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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