WPP Speaker Series – The Willows Park Preserve and its Neighbors

Join Jeff Groff at the Willows Mansion for a fun and engaging look at the Willows and its Neighbors on Tuesday, August 30th.

This illustrated talk tells the story of The Willows (originally called Rose Garland when built), the families who owned it over the years, and its architect Charles Barton Keen. This area really was the gold coast for great Main Line country places and the talk will highlight neighboring estates such as Dunminning, Ravenscliff, Happy Creek Farm, Hothorpe, and Inver House.

There will be a wine and cheese reception starting at 5:00pm. Jeff’s presentation will begin at 6pm.

Space is limited!

Jeff Groff recently retired as Estate Historian at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. He also had served as Director of Public Programs, and then as Director of Interpretation. For sixteen years he was Executive Director of Wyck Historic House and Garden in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. He directed the Osterville Historical Society on Cape Cod, and early in his career was Registrar/Asst. Curator at the Philadelphia Maritime Museum (now Independence Seaport). A graduate of Bates College where he majored in history, he holds an MA from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture of the University of Delaware.

For over forty-five years he has studied and lectured on American country houses and gardens, particularly those of Philadelphia’s “Main Line” and surrounding areas, with an emphasis on country life and sports, and gentleman farming.

He served as co-curator of Winterthur’s very successful exhibitions “Costumes of Downton Abbey” and “Costuming The Crown.”