Houses Built By Love

I was fortunate enough to take part in a Lower Merion Conservancy sponsored tour of English Village, hidden away in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. This 1920's  enclave of 29 Tudor style homes was designed to recall a medieval village centered on a "green" (now occupied by 2 ranch houses). With half-timbered exteriors, steeply pitched roofs, leaded casement windows, and brick wall cladding and chimneys with brick and stone inserts in interesting patterns, the homes on Loves Lane and Arthurs Round Table were relatively isolated when built.

One of the early residents here was S. Arthur Love, the architect who designed the English Village.  His younger brother, Donald Love, was the developer of the neighborhood who lived with his wife, Estelle Lippincott Love, his 5 children, a nurse, a cook, and a servant at 626 Loves Lane.  This home has original Mercer tile floors and mahogany paneling reportedly salvaged from John Wanamaker's home on Walnut St. in Philadelphia. Being the largest home and lot in English Village, this home has room for a lovely little garden with a water feature. I am grateful to the owners of these special homes in Lower Merion Township's English Village for letting us into these lovely homes last week.