Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: July 1992 Volume 30 Number 3, Pages 101–106

The Episcopal Academy Campus at Devon

Steve Dittman with comments by John Haas and James Quinn

• Some Notes on Sources

Page 101

I am going to begin by looking at the big picture and what I consider the underlying theme in the Episcopal Academy's addition of a second campus in 1974, at Waterloo Mills, near Devon, in Easttown Township. Actually, I struggled a bit to determine what this theme really is, and discovered that there are really three themes.

The site was donated to the Episcopal Academy by Mr. and Mrs. John C. Haas -- so one of the themes is obviously the generosity of individuals when it comes time to support charities and educational institutions.

Another theme could be the impact of population movement -- I call this theme the westward migration. This, of course, involves not only the adult population, but also the school-age children in the family.

The third theme we should consider concerns not the school so much as the land which it is on. That piece of property has been the subject of very bitter land development disputes, according to Gene Williams, the township manager, and to some of the records. So we'll call this last theme land use. A school, like a golf course, can be considered a method of land development that contributes to the preservation of open space.

I want you to think about these three themes as I begin this history, because having an idea of the bigger picture sometimes helps to fit in the details. At the end I will also tell you a little bit about my approach to getting more information about a subject that I thought I knew something about until I went out and did some homework!

Page 102

"Bjoren Holm",now the Devon campus of Episcopal Academy

The campus in Devon was opened in 1974, surrounded by a rural setting. As Charles Latham Jr., in his History of Episcopal Academy : 1785-1984, described it, "It was on a rural, residential stretch of Waterloo Road, just at the crossing of a small stream. The stone building, in Tudor style, was at the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful stretch of countryside. The grounds included both a wooded area and open spaces which eventually could be developed into playing fields."

The campus there was a satellite school, originally encompassing three primary grades and a kindergarten. Among the original thirty-seven students were six girls, and the opening of the Devon campus was a real catalyst in the establishment of co-education at Episcopal Academy. (It was not until early the next year, in fact, that the Trustees officially accepted a committee recommendation that co-education "proceed grade by grade until all grades became coeducational in 1983-1984", with girl students to be "actively recruited" to achieve, ultimately, a "desirable ratio of three boys to one girl". The first co-ed graduate was in the Class of 1985.)

The growth of this school in the "stone house at the top of a hill", as Latham had described the campus, was such that by 1988 the enrollment had quadrupled -- to 123 students in grades kindergarten through six. During this same period, to accommodate these students in 1976 two steel buildings at the Merion campus of the school were moved to Devon to provide space for three classrooms and a science laboratory, and in 1980 an all-purpose building, with a basketball floor, locker rooms, and additional space, was started and ready for use early the following year.

Last fall, in October 1991, ground was broken in am ambitious new building program that will provide classroom space in the fall of 1992 for double sections of the kindergarten and first grade, a pre-school program, and an overall capacity for 200 students. And by the year 200--? To accommodate the educational philosophy of the school, the new building will be made up of what are called "pods", a cluster-type design.

But to get back to the "stone house at the top of a hill". According to the donors of the property, John C. and Chara Cooper Haas, a family named Bjoren, pronounced "Byron", built the mansion in the 1920s.

Page 103

Bjoren was a financier, one imagines before the stock market crash in 1929, who apparently achieved success in the market and then sold out. He established this summer home in Easttown Township, which he named "Bjoren Holm", or "the house of Bjoren", in the Norwegian language.

After Bjoren died in 1940 his widow remained in the house there, and the estate, which comprised several outbuildings and a stable in addition to the mansion, in fact, was kept intact up to the 1970s. However, after Mrs. Bjoren died, in the 1960s, development threatened, although no developer actually broke ground.

What happened is that a potential developer would take what is called a "right to develop" on the property, but he did not own it or enter into an agreement of sale. In the meantime, its potential development was the subject of an extended court case and litigation in the Chester County Court, and later on in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The issues had to do with zoning and the right to develop the property intensively. (Incidentally, the township, Easttown Township, won the case.)

After Mrs. Bjoren's death the property was bought by the Bensing family, who rented it to what has been described as "a bevy of bachelors". (According to one neighbor, Mrs. Stewart Winner, many great parties were held there!) The renters, however, for some reason later left the area, and in 1968 the property was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Haas.

[Haas: For a few years between 1968 and 1973 we leased the mansion to the Pathway School. This school, for learning disabled children, is now located on Egypt Road in Jeffersonville.]

[Quinn: We knew that sometime between the time that the Bjorens lived in the house and the time it was given to us by the Haases there had been a school there, because when we got it there was a fire escape, and also fire doors, in the mansion. So there must have been some sort of boarding school on the property between those dates -- but it was not there when we first looked at it.]

At about this time, in the early 1970s, the Episcopal Academy was beginning to look at the Tarleton School as a possible addition to the school. Jim Quinn, the headmaster at that time, along with the Trustees, was in the process of looking at an expansion program to pick up or accomodate, the western migration of private school students that had taken place'after the second World War.

This, incidentally, would not be the first time that the Episcopal Academy expanded westward. In Latham's history of the Academy he talks about its move from Philadelphia, where it was originally located, out to the Merion campus on City Line Avenue in the 1920s. (By coincidence, this happened to be at about the same time that Bjoren was building his summer house on Waterloo Road.)

The Episcopal Academy had been in the city, in Philadelphia, since 1785, in various locations.

Page 104

By way of a little background, the school was first located at 6th and Chestnut streets, then moved to 3rd and Pear streets, then had another location at 9th and Locust streets, and then moved to Juniper and Locust streets, where it stayed until 1921, when the Trustees saw signs of western migration.

Now what happened in 1921? Here is a quotation from the Board Minutes, as reported in Latham's history, having to do with the church as well as the school: "The Church must not desert the City," one member asserted. "It is easy to talk about the trend to the country, but when due allowance is made for this, it remains true in the city there are vast masses of people whose problems are city problems, who cannot live in the country. No matter how rapidly life developes, this will be the case for at least a generation, perhaps forever, that congested populations will be found in the cities. ... It seems to me that this proposal to take the Academy out of town is exactly on the same plane as would be the country Cathedral or the country Hospital. ... Plainly the conditions need changing. But this ought not to mean removing to the country unless the Church is once more to admit defeat" and so on and so forth.

But while this was the sentiment of some members of the Board, it appears it was not the prevailing sentiment, and the school was moved out of the city, to the Merion complex, in 1921.

[Quinn: Fortunately, I don't think there was any controversy or similar sentiment at the time of the move to Devon, or that the idea was opposed as being "too radical". The fact was that we were not drawing students, particularly the younger boys, from this area, even though other-schools, like Haverford, were. Also, we were discussing co-education -- and had been for several years -- and when John Haas said he would give us this land if we would become co-educational it gave us the final push. He was obviously much in favor of that. [*]

[We were lucky to find this place. I had been driving around this area for about a year and a half, looking for some property. Among those we had looked at was the Tarleton School property on Sugartown Road. It was a possibility, and the people who owned it were thinking of selling it. But it wasn't really what we were looking for. Then simply by dumb luck I stumbled onto this one. I happened to see a "FOR SALE" sign -- you couldn't see the property from the road, still can't, I guess -- and I drove up and saw this lovely house. I soon discovered that it belonged to John Haas. At first he was going to rent it to us, but then he gave it to us. It was conveyed to us on December 28, 1973. We were rushing around, getting all the documents signed before the end of the year.

Page 105

[One other thing we had in mind at that time, of course, was that the property on City Line in Merion was becoming a desirable commercial or residential location and property. Once we got this gift of 30 acres out in Devon there was a possibility that someday the whole school would move out here. But I don't think that is going to happen now. The times have changed. St. Joseph's College now protects us on three sides, and I do not think we are going to move out from there.

[But it is wonderful out here. It is a completely different kind of atmosphere -- woodsy, rural.]

As some of you may know, the Montgomery School did, in fact, move, and is now out on Route 113 near Chester Springs. It used to be -- when I was growing up -- in Wynnewood and had been at that campus for a number of years. Ironically, before the move to Merion, Episcopal was thinking of merging with the Montgomery School and using its Wynnewood campus as a way to meet the problem of western migration.

One last historical note: while this is called the Devon campus, it is actually at Waterloo Mills. With the assistance of the Librarian at the Easttown Library I photocopied from a small booklet on the history of Easttown a reference to Waterloo Mills: "Waterloo Mills in Easttown," it reported, "is named for Waterloo, Belgium, where the British won their greatest victory over Napoleon. This is also the name of the hamlet that grew up around the grist mill on Darby Creek after 1850." But while the hamlet is old, the house that the school is in is relatively recent.

Today, as is pointed out in a brochure published by the Academy, "The Devon Campus serves a growing population in the Chester County /western Main Line area and provides Episcopal's Merion Campus with an additional source of excellent students. With 34 acres of beautiful countryside, a new multi-purpose facility, and a comfortable stone school building ["the stone house at the top of a hill"], the Devon Campus offers numerous opportunities for enriching learning experiences."

You are welcome to walk around the Devon campus, and along its nature trail, dedicated to the Class of 1997 and to a former faculty member, William Sargent. On the trail there are 47 different species of trees and wildflowers, and it is quite an interesting place to visit. At the same time, you can also see the construction work that is going on now as the school prepares for the future.

* On this point, in a letter to me John Haas wrote: "In our discussions with Jim Quinn, we indicated that one factor which would please us if the gift were made would be that the Devon facilities would be co-ed. I don't recall that it was a 'condition' but Jim may have interpreted it that way. Anyway, that fitted into the strategic planning that was going on at that time for both the Devon and Merion campuses." SD

Some Notes on Sources

First, my sources included some interviews I had. I called Jim Quinn and talked with him over the telephone, about how the property came to be used as a summer home, and then was acquired by Mr. Haas and eventually passed on to the school. I also called Betsy Morgan, whose parents used to live at Waterloo Mills, just across the street from where the Devon campus of Episcopal Academy is located now.

Page 106

I also talked with Gene Williams, the township manager in Easttown Township, who told me some things that reminded me that there had been quite a dispute over the property, then known as the Bensing tract, in the 1960s. I have the impression that John Haas, when he bought the property, was sort of a "white knight" and the savior of a property that otherwise would have been developed into many, many townhouses.

Then I looked at written documents and books. Almost any organization you are researching probably has -- perhaps in a self-serving way -- its own history book. But in this case the history of the Episcopal Academy by Charles Latham Jr., a former history teacher at the school, was very well researched. (It was distributed to all the alumni back in 1985, I believe.)

I also went over to the school and took some brochures, and a postcard with an architect's drawing of the campus to be. (When I picked up the material from the school Cannie Shafer, who is the head of the Devon campus, was kind enough to interrupt the first grade class to show me the original carved wooden fireplace with the name "Bjoren Holm" on it. There are a number of bears and bulls carved in the wood and one can speculate that they represented the bears and bulls of the financial market that enabled Mr. Bjoren to build his summer home out in Easttown seventy years or so ago.)

I also went to the Recorder of Deeds in the court house in West Chester to make a deed search, and was able to confirm that the school owns 30.4 acres of ground, and that it was transferred to Episcopal in December 1973 (although the deed was not recorded until early the following year) by John Haas and his wife, who had bought it in 1968. (During this deed search, incidentally, I traced the property back even further, to an Edward Gallagher; on the so-called "railroad map" in the Easttown Library it was shown as the Gallagher estate.)

And, finally, I copied from the deed book what is called a tax map. From it you can find out officially who owns any property at the present time, and it showed that Episcopal owns 30 acres of land surrounded on three sides by land still retained by the Haases, on which, according to Bill Sellers, the Brandywine Conservancy now has an easement, over the watershed of the Darby Creek that runs through the area.