Once upon a time
nearly a century and a half ago
a little baby boy was born
and he was named
Edward T. Stotesbury.
Edward was the child of Quaker parents
living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And like most of his peers,
he attended Philadelphia Public Schools,
then Friends' Central High School
and after graduation was tutored
in business by
His career in business
started as a grocery clerk,
then as a clerk for a sugar refinery
in which his father was a junior partner.
He moved on to a banking house,
Drexel & Co. in 1866
which later partnered with
J. P. Morgan.
By 1882 he was a partner.
He amassed a net worth of
100 million dollars
and had several mansions to his name.
The Walnut Street Mansion, Philadelphia PA
and his primary residence:
Whitemarsh Hall in Wyndmoor PA
It is said by the end of his life
he told his stepson (married to Doris Duke)
that he planned on squandering his
accumulated wealth himself.
True to his word,
he began withdrawing $10 million a year
and died leaving a $4 million estate.
His 6 story Georgian mansion and gardens in Pennsylvania
demanded $1 million a year to operate.
So, after Edward's death,
his widowed wife moved away from Whitemarsh Hall.
Whitemarsh Hall
was left to
the weather and vandals.
It became neglected,
dilapidated,
overgrown,
vandalized,
forgotten.
forgotten.
In April of 1980 is was demolished,
yes, demolished,
and replaced with builder grade
multifamily housing.
And so the Fairy Tales ends...
or perhaps it is not a fairy tale after all.
If you look carefully,
here and there,
you might catch a glimpse of this great mansion.
Of all his mansions,
only one still stands in tact
and of the other three
you can only find remains.
How incredibly sad.
The information above is gleaned from this site.
I have only visited the remains of Whitemarsh Hall
and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information
and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information
Here is Whitemarsh Hall in its glory.
All the photos from this gallery can be found here.
