Jawdropper of the Week: Ardrossan Estate Colonial in Wayne
This classic, begun in 1720, completed in 1840 and renovated in 1930, has been in the hands of the Montgomery family ever since they established Ardrossan Farm.
The rustic entrance to Hopelands looks like it could serve as the opening scene of a Hollywood movie. But the studio that shot The Philadelphia Story didn’t even use the main house at Ardrossan. Nonetheless, this picture-perfect scene greets you upon entering 705 Church Rd., Wayne, PA 19087 / Photography by Billy Kyle via BHHS Fox & Raoch Realtors
Every so often, a house comes on the market hereabouts with an impeccable pedigree.
This Wayne center-hall Colonial house for sale is such a house.
Property records give its original construction date as 1840, though according to the listing, parts of it may date as far back as the 1720s.
Sometime in the 1870s, it became part of the nearly 800 acres of farmland acquired by Col. Robert L. Montgomery, founder of the Janney Montgomery Scott brokerage house. He named the estate he assembled Ardrossan Farm after his family’s ancestral home in Scotland.
When he bought this house, it was known as Aeola. In 1929, Montgomery renamed it Hopelands. (Whether he renamed it before or after the Great Crash is not known, but even if it came before that event, it expressed faith in a better future.)
The following year, he commissioned Horace Trumbauer, architect of the 50-room Georgian Revival main house at Ardrossan built in 1911, to give Hopelands a makeover.
That makeover made the house more like itself, as you will soon see.
The Montgomery and Scott families have taken good care of this house over the decades, and now they have decided to put it on the market.
What you will get if you buy this house is a splendidly preserved tribute to Main Line style and elegance. With a little updating, it can remain one while adapting to modern times.
The approach to Hopelands, at top, takes you down a tree-lined driveway framed by split-rail fences. The front facade looks much as it must have in the 1800s.
Entrance hall
Step through the front door and you pass into a center entrance hall that also retains its 19th-century class.
Living room
To the right of the entrance hall, the spacious living room features a fireplace with a weathered wood mantle.
Given when this house was built, you will find fireplaces in just about every room.
Library
The library behind the living room has one that’s surrounded by inlaid wood paneling and built-in bookcases. You can also access it directly from the entrance hall.
Dining room
Across the entrance hall from the living room lies the formal dining room and a third fireplace.
Butler’s pantry
A large butler’s pantry connects the dining room and kitchen.
Kitchen
The eat-in kitchen is perfectly serviceable, but something tells me you might want to update its cabinetry and appliances or even give it a total makeover.
Primary bedroom
The second floor contains four bedrooms and five bathrooms. The two front bedrooms, including the primary one shown above, each have an en-suite bath; the other front bedroom shares its with the bedroom behind it. The novel layout of this house’s second floor results in the third bedroom having two en-suite baths and the fourth having access to three. The primary bathroom and one of the baths in bedroom four both connect to a large dressing room.
Music room
Five more bedrooms reside on the third floor. The largest of them serves as a music room. The one across the hall from it has a fireplace and functions as a guest bedroom, while the three at the back share a hall bath and once served as staff quarters.
Rear patio and grounds with cornfields beyond fence
This Wayne center-hall Colonial house for sale sits on a 14.4-acre lot that can still function as a working farm, for the property contains horse stables and cornfields. It also has a tennis court, detached garage, and carriage house.
Backyard
It also sits in Wayne’s boskier southern reaches. In addition to other estates carved out of the Ardrossan Estate, it has the Chanticleer pleasure garden as a next-door neighbor. The Radnor Trail crosses Church Road a short distance east of here, and downtown Wayne and St. Davids both sit a short drive away.
In sum, you now have a rare chance to own a piece of a storied estate that has maintained unbroken ties to the family that established it. And, like them, you can now become its steward and prepare it for its third century (or fourth, depending on what part of the house we’re talking about).
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 9
BATHS: 7 full, 2 half
SQUARE FEET: 7,040
SALE PRICE: $5,500,000
705 Church Road, Wayne, PA 19087 [Karen Strid | Karen Strid Team | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
