Villanova's Two Estate Gardens Are Being Put Back Together This November

From Stoneleigh's northernmost garden path you can look into Oakwell, and the towering trees and old garden structures on the other side look almost exactly like the ones you are standing among. That resemblance makes sense. Oakwell was part of the Stoneleigh estate until it was subdivided in the 1920s and 30s, and for more than a century a property line and a tall fence have kept the two apart.

A few miles of Main Line away on Darby Paoli Road, a different kind of repair is starting. The stream banks at the Willows are being cleared of invasive growth and replanted with native trees, and Radnor Township is asking neighbors to do the planting.

Villanova has two public estate grounds, and this November both are partway through being restored. A walk at either one now shows the grounds just before they look different, and at the Willows, neighbors can do some of the planting themselves.

At the Willows, the Restoration Begins at the Water

The Willows is a 47.5-acre Radnor Township park at 490 Darby Paoli Road. It is open from dawn to dusk and has parking, restrooms, picnic areas, ponds, streams, and walking trails. The mansion was built in 1910 for John Sinnott Jr. and Mary Sinnott, and the Township bought the estate from the Zantzinger family in 1973.

The house already has a recovery effort of its own. Willows Park Preserve runs the mansion under a 25-year lease signed in 2019 and has been repairing it and reopening it for community and private use.

This fall the work moves outside to the two streams that cross the property, Abrahams Run and Little Darby Creek. According to the Township's Shade Tree Commission page, the plan lays out a five-year strategy to take the banks back from "choking invasive vegetation." Girod's Property Maintenance has the contract for mechanical clearing. After that, volunteers and Township staff will plant native trees and bushes to hold the soil and, over time, crowd out the invasives so the banks become wildlife habitat again.

The budget is modest for the amount of ground involved. The Board of Commissioners agenda for August 17, 2026, put the Willows portion at about $30,000, with $9,650 expected back through a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society grant, and called for at least 100 native trees and 130 bushes. Most of that labor comes from volunteers, which is why the sign-up form matters.

Two Planting Days on the Banks

The Commission has set two dates, and each one asks for different work:

• Sunday, November 8: 70 container trees and 134 bushes go in along Abrahams Run and part of Little Darby Creek.
• Saturday, November 14: 30 bare-root trees are added.

Together that is 100 trees and 134 bushes in two weekends, the first planting of the five-year plan. Registration goes through the link on the Shade Tree Commission page. Radnor has been a Tree City USA community for more than 30 years, and the Commission says this kind of planting is part of its long-term job of protecting the township's tree canopy.

The same week, the Township's Environmental Advisory Council holds a native-plant gardening session in the South Wayne Avenue parking lot on November 7, listed alongside the Willows plantings in a Township stewardship notice.

The Willows' best-known November event is already sold out. Radnor's Owl Encounter & Night Hike runs November 13 and 20 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. across the mansion grounds and the Skunk Hollow trails. Tickets are $25, it is open to ages 6 and up, and participants bring their own flashlights for uneven, possibly muddy trails. As of this writing, the Township registration page shows both sessions full with no waitlist, so it is one to watch for next fall.

Skunk Hollow Is the Wilder Half of the Same Walk

Little Darby Creek doesn't stop at the Willows' boundary, and neither do the trails. Skunk Hollow Park, at 600 Darby Paoli Road, covers 93.7 undeveloped acres with a pond, streams, fishing, a community garden, and the creek. Its trails connect to the Willows and to Saw Mill Park as part of the Radnor Hiking Trail System. The Township bought the land with state and federal grants in the 1970s.

In practice, the two parks work as one destination, with a couple of exceptions:

• Parking: The Township directory lists the Skunk Hollow lot on Darby Paoli Road as closed to vehicles until further notice and sends visitors to park at the Willows or Saw Mill Park.
• Dogs: Dogs are not allowed at Willows Park. They are allowed at Skunk Hollow, with leash requirements on weekends and Township holidays from noon until dusk and in the Willows parking lot before you reach the trail. The Township's dogs in parks page refers to a newer ordinance alongside the older leash schedule, so check the current rules before you bring a dog.

Stoneleigh Is Reuniting With the Estate It Lost a Century Ago

Stoneleigh's history goes back to 1877, when Edmund and Arabella Smith bought 65 acres for an estate. Later owners Samuel and Eleanor Bodine built the Tudor Revival Main House and brought in landscape architects including the Olmsted Brothers. The Haas family gave the property to Natural Lands in 2016, and it opened to the public in May 2018.

The Oakwell reunion took a roundabout path. In a May 24, 2026 post, "Stoneleigh is growing," Natural Lands says Lower Merion School District bought the 13-acre Oakwell property in 2018 for athletic fields. When the district's plans changed, it agreed to sell 10 acres to Natural Lands to join Stoneleigh and the other three to the Wyncote Foundation, which will restore and preserve the Oakwell mansion. Natural Lands says the 10 acres became part of Stoneleigh in 2026. That takes the garden from 42 acres to 52, an expansion of nearly 25 percent.

Stoneleigh director Ethan Kauffman described the property in the same post:

"Oakwell is a magical place with some truly spectacular trees and beautiful buildings, and we can't wait to share it with the community when it's ready."

"When it's ready" is still a ways off. Natural Lands expects it to be a few years before the addition opens. The master plan calls for a new Welcome Center, new gardens, indoor and outdoor classrooms, and gathering spaces. It also proposes parking laid out as "parking rooms" around mature trees and the removal of the physical barriers between the two properties. Natural Lands says the plan depends on feasibility, permitting, and funding, and may change.

What Stoneleigh Offers Before the Fence Comes Down

Stoneleigh as it stands is free and has the same hours all year: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The visitor page lists a free 63-car lot at the main entrance at 1829 East County Line Road. Pets are not allowed, though service animals are welcome, and the drinking fountain is shut off for the winter.

On a self-guided walk you can see the entrance gardens, the Great Lawn, the terraces, the Catalpa Court water garden, the Pool House and Bog Gardens, the 200-foot Pergola, the Circle Garden, the Wildlife Hedge, the Meadow Vista, and the Coal Chute Garden. The Main House opens only for tours and select events.

The November programs below include the Main House tour and a walk through the estate's history.

Both tours require registration, and a limited number of $2 tickets are available to ACCESS cardholders. The history walk listing says the program starts indoors in one place and is entirely outdoors in another, so dress for the weather either way. The December 4 Winter Wreath Workshops are already sold out.

If you are making ornaments at home instead, Natural Lands' September post on holiday decor harvesting suggests using native plant material from your own garden, cutting it at the right time, and leaving enough seeds and flowers for wildlife.

One Saturday, Both Estates

November 14 puts both estates on the calendar for the same day. Stoneleigh's history walk covers the Smith and Bodine years and the Olmsted-era design the Oakwell plan says it will honor. The same day, the last 30 bare-root trees go into the banks of Abrahams Run and Little Darby Creek at the Willows. Do the walk in the morning and you can still reach Darby Paoli Road in daylight, since the Willows closes at dusk. Weekend leash rules at Skunk Hollow start at noon, so if a dog is coming, plan for that too.

Next November, the Willows' banks will be in the second year of a five-year plan, and Stoneleigh's Oakwell plan will be a year further along. Seeing both now gives you a starting point to measure the changes against.

Main Line homes have long histories of their own, and the stories behind places like the Willows and Stoneleigh are part of what I enjoy sharing with clients who are new to the area or getting to know it better. If you'd like to talk about the estates, the trails, or Villanova in general, Nora DeCristofano is always happy to hear from neighbors. Let's Connect.