Just up the street from Boehm's Church, the Bluestone Country Club is a place for families and friends to come together and enjoy a game of golf. One of the features at the country club that stood out the most was the mansion. The mansion was built before the wave of wealthy families coming into the Wissahickon Valley Region to settle in.
A Wild Land
Before it was purchased by Owen Lewis in 1730, whom we know little about, it was called a "wild land" where nature inhabited.
"The surface was one of gentle slopes rising from the meadow in the centre, through which flowed a rivulet eastward, and the general trend of the surface sloped in the same direction, or towards the valley of the Wissahickon."
- E.M., Ambler Gazette (1898)
It was until 1769 when the land was purchased by Jonathan "John" Shay of Horsham, and lived there during the American Revolution. In 1782, he sold 112 acres of land to John Barnes for £850. For many years, the land was owned by the Barnes family ever since until 1824 when Jesse Barnes was killed in an accident. As a result, the business partnership with his brother Thomas dissolved, and Thomas sold 107 acres of land to Jacob Fisher (1801-1873).
Jacob Fisher was known as one of the "conspicuous citizens" in Whitpain when he arrived in the area:
Played the violin in social parties
An auctioneer in different townships
The one who advocated for public schools as early as 1836
Appointed Justice of the Peace
When he became the Democratic nominee for sheriff in Montgomery County, Jacob created enemies. He was betrayed by his own party in certain townships including Whitpain, resulting his defeat to Whig nominee Michael Boyer. This defeat made Jacob switch parties, and became an ardent Republican.
Jacob lived in the old Barnes homestead for 30 years until in 1857 he sold the homestead to William Miller for $9,000 with only 52 acres of land.
It was 1867 when Charles F. Norton purchased the old homestead for $1,100, naming the home "Springside." The home was passed onto his widow, Mary E. Norton, and his son, Charles D. Norton.
Since 1883, Thomas F.B. Wunder (1834-1924) improved the homestead and surroundings, and made it more beautiful. In his will, he wanted his wife Josephine to take over the estate after he dies. He and his wife had no children.
J. Andrews Harris, The Third
It was 10 years after Thomas F.B. Wunder and his wife's deaths. His estate was adored by home buyers, and it caught the attention of one of the home buyers, John Andrews Harris, III (1899-1972). He inspected and surveyed the home and its surroundings before purchasing it in 1934.
John was descended from a line of clergymen from Trenton, New Jersey to Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Nathaniel Harris (1763-1811), was a clergyman, and the tradition continued up to his father, John Andrews Harris, II (1862-1940), who was a minister at the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill, where the family lived.
NOTE: One of J. Andrews Harris, II's most famous publications was titled, "Principles of Agnosticism Applied to Evidences of Christianity."
John, III was educated at the Chestnut Hill Academy, and graduated in 1916. He was also a graduate at the University of Pennsylvania. During World War I, he served as a coxswain in the US Naval Reserve Force.
Before moving to Whitpain, he was living in Whitmarsh Township.
In 1949, a group of people decided to form a country club in Whitpain, and named it "Meadowlands," now known today as the Bluestone Country Club. They purchased 130 acres of the land that included the Harris mansion, which they named it "The Country House" where they greet visitors.
Architecture
From the earliest map found, the location of the original homestead was close to Plymouth Road, but over time, the home somehow disappeared and a new home was built elsewhere on the same land. That was what possibly happened when J. Andrews Harris purchased the property after inspecting and surveying the area.
The home was designed by the architect firm Willing, Sims & Talbutt. Based on the features shown on the former Harris mansion, it shows more of a Colonial Revival style, mainly from its hipped roof that was not commonly used in typical colonial homes in the 18th century.
Other notable features found on the mansion are...
Arched/segmental dormers
Dentils overhang
Keystone decorations over the windows
Looking closely at the doorway at the front facade hiding under the entry roof: The portico surrounding the door is curved underside with dentils overhanging, columns supporting the portico roof, and a decorative floral ornament over the doorway.
Bibliography
Franklin Survey Co. Atlas: Montgomery County 1935 Vol B, Plate 7, 1935.
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
"Harris Residence & Garage." Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/111776.
Hopkins, G.M. Atlas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Page 031, 1871.
"J.A. Harris Plans Commodious House." Ambler Gazette. April 5, 1934. Page 4. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/17678/rec/43.
"Local History. Sketches in Whitpain--Lewis Plantation--Farm of T. F. B. Wunder--Famous Elkinson Property." Ambler Gazette. November 10, 1898. Page 2. http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/wivp-gazett/id/323/rec/4.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses: The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017): 408-432.
Morris, William E, and Smith & Wistar. Map of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania: from original surveys. [Philadelphia: Smith & Wistar, 1849] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012590207/.
"Our History." Bluestone Country Club. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://www.bluestonecc.com/about.
Smith, J. L. Montgomery County 1893, Whitpain and Worcester Townships, Bethel Hill, Fairview, Cedar Hill, Washington Square, Broad Axe Left, 1893.
The Quarter Century Review of the Chestnut Hill Academy, 1895 to 1920. (Philadelphia: Chestnut Hill Academy Alumni Association, 1921): 103.
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