Alden Villa owner says its future is uncertain due to pending HOA litigation

Alden Villa, the mansion in Cornwall recently renovated back to its historic standing, is facing an uncertain future due to pending litigation brought by a neighboring homeowners’ association, according to the building’s owner, Harvey Turner.

Turner, starting about four years ago, used millions of dollars to restore the property with the intention of making a bed and breakfast and wedding venue. He said he is about $1.5 million over budget, and it costs about $5,000 per month just to keep the place running.

But an easement agreement signed 20 years ago by the previous owners of each property may prevent Turner from using the mansion as a wedding venue.

The easement includes 21 permitted uses, and a wedding venue isn’t one of them.

Turner said some of the permitted uses include church activities and restaurants, which can also host weddings. He said a wedding venue would help recoup the money it takes to maintain the property, but it likely wouldn’t fully cover the mortgage.

The Northgate at Alden Place Community Association is suing Turner for violating the easement agreement, and they want him to stop advertising and using the mansion as a wedding venue.

The case currently is on appeal in the Pennsylvania Superior Court. In the meantime, Turner is not allowed to schedule or host weddings.

An easement gives someone the right to use another’s property for a limited purpose, such as a road allowing access to and from a landlocked property and a public highway. The owner granting the easement still owns the road, but cannot interfere with the grantee’s right to use it. In most cases, the easement lives on, even after one or both sell their property.

The easement at the heart of the dispute was created in 2006 by a written agreement between the previous owners of the HOA property and the company that sold Turner the Alden Villa property. It gives Alden Villa’s owner the perpetual right to use two roadways over the HOA’s property, one of which allows access to state Route 419.

But, the easement agreement limits Alden Villa’s use of the roadways to “only those uses currently permitted in the Planned Development Zoning District of Cornwall Borough.” The HOA says that a wedding venue is not one of those uses, and wants the court to declare that the roadways can’t be used for that purpose.

On March 25, 2025, Lebanon County President Judge John C. Tylwalk issued a preliminary injunction barring the roadways’ use to support a wedding venue until a final resolution of the lawsuit.

Turner has appealed the preliminary injunction to the state Superior Court, which has not said when it may make a decision. When it does, the lawsuit will likely return to Lebanon County court for a final ruling on whether the easements can be used for a wedding venue.

Turner took to Facebook to post videos saying he isn’t sure what’s in store for the mansion since he is paying for legal representation and fees. He told LebTown he has spent about $300,000 on legal and engineering fees so far.

Beyond the Facebook comments in support of Turner, he said he’s also received phone calls, including ones from Cornwall Borough and a state representative, about how they can help. Someone started an online fundraising campaign, and Turner said the coffee shop has been packed since he posted the videos.

The nearby housing development’s builder, according to Turner, sold some properties at a higher price based on the promise there would be no further growth into the woods where Alden Villa sits, so these homeowners weren’t expecting the increased traffic and noise that would come with a wedding venue.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it. I didn’t build the community. I didn’t build the houses close to the right-of-way,” Turner said in one of his Facebook videos. “I just bought a mansion I’m trying to save for the community that everybody can enjoy.”

The HOA suing Turner claims these unapproved weddings would include loud music and announcements, which would disrupt the development’s residents — especially those who paid extra to have a lot adjacent to the mansion.

Rose Anne Steckbeck, president of the Northgate at Alden Place Community Association, said she is limited in what she can tell LebTown.

“Our attorney said that the only thing that I can really say is that the association does not comment on pending litigation,” she said. “However, we have repeatedly sought to engage Mr. Turner in discussions to address the matter through counsel, and they have refused repeated requests. That’s what I’m allowed to say.”

Steckbeck said she can’t speak for the rest of the HOA, but she believes he did a “beautiful job” on the Alden Villa.

Turner said he’s optimistic that the court will decide in his favor. Steckbeck said she could not comment on how she or the HOA felt about the legal proceedings.