Page 21 - Allisons Magazine Issue #95

PHILADELPHIA'S FAIRMOUNT PARK IS
the largest landscaped urban park system
in the world. From the steps of the art
museum to the banks of the Schuylkill
River, the park spans about 10,000 acres
across the city. Several houses, or villas,
are the jewels in the park’s crown. Built
in the 1700s and 1800s by affluent
Philadelphians as summer retreats from
the city’s heat, today they are popular
year-round destinations—especially
HOMES FOR during the holidays. For almost a
half century, the mansions have been
festively decorated for a seasonal event
THE HOLIDAY now dubbed A Very Philly Christmas.

Open through December 31, the homes
written by james mcclelland | photography by elijah lee reeder are a holiday must-see in the city.

Among these jewels is Lemon Hill,
not far from the iconic Philadelphia
Museum of Art and Boathouse Row.
Philadelphia merchant Henry Pratt
built this stately summer villa in
1800 on property formerly owned by
Revolutionary War financier Robert
Morris, who eventually went bankrupt
and lost his property.

Pratt had the villa designed in the
neoclassical style. It features graceful oval
rooms with carved doors and fireplaces
on each of its three floors and is named
for the lemon trees that Pratt grew in his
greenhouses. Although the greenhouses
no longer exist, the lemon trees do and
were decorated for the 2017 holidays;
they were just one of many types of
Christmas trees found in the mansion,
including a grand tree decorated in gold
ornaments. Lemon Hill also featured
a child-sized ice sculpture reindeer in
2017, resting by a sleigh.

Drive a few miles north and you’ll reach
Laurel Hill Mansion. A widow named
Rebecca Rawle inherited the property
in 1761 and later married Loyalist and
Philadelphia mayor Samuel Shoemaker;
The parlor at Woodford Mansion.

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