Historical Photo Location Revealed

Ardmore patch.com, PA
Aug 26 2012

Historical Photo Location Revealed

Read on to learn the history of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Armenian
Apostolic Church.

By Amanda Mahnke

This week’s photo challenge was an easy one – particularly if you’re up
on the history of famous Main Line mansions. The building in the c.
1900 photograph we posted on Monday is Ballytore Castle, the former
home of department store founder Isaac Clothier. The building is
currently St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church.

Ballytore, located on Wynnewood Road near Lancaster Avenue, was built
for the Strawbridge & Clothier founder in 1885 by Addison Hutton, who
also designed much of the Bryn Mawr and Haverford College campuses,
according to the Lower Merion Historical Society.

Clothier lived in Ballytore until his death in 1921. In 1933, the
building was rented to the Agnes Irwin School, and the school
purchased the building in 1936. In 1963, the building was purchased by
St. Sahag & St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church.

For a more extensive history of Ballytore, read Ardmore Patch’s
feature on the building.

We had four guesses for our historical photo challenge this week, and
all of them were right. Kudos to Patch users Jack Kerr, Mildred
Roberts, Kurt Gutzler and Kit Grundstein for getting the location
correct.

Check back Monday for a new historical photo challenge.

About this column: A series of posts highlighting moments in the
history of Ardmore, Merion, Wynnewood and Haverford.