this is the one that I most wished to have seen (not to mention lived in!!!) in its glory days. Eva's son Jimmy married Anna Dodge's daughter Delphine; also, her Daughter Henrietta was the 1st wife of General Douglas MacArthur. Please continue with the other Stotesbury homes: El Misasol in Palm Beach; Ned's original Philadelphia mansion (currently used as a club); and the Bar Harbor estate purchased from Pennsylvania RR president Alexander Cassatt (Mary Cassatt's brother).

Hi when I was in High School back in the 70’s we used to go into the Old Stotesbury House and Party. It was pretty cool and really big. It was pretty much a wreck by then and had alot of water in the sub basements. Actually one of the Stotesburies if I remember correctly Chip was one of my customers at my old shop in Roxborough. I am going back at least 40 years. Great Videos Thank You 🙏

Whitemarsh Hall was arguably the greatest home ever built in the USA, rivaled only perhaps by the Biltmore Estate. It's really heartbreaking to me that it's gone. Lynnewood Hall, a similar while somewhat less grand, gilded age mansion still stands in nearby Elkins Park. Unfortunately it has been vacant, pillaged, and partitioned. Sadly following in Whitemarsh Hall's footsteps.

That is a very sad story.. So many mansions end up like this...

Depressing. The owners never think about the future and what will become of these estates.

I grew up and still live five minutes away. We played in the ruins as kids in the 70s. So sad that it’s gone. There are still fountains and statues from the gardens and guard houses here and there amongst the several variations of homes built in the 50s and 60s on much of the property. There are also columns and a portico from the main house in neighboring Stotesbury Estates, townhomes built in the 80s.

The more of these I watch, the more I want to watch! I also checked out a bunch of books from the library on the Gilded Age after having been inspired by these videos.

Just an amazing mansion.. again so sad to see it demolished

Another great video...Three subfloors and main floors with twentyfive foot ceilings...Thats absurd.. Its sad to think all these once grand estates and mansions are forever lost in time

Thanks Ken for the research and presentation on this beautiful home.

Thanks, Alex!!

Always fascinating stories, often very sobering.

Sounds just like what happened to the Vanderbilt's! Their fortunes all suffered from a terminal case of "mansion-itis!"

So sad to see how much we have lost. I love how Europe recreates places. My brother lived in an apartment that was in a castles barracks. It was very old an they saved it by making apartments out of it. Loved seeing what was behind the walls during renovation.

Thank you Ken another sad story from a beautiful mansion torn down! I realize that keeping up the old mansions cost tons of money back in the day it’s a shame that they weren’t turned into big hotel Estates or into hospitals or some kind of school. What a shame all the history of the US has been demolished just to make cheap housing on the property. Very sad to see these things that happened. All that rich and famous people celebrated for just a few years spending millions of dollars to build a state just to be torn down to rubble a few years later!

The place was like a small city; makes me think of Versailles during the time it was occupied by King and Court. While I'm sorry it fell to the wrecking ball, it seems there was little that could be done with such a huge, sprawling place. Some of the 'town' mansions that were lost seemed like they could have been repurposed more easily, for things like colleges or hospitals. Odd to think someone with 86 Million was worried about being homeless.

I grew up in Oreland, Pennsylvania and went to Springfield High School. By the time the 70’s rolled around, Stotesbury had become abandoned and a place where could would go to explore the degrading mansion and be chased by the police. Thank you for the education on what it once was!

You do a great job with these homes. Thank you for your work and the time it takes to do each one.

Such a shame to have lost such a beautiful architectural wonder. It's too bad it wasn't turned into a museum so it could be enjoyed for years to come.

Absolutely dreadful that such a wonderful mansion could be even considered for demolition, but I guess it became a "White Elephant". Such a mansion, not too far from where I live in North Yorkshire, England suffered a similar fate and was an astonishing mansion too.

That's a nice looking mansion as well as the history of that old mansion.

That's wild, that those columns are still there! That doesn't usually happen...

We used to go and explore Whitemarsh Hall, and it’s grounds all the time in the early 70’s, the building had been in neglect and vandalized for a long time when we discovered it, but the building and property it sat on was still awesome and beautiful ! Walking around inside and out, you could imagine what it was like in it’s heyday! We had many great adventures their for several years until it was demolished!

EXCELLENT! Thank you for doing this.

This is definitely another lesson within wealth: if it came to you easy or quick, it’ll most likely disappear just as fast

Really appreciate the history of the Owners and Building, thank you

Eva was literally forced to remove herself from her house by money expenses. The mansion's survival depends on the country's tax system, utilities, the size of the building, the building quality, and even the land size. A large sprawling mansion like Whitemarsh Hall would consume more unlike Marble House in Newport as it was more compact and easy to manage. Also, utilities from older days were much energy and resource-consuming. Heating so many rooms with such high ceilings, and 147 rooms in all was not a good idea.

This is just another tragic loss of a beautiful mansion, it’s such a shame that these people put all their money into their homes filling them with antiques and surrounding them with lavish gardens. Imagine being in the grand ballroom with 800 guests it would be overwhelming. I really love the style of this home and wish she could have donated it to be used as a museum, that would be a more fitting use of it. Oh well, such is the life of the rich. I bet she cried when she sold her prized diamond necklace, I know I would.

Another informative episode. Very interesting house. In the aerial photos is reminds me of Chartwell in Belair it was the house used in the Beverly Hillbillies. There are some really interesting stories in Los Angeles real estate.

Wow.

Hello Ken, This is perfection. Superb.

Money must have gone farther in the late 19th and early 20th centuries than the late 20th and early 21st. Another good report, Ken.

The lime stone columns. Wow

I would like to see more homes that have survived!

This is the kind of house, that as a kid, “Richie Rich” would live in. Impressively stoic. Thanks for the video.

This is fascinating 👍🏾

I grew up in one those homes built on the land. My bus stop as a kid was right in front of the "La Loire et Le Loiret" statue, which was a copy of the original by Corneille van Clève. Apparently, the original statue can be found today in the Louvre in Paris.

It's awful hearing about all of these stately buildings being torn down--sometimes only a few years after being built. Why hasn't a charity or government office used these buildings as headquarters? How is it that so few have been preserved, and perhaps made into multi-residence buildings?

just one time i hope that the mansion in your video is still around today!! Love all your video i havent seen all, is there such a video?!

For a closer look at Whitemarsh Hall and its creators, see "The Twilight of Splendor" by James T. Maher. It's long out of print, but a public library may be able to find you a copy.

Interesting how the Wealthy do not think about the long term upkeep of mega structures. That wealth could have done so much more.

Very interesting story!! Great job!

The gate keeper house is still right on willow grove Ave. It’s huge for a gatekeeper house and one of the most beautiful homes in Springfield Township still..

How about a segment on the Pillsbury mansion "Southways" on Lake Minnetonka which was recently demolished?

You should do Glensheen mansion in Duluth Mn. It’s gorgeous

Thank you for such an informative video - Images of America book series did a whole book just on Whitemarsh Hall , available on line. I have been to the former house site in PA, and have photos of the column entrance (now in someone's backyard!) and the terrace remains. They are amazing to see in person and to imagine the splendor of that era! I feel privileged to have been able to do that. Trumbauer is one of my favorite architects.

Uhh love the whitemarsh Hall story , so sad it went to waste

It breaks my heart when I see the final outcome of these magnificent mansions 😢. I then think about all the beautiful marvels of architecture from eras gone by: The Greek and Roman temples, their emperors’ palaces and villas, the beautiful marble bathhouses, etc . . . All gone and nothing left but ruins. Sigh 😞 As time goes by, it’s inevitable that news structures replace those of old.

Imagine the jobs lost and the tax revenue lost. Wonderful that the community benefited as long as it did.

Wow I enjoyed this house !

I wanna cry everytime I hear “affordable Apts” It just shows the standard of living.

When I was in college, my elderly teacher for Architectural styles, had some knowledge of White Marsh Hall. Mr. Reed said they once employed a full-time architect on staff, to be able to deal with the maintenance and utility aspects of the building. The building apparently was collapsed in the demolition into its basements, and the original footprint of the vast structure was not built over. However, the surrounding home lots go to the very edge of this footprint, leaving an almost empty lawn of posted private property which is not accessible behind these homes. The pillars are visible with Google street view, but one cannot get an idea of what was once there with present street plans. The impressive giant gates, through which a long and winding road led to the mansion are on one of the major local streets. It would have been an unforgettable experience to visit the derelict mansion if the plans for a the field trip my teacher had considered, but was never able to do because of his unexpected death. Your photos are excellent and the video well done. Thank you.

And the family yacht was found here in Washington State is poor condition. The name NEDEVA was a combination of both names. It has since been rescued, and completely restored in Germany where it can be chartered..

just wonderful....thank you

Absolutely my favorite estate! love it, sad to see it go

Unbelievable beautiful mansion and wonderful landscaping

Thank you for these fascinating videos. It's sad that so much money was spent for luxurious homes that did not last. Reminds me of houses built on sand mentioned in the Bible

I wonder how many and if the craftsmen who used their skills to build this mansion ever left comments or had seen the destruction of their work when it was demolished. It must have broken their hearts and must have felt so helpless to stop it.

I see a neighboring grand house in our viewing future.

Would love to see Hurst Castle featured

In 1972 I lived in Maple Glen, Pa. about 10 miles from Stotesbury Manor. Friends and I explored the manor many times. We heard rumors that the manor was used during WW II to work on the Manhattan Project. We found many of the rooms and the levels below ground had been converted to some kind of scientific work. We heard that there were 5 to 7 floors of basements that included a swimming pool and a bowling alley, however access to the lower basement floors was blocked by flooding. We could get only 2 floors down where the water rose up the stairs, we could see the stairs disappear down into water. Once we were chased by the police, but we knew the layout of the house and were able to hide and were not found. On Sundays after church, families would come to the manor and walk around the outside. Can anyone confirm that the Manhattan Project was worked on here?

My Mother often went to the estate as a teen to watch the important people Arriving for parties. Her and her brother and cousin would hide behind trees on the estate. I guess they were trespassing and avoided the ground keepers. They just wanted to see the rich and famous!

It's an absolute unforgivable sin that this place was allowed to go, not so quietly, into the night. Somebody should be in jail for this!

No mention of the Stotesbury's other magnificent winter home, El Mirasol, in Palm Beach, Florida.

could you do a review of Eastwick Hall in East Philadelphia PA ?

The landscaping was amazing and it's sad to think they could be saved as public gardens or an arboretum. Most of these grand places were built to impress and outdo the owners' friends and associates but were overkill for just a couple or one that didn't have an extensive family. You have to think there were probably rooms the owners had never stepped foot in before.

WOW

Hello I love your videos and I was wondering if you could every find anything about Knoolbrook mansion. I have tried and no found anything it is in Pennsylvania and was owned by J. Howard Pew. Thank you love your videos

1980. You'd have thought the idea of demolishing things of value would have passed by then.

Interesting video

I humbly recommend reviewing the homes along Millionaires Row in Cleveland. It was once the most opulent street in the US. Now it’s mostly abandoned business buildings and warehouses.

It was in Wyndmoor. I grew up there and would explore the grounds.

It seems that so many of these people over extended their means if economy, death, etc were to happen.

Wow, what a tragic fate for such a lovely home!

New sub! Liked 🙏👍

My dad had a friend take a solid gold toilet out before they demolished it

Wow

The sad part is that most of these mansions were built by successful people who were already quite old , they didn't get that long to enjoy the splendour of these spaces and no matter how well built, time and neglect condemns them to a shell .

Can you do Lynnewood hall next

Wow sometimes I think my three bedroom townhouse is too much to manage and afford monthly utilities wow I could be happy in a one bedroom apartment. 🤷‍♀️

White Marsh, turned to Black Marsh and then Brown Marsh, Yellow Marsh and then Red Marsh!! That's what the Hell happened.

I love these, but I just can't imagine being a kid, and growing up in a place like that!?!

It was really in a suburban township not a city. And there is actually more statuary left in other parts of the area. Some very large. The "posts" for the main entrance are massive and still there. You can find more remnants if you know what streets to go down. Vandalism, fires, teenagers partying were problems in its last days. It is well known that Springfield Township (Montgomery County, PA. ) police members were involved in the theft of the copper roof. But the township refused to admit it. Once that was gone there was no protection for the insides.

We would go down at night and walk through the mansion with flash lights. If you got caught on the grounds you would get a fine. It was amazing.

Hi Ken. I am related to the Dodge family and by some weird luck - just discovered I am related to the royal family of Belgium where you mentioned is where the embassy is in DC. I am also related to JP Morgan, Henry Wells. Robert Weeks DeForest, Jesse DeForest, George Clarke , and more. I can’t help but wonder what luck I have that I am homeless and my family gave away everything .

I envy people who have a natural gift or geniousness for math and science.

Great story, but it does not mention that the owner’s vast Palm Beach mansion, El Mirasol, was nearly as big and also demolished to put up numerous other homes.

Wow. That was some pile! Looking at the thumbnail, I thought it must have been a lost English stately home. How tragic that it still survived until as recently as 1980. It would have been better to have erased it altogether, rather than leave those few columns standing forlornly amongst the cement boxes people now have to call "home". It's almost a mockery. At least the many photographs survive to remind us of that gilded age. Thanks for this.

When I watch these videos I always muse on a verse from a poem written by Walden Parker: It Will not make much difference friend, A hundred years from now if you lived in a stately mansion or on a river scow…..it’s too long to quote, but true words to chew on.