June, 1907 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



How It Was Transformed Into a Beautiful Dwelling and Its Grounds 



Into a Delightful Garden 



I HEN Count Mora-de-Mora purchased his 

 farm at Villa Nova, Pa., with its simple 

 stone buildings, it had the aspect shown in 

 the illustration on page 220. The buildings 

 were deserted and the land had been so 

 neglected that the whole place seemed to 

 take on an atmosphere of absolute desola- 

 tion. The main building, that is, the house, was built of 

 stone and was found too good to tear down; the small car- 

 riage-house, also built of similar stone, presented such a fine 

 example of old stonework that it, too, was found too good 

 to raze to the ground. The buildings were typical of the 

 old farms so frequently seen along the rural highways of 

 Pennsylvania. The betterment of the property and build- 

 ings constituted the problem that confronted the owner, and 

 he subsequently turned the project over to his architects, 

 Messrs. Bailey and Bassett, of Philadelphia, for the purpose 

 of having them re- 

 vise and renovate 

 the estate. 



After a thorough 

 examination, it was 

 found that the build- 

 ings were of such a 

 character that they 

 really seemed to 

 form a nucleus for 

 a future develop- 

 ment which was im- 

 mediately grasped 

 by the architects, 

 and the plan formu- 

 lated by them was 

 to build the altera- 

 tion in such a man- 

 ner as to make a 

 connecting link be- 

 tween the old house 

 and the carriage- 

 room, the result of 

 which is illustrated. 



The Laundry and the Massive Wall Make a Connecting Link Between 

 the House and the Garage 



The old house was built in sections, as was the custom in 

 pre-revolutionary times. The site upon which it is built was 

 once part of a Welsh settlement, and it overlooked the old 

 Gulf road which leads to Valley Forge. It is within sight 

 of the old Gulf Church where Washington and his men 

 camped for a week previous to their march to Valley Forge. 



The original house, consisting of a large living-room on 

 the first floor and two bedrooms on the second, was built by 

 Phillip Krickbaum, in 1730, as is marked by the old stone 

 in the peak of the gable. Besides the date 1730, the initials 

 P. K. and a likeness of the man cut in the stone are also to be 

 found, a form of record sometimes used but not frequently 

 seen. This is really a peculiar and interesting stone. The 

 second section of the house was added in a duplicate form 

 of the first, as shown by the plan, and is dated by its stone 

 in the peak of the gable, 178 i. The third section was added 

 in 1790, by the date found in another stone placed in the wall. 



The entire ab- 

 sence of ornaments 

 of any kind and the 

 solidity and perman- 

 ence of the exterior 

 walls rendered the 

 modernizing of the 

 house comparatively 

 easy. The amount 

 of the change in the 

 original building has 

 not been excessive, 

 and the scheme ac- 

 cepted was one 

 which could be built 

 in order to take in 

 the carriage house 

 as a part of the im- 

 provement. This 

 was done and the 

 whole carried out in 

 sympathy with the 

 subject and its sur- 

 roundings. 



