I found out that a lovely elderly couple at church had gifted us a membership to the Sewickley Valley Historical Society when an invitation to a "speakeasy" garden party landed on Dear Husband's desk. We weren't sure if we would know anyone there, but we like a fancy dress-up occasion and can usually entertain ourselves, so we RSVP'd with the "white rose" group and collaborated on our best 1920s-imitation outfits. The lower entrance fee and later arrival time meant we would miss the champagne toast and guided tour of the house but still gave us access to the buffet, gardens, and carriage house. Even though we ran into a few church folk, we still felt like we were crashing someone else' party--maybe that's what made it like a speakeasy? That, and the open bar. A pianist played period-appropriate popular music on a keyboard, and the food was good (especially the desserts). You can see that the evening was overcast, but the rain stayed away long enough for us to wander around the grounds and check out the collection of historical carriages and cars.
Wilpen Hall home was built for William Penn Snyder and his wife between 1897 and 1900 as a summer home in the tony Sewickley Hills area. Snyder was the founder of the Shenango Furnace Company. Designed by George Orth and Brothers in the style of an English Manor house, the residence was subsequently named "Wilpen," using a contraction of Snyder's first and middle names. Today it is the home of a couple of doctors, who got it
listed as a historic site in 2021.
This is some of the original sculpture on the property;
there are many more modern pieces, almost all of them animals.
It was a little late for the roses, which must have been stunning at their peak.
The current owners clearly have a sense of humor and wimsy!
There were at least four terraces from the main back yard, to this lawn, a lower level with an abandoned swimming pool, and then a further grassy expanse below that.
Off in one corner was another abandoned swimming pool (to the right, not pictured), and behind me here, a duck pond in which a concrete goose had drowned (not shown out of respect).
To DH's disappointment, there were no fish in the pond. There was however lots of frog statuary.
All manner of antique conveyances
Also 118-year-old horse show ribbons plus old tack. No horses, though.
I found out that a lovely elderly couple at church had gifted us a membership to the Sewickley Valley Historical Society when an invitation to a "speakeasy" garden party landed on Dear Husband's desk. We weren't sure if we would know anyone there, but we like a fancy dress-up occasion and can usually entertain ourselves, so we RSVP'd with the "white rose" group and collaborated on our best 1920s-imitation outfits. The lower entrance fee and later arrival time meant we would miss the champagne toast and guided tour of the house but still gave us access to the buffet, gardens, and carriage house. Even though we ran into a few church folk, we still felt like we were crashing someone else' party--maybe that's what made it like a speakeasy? That, and the open bar. A pianist played period-appropriate popular music on a keyboard, and the food was good (especially the desserts). You can see that the evening was overcast, but the rain stayed away long enough for us to wander around the grounds and check out the collection of historical carriages and cars.
