1922
Oakwell Mansion
08
William Bodine
Samuel Bodine’s son, Lieutenant and then Captain William W. Bodine (1887-1959) had been 13 years old when his parents purchased Stoneleigh. He was later educated at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. He served overseas with the 149th Field Artillery, Battery A. Captain Bodine received the American Distinguished Service Cross for “gallant conduct in standing on top of his battery exposed to the enemy’s fire and coolly directing the suppression of a fire which had broken out in the camouflage due to the enemy’s projectiles.” He was wounded in action just days before the war’s end on November 18, 1918, and later served in the National Guard (1920-1937), achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
In “Philadelphia in the World War, 1914-1919", Captain Bodine was quoted as saying “"The Champagne Defense of July 11-17, 1918, was the heaviest defensive engagement of the division, and to the minds of many of us the most important, because the success of this defense rendered possible the Ainse-Marne offensive.” Captain Bodine’s division was praised by French Generals and Colonels for “valor, ardor and its spirit” against the German offensive, and “high sense of duty...and superb courage.”
After his 1919 discharge from military service, William Bodine began preparations for an estate to be carved out of the northwest corner of his family’s Stoneleigh homestead. The residence was designed by William Wayne Jr. in the Tudor Revival style.
Tudor Revival took the style of English vernacular architecture of the Middle Ages. Here at Oakwell you can see grand stone fireplaces, dark wood paneling and wainscoting, exposed decorative timbers on ceilings, arched doorways, half-timbering in their upper storeys and gables, tall ornamental chimneys.
Working with Olmsted Brothers, William Bodine planned a driveway from County Line Rd. designed to navigate the cluster of oak trees on this part of the property, leading to a mansion where he would live with his wife, Angela, and their two young sons Samuel and William, Jr. More children were to come in later years and like his father, William Jr served with distinction in the military (WWII), then when on to an impactful career like his father and grandfather before him. By 1922, newspapers were regularly reporting on the Bodines of “Oakwell,” the name of this property for the last 100 years.
Oakwell is home to one of the largest collections of "Mercer tiles" from Henry Mercer's Moravian Pottery and Tile Works of Doylestown, Pa. The residence has original woodwork, windows, servant stairs, call boxes, wiring and plumbing. Originally, there was a servant's wing on the second floor above the garage with six bedrooms. There is a sleeping porch off the main bedroom which would have been a cooler option for the Bodines on hot summer nights.
William W. Bodine Sr’s Oakwell mansion is listed as a Class II historic resource, protected under Lower Merion’s Historic Preservation Ordinance of 2000. It is not endangered at this time.
Specimens of Note
There are three Dawn Redwoods on the left side of the driveway as you approached the walled area. Dawn Redwoods were rediscovered in 1944 as a fossil that scientists reasoned were related to the Giant Sequoia and Coast Redwood. The scientific name, "metasequoia" to show that it is related. These are deciduous conifers who lose their needles annually.
As you approached this stop on the tour, you also many conifers that are younger than 100 years old on both sides of the driveway. There are cultivars of the European Beech such as the fern leaf with its serrated, thread-like leaves, the weeping beech with its pendulous branches and the weeping atlas. The owner of this property during the 1980s altered the driveway and is said to have added many conifers to this collection.
Notice the tree in the circle in front of Oakwell Mansion. This is a Persian Ironwood, an ornamental tree from Iran.
Walk through the porte cochere, the covered entrance for vehicles. Now we will walk down the hill towards a fenced garden. Our tour now goes back in time, before William Bodine's return from war and construction of Oakwell, to tell a story of stewardship and philanthropy. Stop in front of the white picket fence where we continue our tour.
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