12,000-10k years ago

Ancestors of Lenape people settle what later became Lenapehoking

1681

King Charles II grants William Penn Lenape land that was not his to give

1681/1682

John Eckley purchases land from Penn

1692

Sara Eckley to Rees Thomas

1733/1740

Many Lenape people moved west after Walking Purchase swindle by Penn’s sons, others remained and carried on their Indigenous traditions to the present day

1785        

William Thomas (via administrator Nathan Jones) to John Curwen, 195 acres

1833

John Curwen to George F Curwen

1848

Eleanor Curwen to Ellis Ramsey, 65 acres

1871

Atlas showing owner Ellis Ramsey, 65 acres, with Willow Cottage residence (stone)

1877

Willam Ramsey (Ellis Ramsey estate) to Edmund Smith

1878

Edmund Smith’s Stoneleigh residence built by Wilson Brothers

1878-1881

Charles Miller (Miller and Hayes) landscape gardener builds grounds, gardens, ice house, main stable (stone), entrance from Spring Mill and County Line, farm lane Montgomery to County Line, early greenhouse complex

1885

Newspaper describes Edmund Smith’s Stoneleigh with 10 acres of fine woodland and “stone stables

1899

Edmund Smith estate to Samuel Bodine (Smith died 1895)

1900

Smith house demolished, new home by Everett and Mead

1900-1906

Landscape Architects Pentecost and Vitale build formal entrance from Spring Mill Rd, carriage drive that runs South to North ending in tea house (brick), sunken garden, Lych gate (stone), Pergola along north side of sunken garden (stone), the Smith stable and Ramsey Willow Cottage remain. Lych gate and pergola have handmade ceramic tiles imported from Italy

1901

Guy King (worked previously with Wilson Brothers) alterations to Stoneleigh residence and stable by George F Payne and Co.

1900-1903

Frank Miles Day builds greenhouse complex (brick) (and presumably Superintendent’s Cottage - brick)

1908

Bodines hire new landscape Architects Olmsted Brothers/Percival Gallagher, Samuel Bodine transfers property to his wife Eleanor

1911

New vegetable garden between greenhouse and stable

1912

Path to tea house becomes turf walk

1913

New vegetable garden, lawn vista

1914

Tennis court in sunken garden

1916

J.A.P Crisfield Engineer & Gray Brothers build Squirrel Inn dormitory (brick, stone, frame)

1916

Bodine alterations to “main stable” (Jan 1916 - exterior)

1916

Bodine alterations to “main stable (April 1916 - first and second floor, carpenters shop and paint room on northwest side no longer exist, second floor had 3 bedrooms, hay storage and first floor had garage, carriage house, wash pave, stalls, tool room, harness room, toilets, manure pit)

1916-1921

Eleanor Bodine and Superintendent Alexander MacLeod host innovative garden and horticultural training program for young women, centered on the greenhouse complex, Squirrel Inn dormitory, Superintendent’s Cottage and a total of 3.5 food producing acres of community war gardens

1919-1921

Architect William Wayne builds William Bodine residence (stone), entrance from County Line Rd, 6 acres also work by Perry, Shaw, Hepburn in interior

1920

New paths from sunken garden to William Bodine residence

1922

First instance of “Oakwell” in newspapers for William & Angela Bodine residence

1924

Stoneleigh rockery between sunken and oval gardens

1926

Stoneleigh new main entrance Spring Mill Rd

1927

Death Eleanor Bodine, William Bodine tells Olmsted Brothers about plan to replace greenhouses in complex with tennis court (date of replacement unclear)

1928

More Perry, Shaw, Hepburn work in interior of Oakwell residence

1928

12 more acres transferred from Stoneleigh to Oakwell (now includes residence, tea house, greenhouse complex, Superintendent’s Cottage), 6 acres to Clothier (Squirrel Inn), 18 acres on Spring Mill Rd and Montgomery were sold for development, more

1932

Death Samuel Bodine, son William Bodine manages his estate

1935

Otto and Phoebe Haas purchase 21.7 acres from Bodine estate

1935

Otto and Phoebe Haas commission small greenhouse next to stone carriage house (WH Lutton Co, Jersey City & Henry W Farrow Contractor)

1935

Haas family has 3 story dining wing removed from Stoneleigh residence, also half servants wing and game room, work by William Wayne

1935

Stables converted to apartments

1937

Atlas shows Oakwell 19.4 acres (Residence, tea house, greenhouse complex, Superintendent’s Cottage) and Squirrel Inn separate property at 6.4 acres (was it Bodine then? Or Clothier as per Olmsted correspondence about Clothier taking Montgomery end of Oakwell?); south of 6.4 acres is subdivided to 17.5 acres of H LeRoy Webb et al./Girard Trust Company et al. (with Willow Cottage still there, shows creek paralleling Montgomery Ave and pond next to cottage)

1939

6 acres (including Squirrel Inn) that had previously been transferred to Clothier, purchased back by Haas

1947

William Bodine, Jr and wife Louise living at Acorn cottage, make 2 additions to enlarge it

1948

Atlas shows Oakwell 19.4 acres (Residence, tea house, greenhouse complex, Superintendent’s Cottage) and Squirrel Inn separate property at 6.4 acres (owned by Haas family)

1951

As Clothier estate was developed, Haas family purchased 2 acres of land behind Squirrel Inn.

1955

William Bodine Sr transfers 2.6 acres on County Line Rd. to son William Bodine, Jr and wife Louise, and other son Samuel moves to Acorn Cottage

1958

Last plan in Olmsted Brothers files

1959

Death of William Bodine Sr

1960

Death of Otto Haas

1961

Atlas shows Oakwell 19.4 acres (Residence, tea house, greenhouse complex, Superintendent’s Cottage) and Squirrel Inn separate property at 6.4 acres (owner Phoebe Haas, also Phoebe Haas owned Stoneleigh 21.7 acres), and 17.5 subdivided acres along Montgomery with Willow Cottage still there

1961

Atlas shows William Bodine Jr’s house, where Stoneleigh parking lot is now

1964

John and Chara Haas move to Stoneleigh

1967

Death Phoebe Haas (she was living in Squirrel Inn), Squirrel Inn rented to tenants until 1986

1983

Deaths of William Bodine, Jr and Angela Bodine

1984

Oakwell’s 10 acres from Angela Bodine estate to Graham Arader

1984  

4 acres north of Stoneleigh’s pergola from Bodine to Haas family to serve as buffer

1986

Superintendent’s Cottage property (3 acres) from Angela Bodine estate to Jim and Elizabeth Armour, over years they convert greenhouse to an apartment (at some point, Dr Betty Lee Davis rents it); Haas family renovates Squirrel Inn and rented

1986-1988

Office wing added to Stoneleigh were dining wing used to be (John Dickey FAIA)

1988

Squirrel Inn property subdivided and sold to private owner (becomes W 1808 Montgomery Ave, and Acorn Cottage becomes W 1800 Montgomery)

1990s

Arader builds pool house on Oakwell

1990s        

Squirrel Inn to private owner

1996

Haas family puts conservation easement on property with Natural Lands

1997

Oakwell’s 10 acres to John Bennett

2011

Death of John Haas

2012

Death of Chara Haas

2016

Haas family to Natural Lands/Lower Merion Conservancy has the easement

2016-2018

Natural Lands Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden built, William Bodine Jr house & 2.5 acres becomes location for parking area

2018

Save Stoneleigh campaign when LMSD tries to use eminent domain to take Stoneleigh for fields for BRMS

2018  

Stoneleigh: A Natural Garden opens as a public garden on May 12th

2019

LMSD demolishes Clairemont

2019

Oakwell’s 10 acres from John Bennett to LMSD; Superintendent’s Cottage 3 acres to LMSD

??

Ellis Ramsey’s Willow Cottage demolished?

2022

Black Rock Middle School opens on Clairemont