The 2018 Chester County Day House Tour celebrates the traditional, distinctive architecture of the Northeast Quadrant of Chester County.

The 78th edition of this event, slated for Saturday, Oct. 6 from 10 AM-5 PM, will feature 16 homes and six public landmarks in West Chester, Exton, Frazer, Chester Springs, Kimberton, and Phoenixville.

One of the homes – the Soledad Mansion, located on Old Valley Road in Malvern – is very special to Church Farm School. Known as the Swedesford House to alumni of CFS, the house was built in 1854 by Hewson Cox and stayed in the family until 1892, when it was abandoned.

Clarence Sears Kates purchased the property in 1904 and began a two-year restoration. Kates, an early board member of CFS, donated the home to the school for use as a middle-school dormitory from the 1950s through the 1980s.

The mansion lay vacant for nearly two decades before the present owners, Robert and Maria Soledad Hollenshead, renovated it and created some of the most stunning formal gardens on the East Coast.

The Chester County Day House Tour will benefit The Women’s Auxiliary’s upcoming pledge to Chester County Hospital.

To celebrate 125 years of delivering excellent care for women and children, The Women’s Auxiliary has pledged $1.25 million over the next two years to expansions and renovations to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Chester County Hospital, part of Penn Medicine, provides care for more than 300 premature infants and full-term babies with health challenges each year, with a 36 percent increase over the past three years.

Click here to learn more about the 2018 Chester County Day House Tour.

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