The Garrett-Williamson Lodge first opened their vacation home in 1922 at 395 Bishop Hollow Rd. Their vacation home was all ready for the "inmates" to attend.
NOTE: As hard as it is to imagine today, Delco was a major place for vacation for city people in the 1920's. Delco had numerous houses to rent, camps, golf courses, swimming places etc. and the price was reasonable.
June 16, 1922
Garrett-Williamson Lodge to Receive Its First Inmates
In the heart of the green-clad hills of Delaware County, fanned by the cooling breezes that sweep through numberless trees and surrounded by every comfort that money can devise, many women and little children will this summer escape the sweltering heat of the city in the home that has been provided for them near Newtown Square, through the generosity of a Philadelphia woman.
Although the donor of the money that made possible the erection of the building is no longer living, the kindly spirit that prompted the gift of 260 acres of land and $1,000,000 for the maintenance of the home seemed to hover above the huge grey stone building yesterday, when more than 500 persons viewed the premises for the first time at the formal opening of what is to be known as the Garrett-Williamson Lodge.
Named for the woman in whose mind the generous-hearted scheme originated, Mrs. Elizabeth Williamson Garrett, the home will today receive its first inmates, when Miss Alice W. Penrose, director, and her staff of assistants welcome a group of women come to spend their vacation in the thoroughly up-to-date and modernly equipped dwelling provided for them. Although, according to Mrs. Garrett’s stipulation, the home is for single women and children, only adults will be accommodated during the first weeks until the household machinery is in perfect running order. Then children, too, will be admitted, until every sunny, daintily-furnished bedroom in the entire three-story building is occupied.
The keynote of the spirit of home life which is the outstanding feature of the lodge was struck yesterday by John L. Clawson, president of the Board of Managers, when he asserted emphatically that the home is not an “institution,” according to the usual meaning of the word.
“The occupants of the home will be like members of one big club,” Mr. Clawson said. “There will be no “charity” connected with the establishment – the women and children who come here will all be guests and take part in a club life that will make them forget their life in the city and remember only that they are here to enjoy themselves to the full extent of their ability.
And surely no woman could fail to enjoy herself in the setting that has been provided by Mrs. Garrett’s bounty. With a huge living room and dining room on the ground floor, each having a large stone fireplace and numerous windows curtained with bright-colored cretonnes, the house presents to the visitor a picture of home-like attraction. From a broad, white-pillared porch at the rear, a view of grassy fields and wooded hills greets the city-wearied eye, while on the hottest day of summer there is always a breeze to flutter the awnings and come sweeping in at the windows that dot all sides of the long, white-trimmed building.
CALIFORNIA STYLE – In a cement-floored kitchen in the basement, equipped with all the latest culinary devices, is prepared the food that is sent up on a dumb waiters to the pantry and thence to the dining room. Here it is taken by the guests, in cafeteria fashion to the small tables, scattered throughout the length of the dining room or on the spacious porch, to be eaten within sight of the beckoning outdoors.
On the second and third floors are the light-walled bedrooms, single for the most part, but some equipped with half a dozen or more beds for the accommodation of groups of women who come to the home together. Each is provided with a bureau and bright-painted chair, matching in tone, the curtains at the window, and each has a curtained space against the wall to take the place of the less sanitary clothes closet.
Although the building as it is at present can accommodate 100 persons at a time, it is planned to erect separate bungalows in the future to add to the sleeping capacity of the home. There will also be a swimming pool, tennis courts, a space for baseball, a gymnasium, radio equipment and numerous other amusements provided for the fortunate persons who will spend their vacation weeks in this ideal spot.
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