A long-neglected relic of a bygone era is about to begin a new life as a wedding venue, starting with an open house on Jan. 11 and 12.
The public event at the Alden Villa mansion (1012 Alden Way) follows a multi-year, multi-million-dollar restoration by owner Harvey Turner, who bought the property in 2021.
The late 19th century was the Gilded Age, a time of booming economic growth and materialistic excess, and Lebanon County was a part of it.
In 1881, Anne Coleman Alden, of the county’s wealthy Coleman family, wanted a special wedding gift for her son, Robert Percy Alden and his new bride, Mary Ida Warren.
She commissioned renowned architect Stanford White to design a mansion and had it built on a 5,000-acre estate outside Cornwall. As the years passed, Millwood Mansion became a summer retreat for the Alden family.
The Gilded Age didn’t last, the Coleman family left Lebanon County, and palatial residences such as Millwood became too expensive to maintain and staff.
A labor union bought the property in 1949 and used it as an education and vacation center for its members. Declining membership led the union to unsuccessfully look for a buyer in the 1980s.
Plans for a nursing home and a Coleman family museum fell through. For decades the building lay empty and deteriorating, visited only by vandals who weren’t deterred by boarded windows and doors. A residential development in the early 21st century left the mansion on only 500 acres of the original 5,000.
At a recent tour of the restored mansion and grounds, Turner, who has restored and managed properties in Lancaster County, described his vision.
“We’re going to do a wedding venue, a bed & breakfast (for wedding parties), a small restaurant and coffee shop,” he said. “We plan on finishing the bedrooms this winter, and we hope to have a Pennsylvania wine and beer license for people to enjoy the patio.”
Energy costs weren’t a consideration in the 1890s, so the building was originally un-insulated and heated by nine fireplaces. That had to change, Turner noted.
“We cut holes in all the wall panels and sprayed in foam insulation. We foamed the whole house and installed a natural gas, zoned heating system because there would never be a way you could afford to heat this place nowadays.”
Turner’s passion for the mansion and its history is evident. He built an addition at the building’s rear designed to match the original mansion’s architecture and blend smoothly with the main house.
Since the mansion was almost empty when he bought it, Turner has searched the country for furnishings and decorations that fit the design. “All the antiques are period correct,” he said.
Opening timeline
Nichole Stauffer, Alden Villa’s director of operations, told LebTown that the facility will begin hosting weddings in May, but will open for private indoor events, such as bridal and baby showers, birthdays, and reunions, starting in April. The coffee shop is set to open sometime in the spring, but a date hasn’t been set. At some point in the future, the mansion could also serve as a bed and breakfast for wedding parties.
Open house details
Alden Villa’s open house will be held on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on Sunday, Jan. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Local historians will be present to discuss the mansion’s history. The event is open to the public, and there will be no admission charge.
Alden Villa – Millwood Mansion is at 1012 Alden Way near Cornwall.
About Alden Villa’s architect
Stanford White is regarded as one of America’s greatest 19th-century architects. Alden Villa is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is believed to be White’s only building in Pennsylvania.
His designs included New York City’s Washington Square Arch, the restored University of Virginia Rotunda, after it was destroyed by fire, a number of Gilded Age mansions, and the second Madison Square Garden.
It was at Madison Square Garden that White’s career, and his life, ended in a moment of architectural irony.
Often described as “flamboyant,” White was reputed to be a womanizer and sexually unconventional. In 1906, he was shot to death during a performance at the rooftop theater of the building he designed. His killer was Harry Thaw, who believed White had drugged and carried on an affair with his wife, starting when she was 16. Thaw was charged with murder but found not guilty by reason of insanity in what New York media described as “the trial of the century.”
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