Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust

NC Wyeth House & Studio, Andrew Wyeth’s Studio, and the Kuerner Farm Legacies of the Wyeths and National Historic Landmark in our own backyard
2014-05-21 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Duportail House, 297 Adams Drive, Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, 19087
NC Wyeth House, credit Carlos Alejandro

Historic preservation planner and principal in Wise Preservation Planning, Robert Wise will present NC Wyeth’s House & Studio, Andrew Wyeth’s Studio and the Kuerner Farm, three properties that had a great influence on the life and work of these two most prominent members of the Wyeth family. Wise has worked extensively with the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art over the past 15 years to achieve the highest recognition by the US government for these properties as National Historic Landmarks (NHL). NC Wyeth’s House & Studio was listed as an NHL in 1997; the Kuerner Farm, where son Andrew Wyeth created the Helga series of works (among others) was listed in 2011. Andrew Wyeth’s Studio, a former oneroom schoolhouse, may actually be an officially recommended listing on the date of this lecture!

NC Wyeth Studio, credit Carlos Alejandro

Wise will present the exact presentations that he made to the NHL Advisory Committee of the National Park Service in Washington DC. Though either built or made famous by the Wyeths, each property, located in Chadds Ford, is unique. NC built his house and studio in the early 1900’s; when he tragically died in 1945 (hit by a train at the Kuerner Farm) his family documented the studio such that it is interpreted with his many props and unfinished art, just as he left them. The Kuerner Farm, with its immense barn, early 19th century house and fields, captured the imagination of Andrew Wyeth from an early age; he painted there nearly his entire life. First purchased by his father NC, Andrew Wyeth’s studio next door served as his home and then just his studio for nearly 70 years; nearly a third of his works were produced or finished there.

We welcome you to come learn about these wonderful places (then go see them for yourself). Come learn about the personalities behind the buildings, the people and events that help make them Landmarks, and of course, the stories behind the paintings that originated there. Finally, learn how the Brandywine Conservancy has painstakingly preserved and interpreted them.

Stone Houses – Traditional Homes of R. Brognard Okie
2014-04-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, 631 Berwyn-Baptist Road, Devon, PA, 19333
There is nothing tied more to the land than a stone house. Stone represents shelter, permanence, and local color. Traditional farmhouses were built with stone cleared from the fields making a statement about the wealth that could be derived from the land. Subtle differences in stonework communicated the growth of the homestead. At Hillside Farm, Okie’s own house, the small 18th century tenant farmhouse was his living laboratory for over 40 years of additions and modifications as he perfected his particular interpretation of the local architectural vernacular.

The book “Stone Houses” looks at the precedents for Okie’s work, a sample of projects from his 50 year career and current homes that exemplify the same approach to placemaking. Copies of James Garrison’s book, “Stone Houses” will be available for purchase and author signing at the lecture.

A portion of all book sales go towards the historic preservation efforts of the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust.

Pickett’s Charge: The Untold Story
2013-11-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Duportail House, 297 Adams Drive, Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, 19087
Released during this 150th anniversary of the epic battle of Gettysburg, Pickett’s Charge: The Untold Story tells the story of the heroic defenders of the Union and especially the Philadelphia Brigade and its commander General Alexander Webb. Webb won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor that afternoon and later became President of the City College of New York. With the outcome of the Civil War in the balance, Webb and his fellow soldiers stopped the Confederates at a spot known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy and saved the Union.

J. Howard Wert was a soldier, educator and author born in Gettysburg in 1841. During the Gettysburg campaign, Wert who was a special scout for the Union, was detained by Confederate troops but escaped and aided General Meade’s Union troops. After the battle Wert and Frank Haskell, a member of General Gibbon’s staff, rode over the battlefield and Wert began collecting items from the battle. He continued collecting for years. Wert wrote a guidebook and authored other articles about the battle of Gettysburg. Noted Civil War author Ed Bearss wrote of Wert, “Wert walked in the very footsteps of history … but most of all he was a patriot.” Pickett’s Charge explores what the Union soldiers endured during the charge by the Southern forces.

“About four years ago I stood near what is known as the High Water Mark of the Confederacy and looked across the field where the charge took place. I knew a lot about why Lee had to make the charge, General Longstreet’s reluctance to make the charge and the Confederate soldiers that took part in the charge,” said author Bruce E. Mowday. “As I looked to my left I realized I knew little of the Union defenders. They had a gallant story to tell.” Mowday spent three years doing research at the Gettysburg National Park, PA Historical Society, Union League in Philadelphia and other reference libraries.

Copies of Pickett’s Charge: The Untold Story and other Mowday books (price range $17 – $22), will be available for purchase and author signing at the lecture

Pennsylvania Keystone Markers … Symbols of our Past and Bright Future
2013-10-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Duportail House, 297 Adams Drive, Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, 19087
The Keystone Marker Trust was founded in 2010 to protect the historic keystone-shaped town marker signs of Pennsylvania. These signs, typically painted blue and yellow, are found throughout the Commonwealth and were installed starting in the mid-1920s by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways, the predecessor to PennDOT. Though many towns have adopted and cared for their markers, there was no central group to advocate for them until the formation of the Trust. In addition to documenting and restoring historic markers, the Trust has also begun making new Keystone Markers for the first time in about 70 years, which are accurate in appearance to the originals.

Founding members of the Trust, Nathaniel Guest and Greg Prichard will speak about the history of Keystone Markers, their meaning, an overview of Keystone Markers found on the Main Line, the work of the Trust, and the process by which new reproduction markers are created.
