Most Magnificent Homes in NEPA (Wilkes-Barre, Jim Thorpe: hotels, townhouse, gated)

[Wells5]

The anthracite era produced a large number of multi millionaires in NEPA. Many flaunted their wealth by building large country estates. My candidate for the most beautiful (and probably the most expensive) home was Hayfield House (Search Results: "gottscho hayfield" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)) in Lehman Township near Dallas, which was gifted to Penn State by Mrs. John N. Conyngham and is now part of Penn State's Wilkes-Barre campus.

"The Conynghams spent several months in Europe in pursuit of many of the rare objects and materials which eventually were incorporated into the building. Mrs. Conyngham's dressing room was allegedly modeled after the boudoir of Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles and features uniquely curved doors, making the room a perfect oval; the fireplace and mantle were imported from a castle in Europe. The sliding stained glass windows in the former library originally graced a Paris cathedral."

Anyone know of other exceptional homes?

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by Wells5

The anthracite era produced a large number of multi millionaires in NEPA. Many flaunted their wealth by building large country estates. My candidate for the most beautiful (and probably the most expensive) home was Hayfield House (Search Results: "gottscho hayfield" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)) in Lehman Township near Dallas, which was gifted to Penn State by Mrs. John N. Conyngham and is now part of Penn State's Wilkes-Barre campus.

"The Conynghams spent several months in Europe in pursuit of many of the rare objects and materials which eventually were incorporated into the building. Mrs. Conyngham's dressing room was allegedly modeled after the boudoir of Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles and features uniquely curved doors, making the room a perfect oval; the fireplace and mantle were imported from a castle in Europe. The sliding stained glass windows in the former library originally graced a Paris cathedral."

Anyone know of other exceptional homes?

There are the large resorts close to my house they have many stately old homes. I found a listing for one: http://www.realtor.com/realestateand...469?source=web It has ten bedrooms and 14 bathrooms and is situated on slightly more than 40 acres.

But; there are many others. Some are currently inhabited. Buck Hill Falls had some of the very old money before the crash of 28. Skytop has some magnificent homes – it is worth a trip just to see the Lodge. There are also many stately homes up by Pocono Manor.

Many years ago their idea of mansions was considerably smaller than our idea today. The old SS Kresge estate is situated on 35 acres just on the outskirts of Cresco. It has the pond and pool – but not the size of today's mansions. He was the man that started the Kresge Stores, that became W.T. Grant that then became K-Mart. On the other hand; he was never into flashy – you would give him a donation if you ever saw him on the street in the 1950's.

[KatWag]

Asa Packer and Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe. I read somewhere that at one point, something like 13 of the country's 16 millionaires had a home in Mauch Chunk.....

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by KatWag

Asa Packer and Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe. I read somewhere that at one point, something like 13 of the country's 16 millionaires had a home in Mauch Chunk.....

I also wanted to make one other post on this subject. The Google Earth program allows me to finally get a good look at some of our hidden mansions. Now you can get past the gated driveways and see how the other half lives. You can easily make out kidney shaped swimming pools and tennis courts. The program even lets us measure the perimeter of the house. Of course it is hard to tell how many floors these mansions have. But if you see a single family home that measures more than 100 feet with a large swimming pool and other extras; you have probably found a mansion. It is a little easy to confuse a townhouse with a mansion – but usually there are tell tail signs of one rich family or more.

A good area to practice with could be around the Huntsville Reservoir or Mauch Chunk. Look for the large swimming pools and look at the seclusion. There is even one with a private tennis court. Generally the wealthy like to live with other wealthy and they like their privacy.

You don't have to stop with the Huntsville Reservoir. Try Long Island or up at Cape Cod.

Some pictures are older than other pictures taken for the “Earth” program. You also have no idea how the grounds and homes have been maintained. The MapQuest program also works pretty good – I am just more familiar with the Earth program: Google Earth

[Gerania]

Whoa, Wells, thank you so much for this post! I've never heard about this place.

I've spent many a late nigh parusing HABS.

[MatildaLoo]

Harry Packer offers tours and has murder mystery weekends for anyone who is into that kind of thing. Their packages are a bit pricey so we haven't gone yet, but it sounds like a fun time:

The Harry Packer Mansion Inn and Libations Lounge, Hotels & Lodging, Jim Thorpe, PA 18229 - index

Waverly, PA usually hosts a Holiday House tour every year, and it usually coincides with the Waverly Comm's Artisan's Marketplace. They aren't all stately homes but a lot of them are very nice old homes.