Radnor Hunt has played a vital role in the rural communities of Chester County and Delaware County for over 138 years by making available its land and buildings for public equestrian and land conservation activities.
Historic Buildings
1886-1931
1931 to present
Original Radnor Hunt Clubhouse
For its first forty-eight years, Radnor Hunt was based in Radnor Township in Delaware County. Around 1880, several foxhunters who lived in the area began hunting with a local Quaker farmer who kept a pack of hounds. In December 1883, these sportsmen formally established Radnor Hunt. In September 1886 the Radnor Hunt was officially incorporated and a month later the club purchased a property near the intersection of Goshen and Darby-Paoli Roads in the southern part of the township. The tract included an eighteenth-century farmhouse that was converted into the Hunt clubhouse by the firm of Furness, Evans & Co., headed by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. New kennels, also designed by Furness, Evans & Co., were built a few years later. The property would serve as Radnor Hunt’s headquarters until 1931.
A gathering at the original Radnor Hunt clubhouse in 1894. Courtesy of Radnor Historical Society.
As part of the clubhouse renovations, Furness, Evans & Co. designed an addition to the farmhouse that featured a massive new fireplace. Completed in early 1887, the fireplace became the centerpiece of the club’s headquarters. Across the top of the fireplace, the club had a large terra cotta frieze depicting various hunting scenes installed. The artist was Philadelphia sculptor Jesse Godley (1862-1889), a student and later instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, who specialized in depicting animals. Prior to its installation at Radnor, Godley displayed parts of the frieze at the Academy’s Annual Exhibition in the spring of 1887. Only a fragment of the frieze has survived, that of a woman riding sidesaddle. There has been speculation over the years as to who the woman is, but her identity has been lost to history.
1887 view of the massive fireplace in the original Radnor Hunt clubhouse, showing the terra cotta frieze above. The fireplace was designed by Furness, Evans & Co. and the frieze by sculptor Jesse Godley. Photo courtesy of Radnor Historical Society
Detail from sculptor Jesse Godley’s entry form for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1887 Annual Exhibition, showing that he displayed “Fragments of a Frieze for the Radnor Hunt Club” at the Exhibition. Courtesy of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Archives.
The only surviving section of the frieze, depicting a woman riding sidesaddle. The fragment is now above another fireplace in the original Radnor Hunt building, now a private home. Photo courtesy of Margi Tucker DeTemple.
Charles E. Mather, Master of Foxhounds at Radnor from 1887 to 1901, stands in front of the fireplace. Photo courtesy of Radnor Historical Society
In 1915, Benjamin Chew, then Master of Foxhounds at Radnor, ordered a set of decorative tiles from the famous Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, for the fireplace hearth. Comprised of different colors, shapes, and sizes, the tiles provided a distinctive base for the magnificent fireplace. Of particular note, Chew ordered lettered tiles that spelled out RADNOR HUNT.
Current view of the fireplace with the hearth tiles made in 1915 by the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in the foreground. Photo by Jack McCarthy.
Detail of the fireplace hearth, showing part of RADNOR HUNT spelled out in the tiles. Photo courtesy of Margi Tucker DeTemple.
August 17, 1915, entry in a Moravian Pottery and Tiles Works order book, showing the extensive set of tiles Benjamin Chew ordered for the fireplace in the Radnor Hunt clubhouse. Highlighted in yellow is the entry for “10 Silk Letters 2” – RADNOR HUNT” at ten cents each. From the Collection of the Mercer Museum Library of the Bucks County Historical Society.
By 1930, the area around the clubhouse had become heavily developed and was no longer conducive to fox hunting. Radnor Hunt purchased a property near Malvern, Chester County, some seven miles to the west and moved there in 1931, once again renovating an existing farmhouse into its clubhouse. The Hunt continued to own the original property in Radnor Township until 1939, when it sold it. The property was later subdivided and from 1952 to 1970 the tract that included the original clubhouse was owned by architect Lewis Easby and his wife Amy, who did major renovations to the house and were responsible for rescuing the fragment of the fireplace frieze and installing it above another fireplace in the home. In 1973 Bob and Diana Harding purchased the property and in 2023 the Hardings opened their home for a visit by Radnor Hunt members, allowing members to connect with this important part of early Hunt history.
Bob and Diana Harding at the current Radnor Hunt clubhouse in 2023, viewing an early twentieth century painting by noted artist Charles Morris Young of what was then the Radnor clubhouse, now their home. Photo courtesy of Margi Tucker DeTemple.
The Hardings in their home, facing the 1887 Furness, Evans & Co. fireplace. Photo courtesy of Margi Tucker DeTemple.
Current view of the Harding home, which served as the Radnor Hunt clubhouse from 1886 to 1931. Photo by Jack McCarthy
This history of the original Radnor Hunt clubhouse was written by Radnor Hunt Archivist Jack McCarthy. Special thanks to Margi Tucker DeTemple, who did much of the research for the article. She is the Historic Preservation Officer at Harcum College and was raised in the Huntsman’s House on the original Radnor Hunt Club property. Thanks also to Hoang Tran, Director of Archives & Collections at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, for information on sculptor Jesse Godley and the 1887 PAFA Exhibition, and to the Radnor Historical Society for use of their photos.
Current Property
Radnor Hunt’s stretch of open land with its four historic buildings and newly constructed indoor ring is located adjacent to the White Horse Historic Village. It is also just a short distance from the Sugartown Historic District. Radnor Hunt’s land and adjacent properties is majestic with centuries old trees and rolling hills. In total, the Hunt meets and hunts over 6,000 acres of preserved open space. There are currently two conservation easements associated with Radnor’s historic grounds. Events such as the Radnor Horse Trials, Radnor Races benefitting Brandywine Conservancy, the Bryn Mawr Hound Show and the Radnor Concours d’Elegance are held annually on Radnor Hunt’s grounds. Each draws huge crowds and all are open to the public. The Radnor Hunt Pony Club, a separate organization for young riders, occupies another portion of the grounds. The Pony Club was the first in the country.
The Benjamin Hibberd House (c. 1796) is an early Quaker structure on Radnor Hunt’s land and is more commonly referred to as the Whip’s Cottage (the small residence was renovated to house a staff member of the professional hunting team known as a “Whipper-In”). The Enos Hibberd House (c. 1856-1857) is also a Quaker structure. It currently serves as Radnor Hunt’s clubhouse and was renovated when Radnor purchased the Gallagher property, formerly the Hibberd Farm, in 1930. Social gatherings and educational events are held at the clubhouse. Radnor’s administrative offices and archives are on the upper floors of the structure. Both buildings are “historic” in accordance with a Willistown Township Ordinance, and, are included in the Township’s Inventory of architecturally significant historic resources. The stables, Huntsman’s Cottage (with adjacent kennels), built in 1931, are eligible to be included in the Township’s Inventory as architecturally significant historic resources. This is in acknowledgement of the architectural prominence of Arthur Meigs and his firm.
In the early 1930s, architect and Radnor member Arthur Meigs, of the renowned Philadelphia architectural firm of Mellor, Meigs and Howe, oversaw renovation of the Enos Hibberd House into Radnor Hunt’s Clubhouse and designed and oversaw construction of the horse stables, the huntman’s cottage and kennels for the foxhounds.
The Benjamin Hibberd House and the Enos Hibberd House are listed in Acres of Quakers An Architectural and Cultural History of Willistown Township ,Chester County, Pennsylvania, From First Settlement Through 1900, published in 2006 by John Charles Nagy & Penny Teaf Goulding. The book is a study of the Township’s historic resources as defined by the Township’s Historical Commission. It includes all Township buildings identified in Breou’s Official Series of Farm Maps of Chester County Pennsylvania, published in 1883. These maps were the first to depict land ownership within carefully delineated property lines. Symbols were used to distinguish various types of buildings, regardless of whether they were constructed of stone, brick, or frame.
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