Lynnewood Hall

AMERICAN SPLENDOR T R A HORACE TRUMBAUER HE

ESIDENTIAL

RCHITECTURE OF

M I C H A E L C. K AT H R E N S Preface by H ENRY

ACA N T H U S P R E S S

H OPE R EED

LY N N E WO O D H A L L P.A.B. W IDENER E STATE Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1898–1900

IN 1898

W H E N T R A C T I O N M A G N AT E

P. A . B. W I D E N E R commissioned

the 110-room Lynnewood Hall for his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania estate, Horace Trumbauer was just beginning to gain fame and clients beyond the Philadelphia region. Soon he would be receiving notable residential commissions from socially and financially prominent clients in New York, Washington, D.C., and Newport, Rhode Island. He had also begun collaborating with Jules Allard, the Parisian decorator who inaugurated a fashion in the United States for French 18th-century period rooms, a trend not overlooked at Lynnewood Hall.

P.A.B Widener started his carreer as a butcher’s boy who, by the time of the Civil War, had made enough political and business connections to win the highly lucrative contract to supply mutton to all Union troops within 10 miles of Philadelphia. After the war, Widener switched to a career in traction—he became the principal owner of subway and streetcar lines in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.

Widener asked the architect to design a structure that would graciously accommodate himself, his son George with his wife Eleanor and their three children, George, Harry, and Eleanor. He also required quarters for his younger son Joseph with his wife Ella, and their two children, P.A.B., Jr., and Josephine. To maintain both the house and its 10 family members in typical Widener style, a live-in staff of up to 40 people was required. With domestic concerns addressed, the architect then could focus on the “state” apartments and galleries that would be the repositories of the important Widener fine and decorative art collections.

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AERIAL VIEW

Trumbauer in his deft fashion answered this chal-

order. Topping the cruciform floor plan at Lynnewood

lenge with a solid and cohesive classical plan that was

Hall is the massive entrance portico. Designed as open

sheathed in an Indiana limestone envelope of

loggias, Trumbauer’s signature device—placing elegant

restrained Palladian elegance. Prior Park in Bath,

single-story Palladian pavilions at each end of the prin-

England, has often been touted as the design inspira-

cipal body of a house—bracketed Lynnewood Hall’s

tion for Lynnewood Hall. When comparing the two

long facade.

facades one actually finds few similarities, the major

Although total family land holdings in the area

exception being the large Corinthian-columned por-

eventually exceeded 400 acres, the estate proper

tico adorning the central position on the principal

was initially laid out in two contiguous plots con-

facades of both structures. Lynnewood Hall is actually

sisting of some 150 acres. The largest parcel was the

closer in concept to Ballingarry, a house Trumbauer

117-acre Lynnewood Farm group that included the

designed for Martin Maloney in Spring Lake, New

greenhouses, a garage, a stock barn, a reservoir, sta-

Jersey, that had been adapted from Leinster House in

bles, a polo field, and a racetrack. The house itself

Dublin, Ireland. Although the New Jersey house was

sat in the middle of an adjacent 36-acre residential

constructed of wood and was considerably smaller, it

park. The meticulously landscaped grounds framed

did have several design similarities to Lynnewood

the mansion in a multilevel Italian Renaissance gar-

Hall—the two most obvious being the use of a porti-

den enhanced by grottos and defined by stone

coed main entrance and the use of evenly spaced

balustrades. The entire residential park was

pilasters to break up the linear mass of the facade, this

enclosed by a seven foot high decorative wrought

time in the Corinthian rather than Ballingarry’s Ionic

iron fence punctuated by a pair of massive

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P O RT I C O

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V I E W F RO M F RO N T G A R D E N

Georgian entrance gates supported by stone piers

designed ceiling trim, arches, and pilasters of the hall

bearing metal lanterns.

were modeled from Caen stone, which created a star-

The mansion’s interiors reflected a preference for

tling contrast with the plush red and gold velvet

the unrestrained use of color and texture typically

hangings. When looking at period photographs, one

found in fine residential interiors of the 1890s. Each

sees that Trumbauer was influenced by Richard Morris

room was an opulent late 19th-century adaptation of

Hunt’s hall at the Breakers (1895), the Newport,

a period style that reflected the family’s penchant for

Rhode Island house of Cornelius Vanderbilt II.

grandiose living. One entered the house through a pair

Bisecting this wing is a Caen stone transverse

of decorative bronze doors of Florentine design.

hall, centered on the great hall and its central grand

Passing through a small marble-lined vestibule, one

staircase, behind which the north, or gallery, wing

encountered another set of doors, this time fashioned

emanates. This was an arrangement, albeit greatly

of gold and bronze and in the style of Louis XV.

enlarged, that the architect had applied successfully

Beyond these was the building’s most impressive

at Elstowe, the William L. Elkins house.

space, a vast square two-story great hall covered by an

Jules Allard was responsible for the library, break-

enormous stained glass skylight. The classically

fast room, and several bedrooms, while William

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Baumgarten & Company decorated the reception,

chairs were made of the same gilt-trimmed French

dining, and smoking rooms. The Louis XIV style

walnut as the walls.

library, the largest room in the house, was finished in

In the adjacent breakfast room the motif was

light French oak accented with gold and surmounted

Italian High Renaissance with the walls above the

by central wall panels covered in Velours de Gênes.

wooden wainscot covered in blue Gobelin fabric with

Its ceiling had a central painting depicting angels in a

a rich tapestry border. The mantelpiece was of

cloud-swept sky that had originally been attributed to

Languedoc marble, while the furniture was reputedly

Tiepolo and had been taken from an Italian palace.

Louis XIII inspired. Next to the dining room was a

Displayed around the room, above the bookshelves,

smoking room, whose walls were covered in Flemish

were paintings by Puvis de Chavannes, Courbet, de

oak wainscot and Spanish Cordova leather that pro-

Neuville, Fromentin, and Baron Leys.

duced an overall effect of being “taken from the choir

The reception room walls were covered in pale green and gold Louis XV style boiserie, whose upper

of Dordrecht Cathedral,” as reported in the periodical Architecture in 1901.

panels were fitted with tapestries in the style of

Most of the mansion’s 18 family and guest bed-

Boucher. The central oval medallion of the

rooms were arranged on the second floor, with two

Savonnerie carpet was mirrored by an oval ceiling

bachelor bedrooms placed next to the ground-floor

painting. The majority of furnishings in this room

billiard room in the north wing. These areas were dec-

were expensive copies of French 18th-century pieces

orated in a myriad of styles from late Victorian to

executed in varying degrees of accuracy.

ersatz Georgian, with the most opulent chambers

A spacious dining room was paneled in French

reserved for the two junior Mrs. Wideners. These latter

walnut with Louis XIV decorative details highlighted

rooms were ostensibly finished in a French 18th-cen-

in gold; its marble mantelpiece and sideboard both

tury manner but were overwhelmed with fashionable

had intricately floriated bronze mounts. On the walls,

Edwardian excesses such as bear skin rugs, tufted, over-

two Gobelin tapestries depicted scenes from a

stuffed furniture, and numerous potted palms. The

Caledonian boar hunt, while the window hangings

principal bedrooms, like the rest of the house, were

were of 19th-century Genoese red-silk velvet

suffocating in their over-decorated intensity.

appliquéd with antiqued gold embroideries. The din-

The north wing was a three-story structure, with a

ing table and its coordinating crimson velvet-covered

ground floor slightly lower than the level of the first

W E S T E R N E L E VAT I O N

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G R E AT H A L L

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R E C E P T I O N RO O M

floor of the main transverse. The two-story art gallery

Sometime before 1910 Trumbauer was asked to

in the center of the north wing was accessed from the

extend the north wing, principally to create the Van

landing of the grand staircase. The Wideners always

Dyck gallery and also to create a sports complex on

considered the main gallery the most important room

the ground floor below it. The sporting area included

of the house. It was some 90 feet in length, the walls

a squash court, an indoor swimming pool, and chang-

hung with paintings in the 19th century manner, filling

ing rooms with showering facilities. On the ground

every square inch of usable space. Small movable

level Trumbauer left an open space between the orig-

chairs and stools were available to view whichever

inal wing and the new complex, creating a

painting one desired. There were scattered pieces of

much-needed porte cochere.

sculpture, while truncated, fluted columns supported

The Italianate terraces were removed in 1910

ancient Greek vases. Mr. Widener generously allowed

when French landscape architect Jacques Greber was

an interested public daily access to the gallery from

hired to transform the gardens into formal parterres in

mid-October until the end of June.

the manner of Le Nôtre. At that time, the main facade

On the ground floor of the north wing were service

was altered by the introduction of deeply modeled

and men’s reception facilities—a small library, a billiard

sculptural elements in the pediment above the entrance

room, and a curio room. Surrounding the gallery on the

portico, and the loggias were enclosed to create solari-

floors above were second-floor guest accommodations

ums. These embellishments, combined with the bronze

and a third floor devoted to staff quarters.

statues and fountains executed by Jacques Greber’s

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L I B R A RY

father, sculptor Henri-Léon Greber, gave the house and

been equally famous if he had never painted any-

grounds a thoroughly integrated appearance.

thing but this picture?”

Concurrent with the garden and exterior reno-

While the art collection evolved, the younger

vations begun around 1910, the mansion’s interiors

Widener was also attempting to create a perfect envi-

were transformed from the exuberant taste of the

ronment in which to display it. According to Edith

1890s to rooms reflecting more academically

Standen, his curator, “the setting of each object and

inspired interpretations of French, Italian, and

the appearance of each room was just as important to

English period detailing. These changes can be corre-

Mr. Widener as the quality of the things themselves;

lated to Joseph Widener’s growing control over the

he would notice if a piece had been moved a quarter

family’s painting, porcelain, and decorative art col-

of an inch and set it right immediately.” On occasion,

lections. With his more austere taste, Joseph began

he would lend works for exhibitions, but never if it

the difficult process of eliminating inferior works

left an ugly void that damaged the look of a room.

from his father’s collection. The paintings, which

There was some criticism that the pervasive luxury of

numbered more than 500 in 1900, were eventually

the rooms was not entirely appropriate for the works

distilled to a mere 100 by 1940, but each of these

of certain artists, but no one could deny the overall

represented a masterpiece from the artist’s oeuvre.

magnificence of the settings.

Joseph Widener’s fine art selection criterion was

At this time the principal rooms of the house

based on one simple question: “Would this artist have

started to undergo a complete French-inspired

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R E C E P T I O N RO O M C A . 1 9 1 2

metamorphosis. Perhaps the most dramatic change

on the first floor not to emulate the French 18th cen-

was seen in the dining room, where heavy ornate

tury was the “stone room.” With its Travertine marble

wooden paneling gave way to cool neoclassical poly-

walls and wooden beamed ceiling, this room appro-

chrome marble walls. Here the Parisian decorator

priately housed the Renaissance art collection.

André Carlhian was inspired by Louis XVI era inter-

After Harry Widener’s premature death in 1912—

pretations of the great marble state apartments at

he and his father George having perished on the

Versailles, decorated during the reign of Louis XIV.

ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic—his important

The reception room was altered with oak Louis XV

collection of rare books was bequeathed to Harvard

boiserie that was richly sculpted with gilded details,

University. Hence, Lynnewood Hall’s enormous main

while the breakfast room was fitted with very simple

library-drawing room needed a new purpose. The

Louis XVI style painted paneling and a dark marble

bookcases that encircled the room were removed and

mantelpiece. Similarly, the smoking room’s hand-

a new set of Regence-inspired paneling was installed to

tooled leather walls were replaced by a relatively

create a ballroom. The room’s new gilded entrance

simple and naturally finished Louis XV oak paneling,

portal owes much to that found in the King’s bed-

this time without gilded trim. The only major room

chamber at Fontainebleau. Undoubtedly the most

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D I N I N G RO O M

delightful addition to the decor was the Rococo ceiling

The visitor left behind the French 18th century

cove of frolicking cherubs whose legs extend downward

when entering the galleries of Lynnewood Hall. The

across the upper cornice line. The Baroque ceiling

original 90 foot gallery was divided into two separate

painting and its surrounding decorative treatment were

spaces. The first gallery housed an eclectic mix of

the only things retained from the room’s original finish.

paintings from different centuries, including works by

The walls to the skylit anteroom located at the

Cuyps, El Greco, Titian, Romney, and Gainsborough.

entrance to the north wing were covered in fine

Red velvet hung on the walls while a 17th-century

carved boiserie in the Louis XV style. Around the

Ispahan carpet covered the floor. An intricately carved

room was exceptional 18th-century French period

Florentine table in the center of the room usually sup-

furniture, some of royal provenance, and executed by

ported an enormous floral arrangement, and other

master Parisian cabinetmakers. Also in the room was

Renaissance pieces and comfortable overstuffed sofas

the family’s important collection of monochromatic

surrounded it. Two modern chests in High Renaissance

K’ang Hsi porcelains in clair-de-lune, yellow, peau-de-

style displayed a collection of rare medals and plaques.

pêche, and apple green. Often these pieces were

The second gallery, generally referred to by the

accented with French 18th-century bronze mounts.

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family as the Rembrandt Room, housed paintings of

F R O N T G A L L E RY

Dutch origin—except for two by Van Dyck. Among

of the Gods was in the space connecting the main gal-

the Rembrandts in this room were The Mill, a personal

leries to the new Van Dyck gallery. Hidden in the

favorite of Joseph Widener, Philemon and Baucis,

room’s smooth ashlar walls were white velvet-lined

Descent from the Cross, and the wonderful pair of por-

cases filled with intricately wrought jewels by the

traits formerly in the Yousoupoff collection. Other

Italian master goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. The

masterpieces included Vermeer’s Young Girl with a

room was crowned by a magnificent frescoed ceiling.

Flute and Jan Steen’s The Dancing Couple.

Unlike their European counterparts, where gen-

In 1908 P.A.B. Widener purchased the important

erations of the same family would occupy and

Cattaneo collection of Van Dycks, thus necessitating

embellish the family seat, most examples of the

the construction of an additional gallery to house

American great house were occupied by only a single

them. The room when completed boasted molded

generation. Lynnewood Hall was fortunate in having

wooden wainscoting below richly carved Corinthian

been lived in by three successive generations of

pilasters and velvet-covered walls, all under an intri-

Wideners, all of whom actively took an interest in its

cately coffered barrel-vaulted ceiling. Hanging above

contents and maintenance. This family tie to

the tall Renaissance style stone fireplace was a John

Lynnewood Hall was broken in 1941.

Singer Sargent portrait of the senior Mr. Widener. An

By the terms of his will P.A.B. Widener, Sr., left

oval-shaped space designed to highlight Bellini’s Feast

lifetime control of the family art collection to his son

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VA N DY C K G A L L E RY

Joseph, along with instructions as to its final disposi-

time in the spring of 1941, the Widener collection

tion. The options included the sale of the collection

was one of its major attractions, conferring on the

to enrich the estate or its donation in its entirety to a

institution automatic status as one of the country’s

museum in Philadelphia, New York, or the District of

premier art museums. While this was a remarkable

Columbia. New York was never in serious contention

family’s munificent gift to the nation, it served as a

for the gift; Joseph sat on the board of The

death knell for Lynnewood Hall.

Philadelphia Museum of Art and it seemed most

Within two years Joseph Widener was dead. In

likely to receive the Widener bounty. Ultimately the

June of 1944, the Philadelphia auction house, Samuel

persuasive arguments of Andrew Mellon and the

T. Freeman Company, was hired to sell the mansion’s

trustees of the National Gallery of Art combined with

still considerable contents. As for the property itself,

Widener’s rancor at Philadelphia society for branding

Lynnewood Farm was sold to a developer who quickly

him a parvenu swung the pendulum in favor of

drew plans for a $20 million apartment complex called

Washington. A tearful Joseph Widener watched his

Lynnewood Gardens. At the same time the mansion

beloved creation dismantled as the paintings collec-

and its surrounding park were sold to an educational

tion was being shipped to its new home at the

group wanting to develop a Protestant university on

National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. When

the site. The Widener estate foreclosed on this venture

the National Gallery opened its doors for the first

after the fledgling school defaulted on its loan. In 1948

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B A L L R O O M ( F O R M E R LY L I B R A RY )

the house again was sold, this time to the developer of

garden statuary, fencing, mantelpieces, paneling, and

Lynnewood Gardens, who held onto the property for

lighting fixtures in a last-ditch attempt at keeping

four years, selling it to the organizers of the Faith

their doors open. This cannibalism ended when the

Theological Seminary.

mortgagor on the mansion concluded that a depletion

This nondenominational Protestant organization

of assets would devalue the overall worth of the prop-

was always financially strapped and never could

erty. Unfortunately, the building had already suffered

afford to properly maintain the building or grounds.

too many severe losses, the most serious being the

The seminary began closing wings of the mansion to

removal

reduce maintenance costs. The roofs on Trumbauer’s

Lynnewood Hall was eventually sold, and the new

elegant end pavilions were allowed to deteriorate,

owner has yet to find a buyer. The building lan-

thus ruining Carlhian’s French classical interiors. At

guishes, its roof continues to deteriorate, its wrought

another end of the house, the rosettes of the coffered

iron fence rusts, and its once-meticulously-clipped

ceiling in the Van Dyck gallery began to fall one by

lawns are overgrown and clotted with weeds.

of

the

marble-walled

dining

room.

one. In the early 1990s the seminary began selling

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First Floor Plan

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Second Floor Plan

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