Wayne History : Estates : Panhurst

Panhurst

Wayne, North Wayne Ave.
1902
Destroyed by fire; land currently Church of the Saviour

Panhurst, the LeBoutillier estate, was one Wayne estate that was also an operating farm. Dairy cows at Panhurst supplied the milk needs of Wayne and some surrounding areas. The main mansion of Panhurst was built of brick with cement decorations in the 17th-Century Dutch style. These decorations included carved faces and ornate spires at the tops of the gables. The estate, built on about 100 acres, also had several outbuildings, including a gatehouse, a guesthouse, a garden shed and shelters for the animals, all in the same brick style. There was even a brick duck house. There were also many greenhouses on the estate, one of them devoted entirely to grapes. Of all Panhurst’s buildings, only the gatehouse and garden shed remain. One prominent feature of Panhurst was the Japanese gardens, which were actually across North Wayne Ave. from the rest of the estate. The gardens had a pond, an amphitheater and a small Japanese-style pagoda. One memory about the estate which several people remember is the fireworks which would be held there every Fourth of July. In the late 1930s Henry and Dorothy LeBoutillier took over the farm, converting it to a truck farm. Vegetable deliveries were made from the farm by truck and bicycle, and a produce stand was erected on North Wayne Ave. Henry and Dorothy lived in the gate house, while the working staff lived in the main house. The main house was destroyed by fire in the 1960’s. Most of the land remains intact as a whole, owned by the Church of the Saviour. The gardens across the street remain as gardens, as part of a private residence.

1914: Panhurst built
193?: Panhurst becomes truck farm
196?: Main house destroyed by fire

Click on the images to see larger versions



From "Radnor: A Pictorial History"	From "Radnor: A Pictorial History"	From "Radnor: A Pictorial History"

Sources: