Lansdowne Park Historic District

A compact residential district of 106 buildings on about thirty-three acres in Lansdowne borough, developed on farmland that had been worked since the early eighteenth century. The oldest surviving building is the Dickinson farmhouse at 12 Owen Avenue, built in two sections in 1732 and 1790. Most of the district dates from 1889 to 1912, when the Pennsylvania Railroad's improved service made the site attractive to Philadelphia business owners and professionals. Homer C. Stewart and Edward A. Price laid out the lots, and William H. Free designed many of the houses. The result is the largest and most cohesive group of Queen Anne middle-class houses in Delaware County, with twins and singles on uniform setbacks, fishscale gables, turrets, and porches. Eighteen Dutch Colonial houses and examples of Romanesque Revival, Tudor and Shingle styles add variety. Of 106 buildings, 103 contribute to the district's character, and most retain their original form.