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palimpsest

House for sale: 55 bedrooms, $20M.

palimpsest
9 years ago

A Widener mansion, Lynnewood Hall, by Horace Trumbauer is for sale in Elkins Park, PA. Approximately 110 rooms, 55 bedrooms, 70,000 square feet.

It had a relatively long lifespan for a house like this, the family occupied it for over 40 years. It was sold for $192,000 in the early 50s to a religious group, and then to another in the 1990s. Much of the interior has been cannibalized, reportedly. But it's had better luck than nearby Whitemarsh Hall, which was completed in 1921, left by the family in 1938, sold during WWII and demolished in 1980.

Comments (31)

  • tibbrix
    9 years ago

    Dang! I need 56 bedrooms!

  • mclarke
    9 years ago

    I don't think I know 55 people.
    Here's a layout of the first floor. Now where to put that Barcalounger...

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    Fascinating. When I first saw the picture, I thought there was something familiar looking about it and then I realized it bears a resemblance to the Free Library of Philadelphia, where I used to work. Of course it does, the FLP building also was designed by Trumbauer. This house bears an even greater resemblance to The Philadelphia Art Museum, and Trumbauer also was an architect for that building. I wish someone would buy this and restore it. What a treasure. I wonder how big the property is? Thanks for sharing.

  • Delilah66
    9 years ago

    The safe is too small.

  • 1929Spanish
    9 years ago

    Of course the new buyer will have to convert it to an open plan.....

    Thanks for posting the layout. I always wonder what all the rooms are for when see old mansions and the tour doesn't cover every room.

    I will take my latte in the breakfast room with the newspaper. Then I will pick some flowers in the fountain garden on my way to the pool where my servants will bring me a champagne cocktail.

  • suero
    9 years ago

    The curio room: perfect place for the watermelon table.

  • teacats
    9 years ago

    Oh!!! I hope this poor house finds a Forever Owner!!!

    What a great project!! :)

  • ILoveRed
    9 years ago

    A Smoking Room but no Kitchen. Or did I overlook it? Where did the servants prepare the food?

    I would love to see pictures of this house from back in the day. It must have been grand.

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    There is an entire service floor under the main floor. The house is raised a half story or so above the ground.

  • Fun2BHere
    9 years ago

    If I had unlimited funds, I would love to rehabilitate a property like that.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago

    It looks so much like a govt building, not a private home.

    We did have a neighbor with a huge safe in the basement of his house...it was all temp and humidity controlled. He collected violins...amati, stradivarius, etc. He used to have guys over like Heifetz and Menuhin over to play them just for fun.

  • voila
    9 years ago

    I would love to have a breakfast room not connected to the kitchen. The only way I would ever live in a mansion like this is if they hired me to cook or clean. Taking a trip to Minnesota next week and taking my DM to tour the Congdon mansion. She took me when I was young, many moons ago. It is situated on Lake Superior. It was bequeathed to the University of Minnesota, Duluth by the Congdon family. Expensive upkeep (and they have more than one mansion). A shame more mansions can't be used this way.

  • sixtyohno
    9 years ago

    I would have to schlep food up from the basement to the dining room? That's the deal breaker for me.

  • geokid
    9 years ago

    Voila - make sure to ask the tour guides about the murders and the ghosts. They LOVE that. ;-)

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    The floor plan reminds me of the board for the game of Clue. "Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Revolver" or perhaps "Miss Scarlet in the Curio Room with the Candlestick".

  • joaniepoanie
    9 years ago

    Dedtired....I was just thinking the same thing...that it reminded me of Clue....I had Colonel Mustard on the squash court with a knife.

    It also reminds me of a public building not a house....

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't think "homey" was on the wishlist. It cost $8M to build in 1900 (over $200M now) and sold for $190,000 in 1952, and for $1.6M in 1993.

  • mclarke
    9 years ago

    ... and now that we're done with our tour of the first floor, please follow me to view the second floor. Stay together, please, we don't want anyone to get lost.

    The second floor layout of Lynnewood Hall:

  • mclarke
    9 years ago

    ... although I don't see anywhere near the "55 bedrooms" mentioned in the original press release. Maybe the more recent owners broke up some of the larger rooms into "bedrooms". A horrifying thought.

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago

    55 bedrooms would keep this forum pretty busy decorating for a while!

    Clue! I too thought of a whole new, more complex version of a Clue board! Wonderful!

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    There are probably dozens of staff bedrooms somewhere. I walked through a house divided into "front" and "back" with stairs and halls for staff only, --with only limited connections between the two --and while the owners' part of the house had maybe 4- 5 substantial bedrooms, the "back" of the house had a good dozen decent sized bedrooms for the people who worked in the house. And it was a house a fraction of the size of this.

  • mclarke
    9 years ago

    And for those of us still interested, here is a floorplan of the Basement. And yes, there is also a Sub-Basement....

  • ILoveRed
    9 years ago

    @ Sixtyohno "I would have to schlep food up from the basement to the dining room? That's the deal breaker for me.". LOL..I agree.

  • voila
    9 years ago

    Geokid, the last time we toured the Congdon home Miss Congdon was still living in it. What a tragedy when she and her nurse were killed by her adopted daughter and her son-in-law. Have you seen the house? I do think the 55 bedroom mansion would be a fabulous hotel/museum. Let's assume it has a dumbwaiter in the pantry next to the breakfast room.

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    That could be such a posh B&B ...

    I like that the Governess has her own suite.

  • 1929Spanish
    9 years ago

    @sixtyohno....remember...if you lived there, you would have People schlep it for you! ;)

    I'm loving this virtual tour.

  • maire_cate
    9 years ago

    This was posted in today's Curbed Philly - photos and a video

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lynnewood Hall photos and video

  • palimpsest
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The larger Whitemarsh Hall, which was only a residence for about 18 years, was reported by the owner Edward Stotesbury, to cost about $1M (in 1920s-30s dollars) to maintain per year. It probably essentially bankrupt him.

  • beekeeperswife
    9 years ago

    I just ordered those exact X benches in Pal's picture for a client, but in an animal print, of course.

    It reminds me of the Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville.

    ..and the sub sub sub basement....

  • patty_cakes
    9 years ago

    It's irrelevant. People usually buy what they can afford and fits according to their lifestyle. Obviously I don't have the bucks or the lifestyle! Dang!!

  • franktank232
    9 years ago

    Looks like original property was over 400 acres..looks a lot smaller then that now (on bing maps).

    Looks like a good house to flip...:)