Historic Painter's Folly in Pennsylvania set for online auction: "Somebody could really love this place"

A historic Pennsylvania property with connections to renowned artist Andrew Wyeth could soon have a new owner.

Painter's Folly, located on Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, is scheduled to be sold through an online auction on Oct. 22. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the property once housed an art school run by renowned illustrator Howard Pyle.

"It was built in 1858 by [Quaker farmer] Samuel Painter, who, ironically, was not a painter himself," Kathleen Goodier, vice chair of the Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors, said.

Chadds Ford Township leaders bought the house in 2018 to protect it from development.

Goodier said the cost of maintaining the aging property has become too expensive.

"It's an old house and the ceilings are very high," Goodier said. "It takes a lot to heat this house. There's no air conditioning, so it needs to be ventilated."

She hopes a new owner will see the home's potential.

"It needs someone to breathe life back into it," Goodier said. "And I think that somebody could really love this place."

The sale has raised concerns among preservationists about what will happen to the home's historic contents, including a marble statue of the Marquis de Lafayette, an eagle-carved settee and a grandfather clock once owned by the Wanamaker family. The items will be sold separately from the property.

Emma Leuschner, co-founder of the Painter's Folly Preservation Alliance, is worried about the fate of the items and the possibility that the public could lose access to a place with a long artistic history.

"It could be closed to the public forever if it goes into private hands," Leuschner said, "and that will be the last time anybody is able to be in the building."

The hope is that the home's next chapter will honor its history and preserve its legacy.