Come celebrate the completion of the exterior preservation of Grumblethorpe with pretzels and cider!

After many months of construction, the Grumblethorpe Roof Restoration Project is complete. Before we fully reopen the site, we want to ask: How can Grumblethorpe be a better resource to you? We want to hear from you, our neighbors, as we ask how we can have a greater impact in the community. Please join us in a conversation from 12 - 1 pm, and tell us how you think we could be a better neighbor. After the community conversation, join us in the garden for pretzels and cider.

Help support Historic Waynesborough, the 18th century home of Revolutionary War hero General Anthony Wayne. Join us for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and listen for the coachman's horn as the horses and carriages of the Brandywine Valley Driving Club drive onto the lawn. Have a close-up look at the beautiful antique carriages, and meet the drivers and horses! Be transported for an evening inspired by another age! Tickets can be purchased online through the link below or checks can be made out and sent to:

PhilaLandmarks
321 S. 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19301

This event is kindly sponsored by the Waynesborough Country Club.

The Continental Army Defeats the Hessians at Fort Mercer

Historian and author Mike Harris will discuss the fascinating and little-known story behind the 1777 Battle of Fort Mercer at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Historic Waynesborough in Paoli.

Harris will talk about the role of Hessian forces, their attack on the New Jersey fort and their defeat by the Continental Army. It would be the army’s only victory during the long and bloody Philadelphia Campaign waged by the British as they marched their way to the colonial capitol.

Harris will sell and sign copies of his latest book, Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge.

Admission is $15 at the door or online at www.philalandmarks.org. Historic Waynesborough is at 2049 Waynesborough Rd., Paoli.

If you've ever wanted to learn how to sketch in watercolor, this is a perfect way to get started. Led by local artist Anne Kullaf, we will paint on the beautiful grounds of Grumblethorpe using watercolor, focusing on the plants, gardens, and architecture of this historic farm.

ALL levels, including total beginners, are welcome! All materials are provided, and there will be demos and lots of individualized attention.

Group size is limited so register today!

Please join us at the Friends Free Library at Germantown Friends School on September 24th for a lecture by Mike Weilbacher, author of Wild Philly: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Philadelphia.

America’s sixth largest city is home to an amazing abundance of surprising wildlife: the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on earth; the coyote, a recent immigrant to Wild Philly; the beaver, once vanished and now making an astonishing comeback; and more. Meet some of the region’s featured creatures and learn some of the best places you can go to see the full diversity of Philly area wildlife. You'll also learn some of the largest threats to nature, plus great ways you can help heal nature.

The lecture is presented by writer-naturalist Mike Weilbacher, author of Wild Philly: Explore the Amazing Nature in and Around Philadelphia, a book that presents 29 walks you can enjoy to explore the best of nature, arranged by season. Mike travels the region presenting lectures and walks on nature and the environment, everything from climate change in Philadelphia to the extraordinary life cycle of the monarch butterfly. The former host of Earth Talk on WHYY-FM and "Mike the All-Natural Science Guy" on WXPN-FM's Kid's Corner, his programs have reached thousands of people. He'll sell and sign copies of his book after the lecture.

Free refreshments begin and 6:00 PM; lecture begins at 6:30 PM. This event is sponsored by the Friends Free Library at Germantown Friends School, Grumblethorpe, Historic Germantown, Historic RittenhouseTown, Stenton, and Wyck.

As we enter into the fall season, we are excited to open the beautiful Hill-Physick House garden for a happy hour evening. Come bring a bottle of wine and enjoy one of the neighborhood’s premier private gardens.

Admission will be $12 at the door. Water and light snacks will be provided.

Rain date will be Thursday, October 2nd.

Colonial Farm and Craft Day at Historic Waynesborough

Ever wonder what life was like in Colonial America? What it was like to write with a quill or how sheep’s wool was spun to make clothing? And how in the world did children amuse themselves long before the invention of Nintendo?

You’ll learn all that and more at the Colonial Farmstead Day 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, August 3, at Historic Waynesborough in Paoli.

Volunteers from Colonial Pennsylvania Farmstead, Chester County Beekeeper Association, Springton Manor Farm will demonstrate a range of crafts and farming techniques right out of the 18th Century, quill writing, toys & games, ice cream making, and bee keeping. And of course you’ll be welcome to try your hand! Tours of the mansion included.

COME OUT AND JOIN THE FUN!

Admission is

$5 Child

$10 Adult

$25 for families or groups of four

This summer we are excited to continue our garden happy hour series and open the the beautiful Powel House garden. Come bring a bottle of wine and enjoy one of the neighborhood’s premier private gardens.

Admission will be $12 at the door. Water and light snacks will be provided.

Rain date is the following Thursday, July 24th.

The Powel House Open House is on Saturday, July 5, 2025 from 11AM to 4PM. Enjoy the Powel House with pay as you wish self guided tours of Samuel and Elizabeth Powel's 18th century home. Guides will be stationed throughout the house to answer any question you may have.

This summer we are excited to open up the the beautiful Hill-Physick House garden for a happy hour evening. Come bring a bottle of wine and enjoy one of the neighborhoods premier private gardens. 

Admission will be $12 at the door. Water and light snacks will be provided.

Rain date is the following Thursday, June 26th.

A grieving widow moves into an old house and discovers she's not alone in C.J. McGroarty's new novel, The House on Chambers Road: A Ghost Story.

C.J. will read from the book and host a discussion at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at Historic Waynesborough. Told in two timelines, the story explores themes of love, loss, and redemption with moody gothic touches and rich period details.

A former newspaper reporter and a Pushcart Prize nominee, C.J. McGroarty has been a volunteer at Historic Waynesborough since 2012. The house and property greatly inspired her new book. She will sell and sign copies.

Come join the fun. Light refreshments. Admission is free.

Explore why William Penn founded the city between two rivers and the ecological and geological forces that define the region, and hear how the Lenape, the region’s first people were themselves active forces in shaping the landscape.

Learn what flora and fauna Anthony Wayne, George Washington, and Ben Franklin saw during their time and what has changed today.

Spring's most awaited event!

Spend an enchanted evening in the Powel House garden. Sip refreshing cocktails while feasting on a delicious buffet and passed hors d'oeuvres while enjoying the entertainment and lively companionship of friends new and known.

Spring attire and fancy hats encouraged!

Tickets $125 [with a discounted rate of $95 for Young Friends of Powel (40 & under)]

Alliances and negotiations in the 1600s formed relationships between the indigenous Lenape and the Europeans who colonized what is now eastern Pennsylvania. Join us on May 8, 2025 at 7 PM in the Historic Waynesborough Carriage House for a presentation by Ellen Endslow that examines how the mutual respect for self-determination, shared land use, and freedom shifted as colonial leadership changed and settlers increased in the early 1700s. The presentation also looks at some of the decisions leading to the removal of indigenous people from Pennsylvania in order to share some insights into the Lenape today.

Ellen Endslow has been the Director of Collections/Curator at Chester County History Center for more than 25 years. She is primarily responsible for the Museum collection but also oversees the Library and Photo Archives. She is appreciative of ongoing opportunities to learn directly from the Lenape, scholars, and museum colleagues about these people and events.

Enjoy drinks and nibbles with first access to the handpicked herbs, house plants, annuals, perennials, and hanging baskets.

If you are unable to make it to the kick off party, be sure to come to the plant sale on Friday, May 2nd(10AM-5PM) and Saturday, May 3rd (10AM-4PM) at the Hill-Physick House.

Please join the Powel House Committee and PhilaLandmarks for a special day of touring. We will be visiting three historic mansions along the Delaware River and enjoying lunch at the oldest tavern in Pennsylvania.

As an added bonus we will have a special guide on the bus to provide additional information about interesting places we pass as we travel from site to site. Our tour will start at the lovely Glen Foerd house built in 1850 by Charles Macalester. The next stop will be Andalusia house and gardens, which was built by John Craig and expanded by Nicholas Biddle. Lunch will be served at the King George II Inn and Tavern in Bristol, PA, which dates back to 1681. After lunch we will visit our last mansion of the day, Pennsbury Manor. The Manor is a recreation (1938/39) of the original structure built 1682/84 by William Penn.

Tour date Wednesday April 23.
All reservations and payments are due by April 8th
Transportation is by coach to and from the Hill-Physick House (321 S. 4th Street).
8:15AM to 5:15PM

Sales have ended

NO REFUNDS.
All proceeds from this event will be used to support PhilaLandmarks’ historic house museums.

"Spring Garden Moments" 

Join us to watch Grumblethorpe transform into a Wisteria Wonderland, alongside a variety of tulips and other Spring bulbs. Enjoy Spring Garden Moments and a cup of Wisteria lemonade at Grumblethorpe for the Historic Germantown Stamp Rally Kickoff!

Many cavity-nesting birds, like bluebirds, have become reliant on manmade bird boxes to provide them with the safe spaces they need to raise their young. Willistown Conservation Trust will speak at Historic Waynesborough about The Bluebird Project on Sunday, April 13th from 2:00 - 3:30 PM. With unprecedented habitat loss and insect declines, birds need all the help they can get. Fortunately, our yards hold the keys to restoring some of this lost habitat while restoring our shared ecosystems. Learn all about how to support bluebirds and other native songbirds by maintaining bird boxes, gardening with native plants, and changing the way you see your yard.

The Battle of the Wabash

On November 3, 1791, the army of the new American republic congregated along the Wabash River in Ohio to prepare an attack on Native American strongholds. By the end of the next day, the army would suffer what was to be the worst defeat in U.S. history by Indigenous people.

Sometimes called The Battle with No Name, this bloody event would trigger the first-ever Congressional investigation and halt U.S. westward expansion for the next four years.

Join author Rick M. Schoenfield at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, at Historic Waynesborough to find out more about what this momentous clash meant to the future of both the new republic and the Indigenous people in the Northwest Territory, where General Anthony Wayne would soon be called to fight.

Schoenfield will sign copies of his book, The Soldiers Fell Like Autumn Leaves.

Admission is $15 online or at the door. Light refreshments will be served.

Dazzling fortepianist Sylvia Berry will explore how the five-octave Viennese fortepiano of the late 18th century inspired Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven at different points in their lives. For Haydn, it was a later revelation, while for Mozart, it became his preferred concert instrument as a young man and for Beethoven it was the first piano he encountered. The program includes Haydn’s Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI: 48, Mozart’s Sonata in F major, K. 332, and Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata.

A Bel Canto Soirée: An Intimate Evening with Night Music

It is the year 1840, and you are an honored guest at an evening of elegance and musical camaraderie in Old City’s historic Powel House. Presented by the Romantic period-instrument ensemble Night Music, A Bel Canto Soirée celebrates the beauty of operatic lyricism with a program modeled on the legendary gatherings hosted by renowned Italian expatriate singer Giuseppe De Begnis.

As you enter the foyer, peruse reproductions of De Begnis’s original scrapbook entries: autographs, witty verses, and even bespoke arias and instrumental pieces presented to the singer by such legendary composers as Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini. Then join Night Music co-directors Heather Miller Lardin and Steven Zohn in the ballroom for an intimate pre-concert chat about the fascinating musical and social world of De Begnis’s salons at 6:30 PM. You’ll have a moment afterwards to refill your wine glass and find a seat right up front.

At the heart of the evening, the musicians of Night Music offer an exquisite program of melodious works for voice, guitar, strings, and flute – including rarely-heard gems composed for De Begnis himself. Joining the ensemble are several special guests: Philadelphia’s own celebrated soprano, Jessica Beebe, plus guitarist Adam Cockerham (NYC) and cellist Guy Fishman (Boston). You’ll greet them all over refreshments at intermission.

Before you depart, we hope you’ll add something to our guest book. Whether it’s a sketch, poem, musical phrase, or simply your John Hancock, whatever you contribute will become a part of a story to be shared at future Night Music events.

Come for the music, stay for the conversation, and leave your own mark on this unforgettable evening, designed to evoke the virtuosity and grace of a bygone era.

We can’t wait to welcome you to A Bel Canto Soirée!

L'entretien de Dieux

This solo harpsichord program features intimate 17th-century harpsichord repertoire, contemporary works by Bernard Fouccroulle and Johann Sebastian Bach’s mighty Partita No. 2. Inspired by the idea of the “entretien des dieux,” or conversation among the gods, experience the infinite capacity of the harpsichord to cross time and space.

The concert will be at the Hill-Physick House on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM. Light refreshments will be provided before the start of the concert.

James Reese and Daniel Overly will present Franz Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill.) In this hourlong collection of songs with poetry by Wilhelm Müller, we follow an earnest and terribly naive young man as he meets and falls in love with the daughter of the mill where he works. As the piece unfolds, so does their relationship; unfortunately for the young man, it does not unfold happily. We meet other characters in the story: the vibrant green field, the forget-me-not flower, and most importantly, the babbling brook; whose rushing waters provide the background music for the entire tale. As observers, we travel deeper and deeper into the young man's troubled psychology. His desperation to keep the miller maid drives him to jealousy, paranoia, and ultimately, contemplation of succumbing to his worst impulses. Schubert's music in this song cycle is truly stunning - it features shatteringly beautiful and simple melodies in conversation with gorgeous, intricate music from the piano. He wrote the piece in collaboration with Müller in 1823 - during the period when Dr. Philip Syng Physick was living and hosting the country's elite at what is now known as the Hill-Physick House. Hearing this song cycle in the Hill-Physick house will be a fascinating parallel to the intimate living rooms in Vienna where it was premiered by Schubert himself.

The Historic Waynesborough Open House and Candlelight tour is on December 15, 2024 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Tour Anthony Wayne’s House and learn about holiday customs, create a festive craft, and enjoy beverages and cookies after the tour. All tours begin in the Carriage House located at 2049 Waynesborough Road, Paoli, PA 19301.

Admission is

$10 for adults

$5 for children

$25 for families and groups of four

Tickets available at the door or online.

The Powel House Holiday Open House is on Saturday, December 14, 2024 from 11AM to 4PM. Enjoy the Powel House seasonal decorations with pay as you wish self guided tours of Samuel and Elizabeth Powel's 18th century home. Guides will be stationed throughout the house to answer any question you may have.

The Powel House Committee cordially invites you to our traditional holiday party. Celebrate the season and enjoy the evening in the historic Powel House on Sunday, December 8, 2024. Enjoy the holiday buffet and cocktails while members of the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia lead guests in carols. This year, we are pleased to feature portrait artist Ted Stuessy, who will create personalized hand-cut silhouettes for guests to take home. There will be a silent auction to help support the preservation and interpretation of the houses of PhilaLandmarks and is a great way to find something special for the giving season.

No Refunds.