Houses & Estates Collection

William Alan Morrison bequeathed to three local historical societies his research materials used in preparing The Main Line: Country Houses of Philadelphia’s Storied Suburb, 1870-1930, in whose pages he detailed

…a unique world of country life in the manner of English gentry that could be enjoyed after a short train ride from the smoke-filled streets of Center City Philadelphia. …truly exceptional decoration, architecture and garden design as practised by some of this country’s most passionate advocates of country life at the beginning of the 20th century.

—from the introduction by Mark Alan Hewitt

The Lower Merion Historical Society received most of these materials, over 800 photographs, clippings and notes that document 158 houses and estates in or just outside of the Township. These are not ALL the great estates in Lower Merion and Narberth, of course, rather the ones that Morrison researched for possible inclusion in his book. At least 90 are still standing in 2020.

Estates in the collection

Map symbols

House built	<1880	’80s	’90s	1900s	’10s	’20s	’30s
house is gone							—
standing

Showing 158 of 158 Sort table by clicking “Name” or “Built”