The grandeur that defined the Main Line at the turn of the 20th century was about much more than a commuter rail ticket out of the urban density and industrialization of the inner city. A “country house” in one of the still-rural Main Line enclaves was an opportunity to live better and to highlight success. The early 1900s were a shining moment in the fanciful eclecticism of American domestic architecture. These whimsical hybrid house styles captured the spirit of inventiveness, energy and opportunity that distinguished the entrepreneurs of the Philadelphia region.

In Wynnewood, The Ponds estate is one such house, a place where the good life state of mind is just as real today as it was in 1920, when the house was built. Three families’ memories are inextricably woven into the story of this home.

The current occupants are Dr. Bert O’Malley, chairman of the department of head and neck surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, his wife Anne, a realtor with Kurfiss/Sotheby’s, and their three children. Their passion for restoring the 11-acre-grounds, incorporating modern amenities and reinvigorating the house with a young family’s vitality have brought new life to the octogenarian home. Petite Anne, impeccably dressed down to her Chanel shoes as she carries the family’s pregnant chihuahua, recounts the home’s history, from legendary Philadelphia advertising executive Ward Wheelock, the original owner, to the industrious Vanderbilt family, who resided in the house from the 1950s until the 1980s.

In 1920, the Wheelock family had the stone house constructed on a sprawling hillside property. Wheelock had built his agency as pitchman for the Campbell’s Soup Company and Whitman’s Chocolates. He was also one of the minds and financiers behind the radio program, This I Believe, hosted by Edward R. Murrow in the early 1950s. While the house may look traditional to today’s eye, its architecture had modern elements for the early 1920s. It is an example of the picturesque style, a fanciful blend of influences from many geographic locations and time periods. Inspired by English and French provincial country houses, the design incorporates uncoursed stonework with quoins, curved windows and stone balustrades. Like others built on the Main Line after World War I, the house is smaller than some of the elaborate, pre-turn-of-the-century manses, and with less affected details. It was a comfortable country home, meant for living.

Curved walls, some with inset curved doors, and a gracefully curved main staircase hint at the Art Deco style of interior design of the 1920s, as does the sunburst pattern over the front entrance doors. Influenced by the French, Art Deco accents would have been used to complement the French-inspired architecture and to show that the owners were fashionable without being trendy.

The Wheelocks kept the home for more than two decades, but in 1955 tragedy struck. Wheelock and several family members perished in a yachting accident off the coast of Bermuda; rumors that implicated the mys­terious Bermuda Triangle became a source of Main Line lore. Wheel­ock’s passing put the house on the market in 1956. For a mere $150,000, the house and its 22 acres were sold to Ollie and Billie Vanderbilt. 

One Vanderbilt daughter, Madelon Vanderbilt Peck, recalls growing up at The Ponds. “Ducks would actually walk up the hill to be fed,” she remembers with a laugh. During the Vanderbilt tenure, the big stone house was painted white. Its gardens were meticulously maintained. The downstairs study adjacent to the front hall was used as a family room. “My parents would have their evening cocktails in there, while my brother and I played,” recalls Madelon, who now lives in Pasadena, CA. She remembers that the bank of closets in the dining room had mirrored fronts, making them virtually disappear — a perfect hide-and-seek spot.

The Vanderbilt family moved on in the early 1980s. Several acres of property were given to Mill Creek Park, preserving the land and demonstrating the family’s love of the outdoors.

The next owner personalized the house and made additions, including the glass conservatory and the cabana. The stone cabana cottage sits across a terraced courtyard from the main house; its bank of French doors with Palladian windows mirrors those of the family room across the court. The cabana today houses an exercise room, two guest bedrooms, and bathrooms. Its lower level opens out onto the edge of the property’s built-in swimming pool.

The house again went on the market in 2003. The O’Malley family, relocating from Baltimore, fell in love with it. “We were passionate about the house, but were suddenly devastated when the seller decided to terminate the agreement,” Anne remembers. The O’Malleys subsequently bought part of the nearby historic Windsor Estate and busied themselves with plans for a full renovation. But in 2004, when the owner of The Ponds called back to say he was ready to sell, Anne and Bert immediately said yes.

Drained by their yearlong architectural project, the O’Malleys did only cosmetic work on the house’s interior and put their energies into restoring the grounds. 

“It was therapeutic being outside daily with a crew of at least 10 men with machetes and pruners,” says Anne, who got her own hands dirty working alongside. The ponds in the rear yard have been carefully tended to appear natural. “People were surprised when we left the fallen tree,” they say of the log that juts out over one pond, “but it was a part of the environment.” The ponds house two 30-year-old koi, and preserving their longtime home was important to the O’Malleys. “I think Bert and I are the only ones since the Vanderbilts who have a real love for the gardens and woodlands here,” Anne says. 

A connection to the outdoors permeates every room of the house. Large windows and French doors open onto terraces on all sides. Anne’s favorite spot, the rear bluestone patio beside the dining room, overlooks the ponds and makes a perfect place for al fresco dining.

On the interior, living spaces have been personalized with the O’Malleys’ eclectic blend of contemporary and traditional decor. A large and colorful painting of their daughter astride a horse hangs in the family room. An historic portrait of Anne’s fifth-great grandmother — a former Queen of Holland — hangs in the dining room. Antique furnishings are juxtaposed with overstuffed chairs. Details here and there speak to the home’s history. A colorful green glass pendant in a powder room is complemented by fresh wallpaper in an updated red floral toile. 

None of the rooms gives an off-limits impression; every space appears lovingly lived-in.

The formal living room is clad in rich wood paneling brightened by banks of French doors and a curved wall of windows. From the breathtaking property views outside the room to the sound of music from the piano, the room is an often-used part of the O’Malley house. “It is my favorite room,” says Bert, who likes to sit in his wingback chair and take it all in.

The thoroughly updated kitchen is impressive. While the O’Malleys do not have the full-time chef that once occupied the 1920s-era kitchen, they and their occasional caterers no doubt have much better amenities today. The kitchen is dominated by an enormous professional Garland range and three Sub-Zero refrigerators. The room even includes a commercial convection oven. Cherry cabinetry, granite counters and a built-in desk area appear perfectly matched to the room’s original terra-cotta tile floor.

Five bedrooms are on the home’s second floor, including the master suite, which was expanded in the 1990s. The whole family enjoys watching movies in front of the fireplace in the room’s sitting area. The master bathroom still has its original red marble fixtures and gold-plated, koi-shaped faucets.

The Ponds is a classic Main Line blend of formal sophistication and rustic country charm. Still an end-of-day country escape from the Philadelphia workplace, the house and its property will continue to shape a new generation of family. As the O’Malleys further infuse the home with their unique personality and improvements, the narrative of this remarkable estate will continue to unfold.

1. This house was not built by Ward Wheelock in 1920. In fact, my dad completed Enterkine on GraysLane in Haverford in 1933 (the year I was born) and bought the house at 133 Old Gulph Road in Wynnewood in early 1950. The house was significantly different than it looks today. I particularly remember the two ponds( stocked with fish), a tennis court dad built, and the quarry across the ponds. After my family disappaeared in the Bermuda tirangle in January, 1955, my sister and I sold the house in 1955.

   Posted by keith wheelock | April 18, 2009, 10:49 pm

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   Posted by MAINLINE THE GILDED AGE THE PONDS THE ART CULTURE LIFESTYLE | My Site | May 31, 2009, 10:49 pm