159 Bewley Road (101 Tenby Road)
4 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms
Built in 2015 in modern suburban style
159 Bewley Road is perhaps the most controversial house ever to be built in Llanerch. It was built in 2015 by builder Rick Fuller, who faced a variety of legal challenges in order to build the property. Prior to his construction, it was 101 Tenby Road. Following its destruction, the land was split between a lot for 159 Bewley Road, where the house is located, and 101 Tenby Road, which is now an empty lawn adjoined to the house.
Inhabitants
| Names | Years |
|---|---|
| Charles Taylor | c. 1901–at least 1905 |
| John Morton Brown & Isadora Platt Brown | 1905–at least 1915 |
| John Notley Ake & Olive Patchkin Ake | c. 1930–1939 at the latest |
| Walter Dustin Kallenbach and Shelburne Wyly Kallenbach | c. 1940 |
| Dr. Thomas Dowd and Margaret Lyons Dowd | c. 1950–at least 1959 |
| Frank Bove & Isabelle Maguire Bove | c. 1967–1969 |
| Anthony Massimiano | c. 1969 |
| Richard A. Fisher, Sr. | c. 1973 |
| Peter Schwarz & Diane Schwarz | c. 1987 |
| William Deal & Diane Campbell Deal | c. 2001–2014 |
History
It was purchased by Rick Fuller for demolition in 2014, citing that the damages on the interior were irreparable for anything even close to cost-effective. Several prospective buyers came throughout the years to purchase the property, and all were quoted with incredibly high repair costs due to both cosmetic and potential structural damages that needed to be fixed before a new family would move in. Residents of Llanerch got in a legal battle with Fuller under the moniker “Save 101 Tenby Road”. The original plan was to build 2 houses, but the deed only listed “one house and one stable”, so 159 Bewley Road was built with a large fenced field to its left for where 161 Bewley Road would have sat.
101 Tenby Road in its original state prior to destruction, as viewed from both the front (on Tenby road) and the side (on Bewley Road)
The land was probably purcahsed by Charles Taylor around 1901, and the home was build atop of it in 1905. It was originally a 5 or 6 bedroom house: a beautiful post-Victorian style estate. It was then sold to the Brown family for $6,175. they lived on the land at least at the time of wife Isadora's death in 1915.
1910 census: Manufacturer J. Morton is living with his wife and Irish maid.
| Name | Age | Relation to Head of Household |
|---|---|---|
| J. Morton Brown | 55 | Head |
| Isadora P. Brown | 54 | Wife |
| Mary Marshall | 34 | Servant |
1930 census: John Ake, of Irish descent, is living with his wife and Czechoslovak maid Mary.
| Name | Age | Relation to Head of Household |
|---|---|---|
| John N. Ake | 70 | Head |
| Olive P. Ake | 65 | Wife |
| Mary Soltis | 35 | Servant |
and in another unit of the house is Thomas, a marine transporter, his wife, and their maid of African-American descent from Maryland.
| Name | Age | Relation to Head of Household |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas J. Donnelly | 45 | Head |
| Elsie C. Donnelly | 39 | Wife |
| Naomi E. Evans | 23 | Servant |
John died in 1932 (buried in Arlington cemetery), and the house was listed as being for sale in January 1939.
1940 census: Walter, the head of household, is a minister from Massachusetts, and his wife was born in Kentucky. They're living with their daughters, nephew, and maid.
| Name | Age | Relation to Head of Household |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Kallenbach | 34 | Head |
| Shelburne Kallenbach | 32 | Wife |
| Shelburne Kallenbach | 4 | Daughter |
| Marcia Kallenbach | 1 | Daughter |
| Robert Wyly | 16 | Nephew |
| Jennie Yohe | 38 | Maid |
1950 census: Dr. Thomas is living there with his wife, children, and maid.
| Name | Age | Relation to Head of Household |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas M D Dowd | 43 | Head |
| Margaret Dowd | 40 | Wife |
| Margaret Dowd | 12 | Daughter |
| Mary Dowd | 9 | Daughter |
| Kathleen Dowd | 7 | Daughter |
| Thomas F. Dowd | 5 | Son |
| Gertrude Welsh | 30 | Maid |
Margaret (née Lyons) was the daughter of a minister, Rev. Daniel J. Lyons of St. Peter's Church, Riverside, NJ. Thomas died in 1959, and was the chief physician for the Philadelphia Eagles as an athlete himself.
Delaware County Daily Times, February 24th, 1959, page 20
By 1967, Frank Bove, who had lived there for an unclear amount of time, died. He was a church architect & builder.
Philadelphia Inquirer, May 10th, 1967, page 36
By 1969, It was reported that a gang of 4 youths from Philadelphia, Italian & Jewish, broke into the cellar of 101 Tenby Road, witnessed by the Boves' daughter, Joan Carol. They were fined $25 for disorderly conduct.
Delaware County Daily Times, April 18th, 1969, page 3
That summer, Joan was married to Joseph F. Chalmers, and Isabella sold the house in November to Anthony Massimiano for $25,000.
In 1973, Richard A. Fisher, Sr. is listed as living at the address, and by February 1976 (and until at least March of that year), it is listed for sale for $74,500. It went up for sale again in 1986 for $200,000 and was eventually purchased by Peter Schwartz
Schwarz was sued in 1987 after many local residents of Llanerch complained that he was operating a business out of a residential area. He was banned from parking all of his trucks at the property. They were so upset they just decided to move.
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 18th, 1987, page 430
This lead to a sign being erected, which prohibits commercial vehicles from being parked anywhere on the block or near the intersection.
By the year 2000s, the home was lived in by Bill & Diane Deal. Diane passed away around 2012 and Bill was the one to sell the house to Rick Fuller for development into a new home, as there were no buyers throughout the years who could afford to purchase the house for a reasonable price and then make all the necessary repairs. The house was then demolished, all the property's trees were cut down, and construction concluded, whereupon it was purchased by its current residents.
Drama/News article on the Havertownies Website
Drama/News article on the Delco Times