Originally designed by noted Philadelphia architect Edmund B. Gilchrist and completed in 1931, this is one of the most significant estates on the Main Line and has had only four owners since it was completed in 1931. After the death of the second owner, John T. “Jack” Dorrance (the Campbell’s Soup heir) — who had owned the house for fifty years — I was hired to do an extensive architectural and landscape renovation of the entire estate. Only twenty minutes from downtown Philadelphia, the hundred acre property is a world unto itself — a French Normandy village and Manor House on the Main Line. Upon entering the property, passing fenced pastures and apple orchards, one arrives at an initial courtyard made to look like a quaint French Normandy village. Surrounding this “Farm Court” is a Caretaker’s Cottage, a 10-car Garage (complete with hydraulic service lift and its own fuel pump), Horse Stables, Sheep Shed, Barn, and two additional Staff Quarters. Passing through this courtyard and down the “Grande Allée” — a gently sloping walled lane, with a four-hundred foot long greenhouse on one side — one enters the large Cour d’Honneur, anchored by the 14,000 square foot Manor House.

          Although the house had been designed with the finest level of materials and craftsmanship, it was built during the Depression and many changes had been made to cut costs. On the second story, carved stone had been replaced by cast stone, garden terraces were never completed and the main entrance and curved driveway from the south was never built — essentially, everyone was coming in through the service entrance. Inside the Manor House, all of the primary spaces — the Entrance Hall, the Library, the Solarium, the seven Bedrooms, the ensuite Bathrooms, the Servants Kitchen, the Butler’s Pantry, the Laundry Room and the twelve Servants Rooms—needed significant updating. And with the exception of the Living Room and Dining Room, where antique boiserie had been imported from France, all of the finishes inside the house were second rate and needed to be improved.

         My brief was to renovate every room on the property — about 40,000 square feet of interior space — modernizing the electrical and mechanical systems, and improve upon all of the architectural finishes, bringing the interior architecture up to the level of the exterior. I designed and coordinated every aspect of the renovation — both inside and out. Although the current owners have redecorated the interiors, they still remain as I designed them many years ago.