Woodburne Mansion, Delaware County PA

Woodburne Mansion 1910

Woodburne Mansion 2015

On Springfield Road nestled in the trees behind Little Flower Manor sits a massively beautiful abandoned mansion. I stumbled across the house by accident on a summer night’s stroll, and when it came into view I could hardly believe what I saw. I decided to investigate and discovered the estate was called Woodburne and was owned by Edgar T. Scott. Woodburne was designed by the famous Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer who is known for commissions such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Androssan estate in Wayne, PA. Edgar T. Scott is the son of Thomas A. Scott, who served as the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad and even more importantly, he was appointed as the Assistant Secretary of War in 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln. Thomas’s time in the war department came and went before Edgar was born in 1872. Most of the articles I’ve read during my research either stated Woodburne mansion was owned by Thomas Scott or that his son Edgar Scott was the one who worked to the Pennsylvania Railroad, both of which are untrue. Ancestry.com provides wonderful resources such as the Census report that shows Thomas Scott worked for the Railroad, lived in Philadelphia and died before Woodburne was built. The Philadelphia Historical Society holds the building plans for the mansion started in the 1900’s, more than ten years after Thomas died. 

Edgar Scott memorial

When the Trumbauer plans were completed between 1906 and 1907, Edgar Scott moved into the Woodburne Estate with his wife Mary and two sons, Edgar Jr. and Warwick. By 1910 the mansion was bursting at the seams with a growing family including two new daughters and fifteen servants. In 1917 Edgar Scott Sr. traveled to France and was assigned to General Headquarters A.E.F. and served as the assistant corps inspector at the front. In September 1918 he was promoted to major Inspector General’s department. He died October 20^th in Chaumont, France.  Edgar Scott Sr. was buried in France but there is a memorial marker in Woodlands Cemetery Philadelphia.

The Scott family continued their life at the Woodburne estate for many years. Edgar Jr. moved out and married Helen Hope Montgomery, the

Helen Hope Montgomery Scott and Edgar Scott Jr.

daughter of Robert Montgomery who owned the Androssan estate on the main line. Helen Hope Montgomery according to numerous sources inspired Katharine Hepburn’s role in the movie, “The Philadelphia Story.” Edgar and Helen moved to Wayne PA and lived in a mansion across the street from Androssan. Their son Robert Montgomery Scott eventually moved into the Androssan estate and it is now occupied by his son Robert Jr. Unfortunately this estate is a threatened piece of local history as its land was sold to developers. On a lighter note, it is a terrific coincidence that the home Edgar Jr. grew up in was designed by the same famous architect as his wife’s family home.

Mrs. Mary Scott, wife of Edgar Sr., stayed in Woodburne with her daughter Susan until the mid-1930’s. By 1935 they lived together in a home in Villanova accompanied by a few servants. The

1909 Atlas shows Edgar Scott estate stretched across 100 acres

Woodburne estate was sold to The Sisters of the Divine Redeemer and set up as an orphanage for young girls. In a 1956 Chester Times article about the orphanage, the reporter Dick Widdoes describes the house in great detail. “…taken into a huge parlor where draperies hang from the ceiling to floor windows. Comfortable furniture is tastefully arranged….The halls are waxed to perfection and polished. The large marble stairway sparkles.” By 1958 it was transformed into a home for the elderly. In the 70’s they built what is now Little Flower Manor directly in front of the mansion and by the early 2000’s the mansion was abandoned.

On my walks I would stare up into the grand windows and imagine what life would have been like to live there. One day I noticed the chain linked fence was unlocked, and the front door to the mansion was open. The DO NOT ENTER and TRESSPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED signs

Details show severe plant overgrowth and boarded windows.

were enough to keep me from going in. But standing out front of the door you could smell the rot and decay that has taken over the grand halls. A few months later I revisited and the door has been sealed and the gate adorned with a new padlock.

Is there a silver lining? In a Delco Times article dated November 5, 2014, it discusses a possible purchase of the estate and mansion. Former state representative Nick Micozzie helped acquire a $224,000 grant from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Financing Authority’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program. The article states, “Micozzie said he would like to see the mansion preserved when the nuns’ property is hopefully purchased by Natural Lands Trust Inc. and turned over to Delaware County.” He envisioned the property to be “Rose Tree Park East”.

It is a wonderful thought that the estate could be turned into a much needed open space for Delaware County east. I hope the people in charge are doing their best to preserve such a fantastic piece of our history. I would think the purchase and restoration of the property would cost millions but Delaware

County is full of proud and generous people who I am sure would be willing to donate to the purchase and conservation of the house to be used for community use. Action needs to be taken immediately on this beautiful mansion before it is too late and we see a wrecking ball crashing into our local gem. I’ve tried to contact our local government for more information without luck. If you have any information for who is responsible for the future of this estate please let us know. Maybe we can all work together.

-LHD November 2015

Resources

Acestry.com

Daily Mail Reporter, “Lavish estate once owned by glittering society queen who inspired movie The Philadelphia Story faces being carved up into half-acre plots.”Dailymail.co.uk. 6 August 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2385677/The-Philadelphia-Story-Ardrossan-Estate-Pennsylvania-inspired-movie-set-carved-up.html

Justice, Glen. “The Man To Call When A New Home Was To Be A Castle”. Philly.com, 29 January 1995. http://articles.philly.com/1995-01-29/news/25712852_1_mansion-big-house-horace-trumbauer

Mueller, A.H. Atlas of Delaware County East of Ridley Creek Volume I. Philadelphia, PA. 1909-1910.

Silva, Dan. “Gen Edgar Scott”. Findagrave.com, 7 October 2010. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59724900&ref=acom

Sumner Mead, Frederick. “Harvard’s Military Record in the World War” Pg 849. Cambridge, MA. 1921.https://books.google.com/books?id=-kQQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA849&lpg=PA849&dq=Inspector+General+of+the+A.E.F.+at+General+Headquarters&source=bl&ots=74HR9uwTqG&sig=NeiAMuAljCtczYSy9c6zEXoDai8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwBGoVChMI_IrukP2ByQIVgyseCh1QBA5f#v=onepage&q=Inspector%20General%20of%20the%20A.E.F.%20at%20General%20Headquarters&f=false

Widdoes, Dick. “Children Happy at Little Flower”, Chester Times, delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com. 31 May 1956. http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/chester-times/1956-05-31/page-48

 “Editorial: Micozzie leaves fine legacy in Little Flower land”. DelcoTimes.com, 5 November 2014. http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20141105/NEWS/141109867

“Notable Visitors: Thomas A. Scott (1823 – 1881)”. Mrlincolnswhitehouse.org, 2002-2015. http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=725&subjectID=2

“Scott, Edgar T., Residence”. Philadelphiabuildings.org, 2015 https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ho_display.cfm/54913

Stein, Linda “Feminism and 'The Philadelphia Story' High society topic of Cabrini talk” Main Line Media News. 3 April 2015, Main Line Media News archives. http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2015/04/03/main_line_times/news/doc551e87b961b28971923559.txt