location

424 North Sydbury Lane, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania 19096. Wynnewood is a suburban community located outside of Philadelphia in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Wynnewood was named in 1691 for Dr. Thomas Wynne, William Penn’s physician and the first Speaker of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Wynnewood is one of the neighborhoods on the Pennsylvania Main Line

The Main Line is an unofficial historical and socio-cultural region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along the former Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which runs northwest from downtown Philadelphia with station stops at Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr.

The railroad connected the Main Line towns in the 19th century that were home to sprawling country estates belonging to Philadelphia's wealthiest families. Today, the Main Line includes some of the wealthiest communities in the country, including Wynnewood, Bryn Mawr, Gladwyne and Villanova.

Across the street from Sydbury is the estate Inwood occupied by publishing and philanthropy legends Walter and Lenore Annenberg until it was sold to Mr. Jeffery Lurie in 2007.

HISTORY OF THE SYDBURY MANSION - “The Gilded Age”  

Directly next door to 424 Sydbury is the 1906 Sydbury mansion. Marriott Smyth commissioned the venerable Philadelphia architectural firm of Furness, Evans & Company.

The land had been part of a property called St. Mary’s Farm owned by Harry Shoch, just across Cherry Lane from the larger, 167-acre holding of Louis Wister. Following the Smyths, in the early 1920s the house came into the hands of Walter H. Lippincott and his wife Edith D’Olier, who renamed their home Sydbury House.

The house subsequently became the home of William Lippard McLean, Jr., who had succeeded his father as publisher of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. McLean’s father had purchased the newspaper in the late 19th century and transformed it into "the most profitable evening newspaper ever published in this city or state," according to a 1941 account, with a circulation that at one point topped a half million.

In 1968, the McLean’s had a new house built for them on a corner of the property. In the late 1980s, the land around the old house was subdivided into 14 lots that became sites for new houses designed by architect Lyman Perry. The McLean family reserved two building sites, 424 and 425 Sydbury Lane, which are now being offered for sale. The site preserved approximately six-acres of open space and is visible as you enter the site lending an open feeling to the entire site. 

homeowners association

The HOA maintains a full-time grounds keeper. The HOA also removes snow and maintains the private Road. HOA fees are currently $1,375 per quarter. The Conservation Area on 425 Sydbury is private and may not be accessed by the general public or any other Sydbury lot owner and is subject only to the provisions of the Conservation Agreement (Sec. 9.1.5), except for maintenance to the pump station