The expansion is an unusual second chapter for Stoneleigh, which was converted to a free public garden in 2016 when the family that owned the estate gifted it to Natural Lands.
The Lower Merion School District bought the 13-acre Oakwell property from three private homeowners in 2018. Natural Lands will buy 10 acres to add to Stoneleigh and the remaining three acres will be passed to the Wyncote Foundation. For Stoneleigh, the leap from 42 to 52 acres is more than an expansion.
Because of public concern about the possible loss of the property’s historic landscape and buildings, plans were later changed. It means the re-establishment of a link that was lost generations ago. The expansion was not an easy journey by any means. The district had intended to use the land for athletic fields related to plans for a nearby middle school. Five years after the purchase of Oakwell, the school district began to explore options with Natural Lands. Finally, the discussions resulted in a compromise which would save much of the property. This includes Oakwell Hall, which the foundation plans to restore and preserve. The story of Oakwell’s preservation is testimony to the strength of community engagement in saving historic landscapes. Rather than becoming school athletic fields, the property will remain mostly a free public garden, and the historic mansion will have a future devoted to preservation. When the new acreage is prepared, visitors will find a landscape that is less like two properties side by side and more like what it was once: a single historic estate, now becoming a public garden for generations to come.